<p>Renowned actor and producer Kamal Haasan on Tuesday swam against the tide by saying he would not return his Padma awards as a protest against “intolerance”.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Addressing a pre-launch press conference on his new bilingual movie “Cheekati Rajyam”, the 60-year-old Haasan said: “Returning awards is futile. It does not help anything. By returning the awards, you will just insult those who gave them to you; intolerance must be defeated intellectually.”<br /><br />Haasan, who had won the Padma Shri in 1990 and Padma Bhushan last year, said this in reply to a question on whether he will also return his award in an expression of anguish. Several creative personalities across the country have given back their awards as a mark of protest against the incidents of “intolerance”.<br /><br />The actor also said that intolerance has existed in India since 1947 and protests must not be targeted at one particular party.<br /><br />“Intolerance was the reason why the nation has been split into two. If both India and Pakistan were together, we would have been a robust country and outsmarted counties like China,” he said. He also said the issue of intolerance should be debated once every five years.<br /><br />“I think the writers, scientists and actors are angry and won’t listen to my advice as they are also not tolerant enough to let go,” Haasan said, adding: “All these talented people could have chosen some other way to register their protests.”</p>
<p>Renowned actor and producer Kamal Haasan on Tuesday swam against the tide by saying he would not return his Padma awards as a protest against “intolerance”.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Addressing a pre-launch press conference on his new bilingual movie “Cheekati Rajyam”, the 60-year-old Haasan said: “Returning awards is futile. It does not help anything. By returning the awards, you will just insult those who gave them to you; intolerance must be defeated intellectually.”<br /><br />Haasan, who had won the Padma Shri in 1990 and Padma Bhushan last year, said this in reply to a question on whether he will also return his award in an expression of anguish. Several creative personalities across the country have given back their awards as a mark of protest against the incidents of “intolerance”.<br /><br />The actor also said that intolerance has existed in India since 1947 and protests must not be targeted at one particular party.<br /><br />“Intolerance was the reason why the nation has been split into two. If both India and Pakistan were together, we would have been a robust country and outsmarted counties like China,” he said. He also said the issue of intolerance should be debated once every five years.<br /><br />“I think the writers, scientists and actors are angry and won’t listen to my advice as they are also not tolerant enough to let go,” Haasan said, adding: “All these talented people could have chosen some other way to register their protests.”</p>
