Kamal Haasan says political situation in Tamil Nadu led MBBS aspirant Anitha to suicide
Abdullah Nurullah | TNN | Updated: Nov 23, 2017, 13:11 IST
CHENNAI: Actor Kamal Haasan has said external factors were responsible for the death of 17-year-old S Anitha of Ariyalur, who spearheaded the fight against the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
Anitha, who scored high marks in the state board Class XII exams, committed suicide on September 1 as she could not pass the NEET and get a medical seat.
In his column in a Tamil weekly that hit stands on Thursday, Kamal said the MBBS aspirant's family could not have pushed her to death and that it was the political situation in Tamil Nadu that had driven Anitha to suicide.
"I was fortunate to have grown up in an environment that brought me in contact with the many teachers who made me grow stronger and wiser. It is sad that Anitha could not grow up in such an environment," Kamal said.
The 63-year-old promised to be a teacher and a friend to "daughters like Anitha."
"I sent members of my Narpani Iyakkam (welfare association) to console Anitha's family members and look after them when she died," Kamal said. Her brother and father met him recently to thank him.
Anitha, who scored high marks in the state board Class XII exams, committed suicide on September 1 as she could not pass the NEET and get a medical seat.
In his column in a Tamil weekly that hit stands on Thursday, Kamal said the MBBS aspirant's family could not have pushed her to death and that it was the political situation in Tamil Nadu that had driven Anitha to suicide.
"I was fortunate to have grown up in an environment that brought me in contact with the many teachers who made me grow stronger and wiser. It is sad that Anitha could not grow up in such an environment," Kamal said.
The 63-year-old promised to be a teacher and a friend to "daughters like Anitha."
"I sent members of my Narpani Iyakkam (welfare association) to console Anitha's family members and look after them when she died," Kamal said. Her brother and father met him recently to thank him.
Kamal, who dropped out of school while he was in Class IX, wrote that he had never sought out teachers and that circumstances had taken him to people like directors K Balachandar and R C Sakthi. "If I had perhaps grown up in northern India or in a city like Bengaluru, I might not have come across Periyar. If I have the freedom to express today, it is because of Periyar. Some may consider him a difficult man, but he required that kind of resolve."
"Gandhi is the only teacher I consciously sought out," the Hey Ram actor said and added, "I came to know about Gandhi through the eyes of Periyar, then Ambedkar and finally through Jiddu Krishnamurti."
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