Anti-Telgu remarks: Actor Kasthuri Shankar moves court for bail

Chennai : Tamil actor Kasthuri Shankar, arrested for controversial remarks against the Telugu community, has filed a bail application in a magistrate court in Egmore, Chennai.

Kasthuri was arrested by the Egmore Special Police Team from the Hyderabad residence of Telugu film producer Hari Krishnan on Saturday night after the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court rejected her anticipatory bail plea.

She is currently lodged in Puzhal Central Prison.

Kasthuri was brought to Chennai by road and interrogated for an hour at Chintadripet Police Station on Sunday.

Later, she was produced before the Chennai magistrate court, which remanded her to judicial custody until November 29.

Her bail application is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday.

Police sources revealed that Kasthuri had been hiding at Hari Krishnan’s residence in Hyderabad and had allegedly used his mobile phone to communicate with her family and legal counsel.

She has been charged under Sections 191 and 192 of the BNS Act of 2023, which address hate speech and targeting of the Telugu community.

The controversy stems from remarks Kasthuri allegedly made at a Brahmin gathering in Chennai on November 3.

She reportedly claimed that Telugu-speaking people in Tamil Nadu were descendants of courtesans who had come to serve Tamil kings 300 years ago and were now asserting Tamil origins.

Her comments sparked widespread criticism, leading a member of the Naidu Mahajana Sangam’s State Executive Committee to file an FIR against her. In response to the backlash, Kasthuri issued an apology on social media platform X, stating that “false news” was being spread by “Tamil Nadu’s Goebbels and the anti-Hindu DMK network.”

She expressed her love and loyalty to the Telugu community, asserting that the people of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana would not believe such narratives.

On November 14, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed her anticipatory bail plea. Justice Anand Venkatesh described her comments as “unwarranted” and deemed her apology inadequate, as it did not directly address the offensive remarks against Telugu women.

The court noted that Kasthuri “should have refrained from speaking against the women of the Telugu community.” Kasthuri argued that the FIR was politically motivated and accused the ruling DMK government of exhibiting an “intolerant and vindictive attitude” towards her.

She maintained that her remarks did not incite unrest or provoke the Telugu community and claimed that they were intended to expose the DMK’s “outsider politics,” which she argued stigmatises Brahmins while overlooking historical migrations into Tamil Nadu.

Kasthuri clarified that her comments referred to “staff of consorts,” not “descendants of consorts,” citing historical references, including statements by late DMK leader M. Karunanidhi about the migration of artisans and musicians.

She further accused the DMK of promoting “Brahmin persecution, Sanatana opposition, and Hindu god humiliation,” labelling their stance as “anti-Hindu, anti-Brahmin, and anti-Sanatana.” Kasthuri, who actively campaigned for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, faced criticism from her own party.

The BJP distanced itself from her remarks and condemned her statements.