Malayalam actor Vinayakan yet again courted controversy with his remarks against Congress leader Oommen Chandy. The actor who went live on his Facebook on Thursday, July 20, asked, “who is Oommen Chandy?,” while the state continues to mourn the death of the former Chief Minister. He has been booked by the Kerala police under sections 153 (wantonly giving provocation, with intent to cause riot) and 297 (trespassing on burial places, etc.) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), and 120(o) (penalty for causing nuisance and violation of public order) of The Kerala Police Act. The veteran leader and former Kerala Chief Minister Oommen Chandy passed away on July 18 at the age of 79, and his funeral is being held at 7.30 pm on Thursday.
Expressing bewilderment over the media’s continuous coverage of Chandy’s death, Vinayakan asked the media to stop its coverage. “Oommen Chandy died. What should we do? My father also died and your father also died. What should we do for that? Please stop this, media. If you think he is a good person, I will not. We will know who this guy is if we see Karunakaran. So stop this,” he says.
After receiving widespread backlash, the video has now been removed from his Facebook page, but a portion of the video is being circulated on social media.
K Karunakaran was a former CM of Kerala under whose leadership Chandy became the Minister for Labour in 1977. The Congress cadre have condemned Vinayakan for his remarks, and further sought police action against him.
Vinayakan pic.twitter.com/BuWD2HHJqN
— Front Row (@FrontRowTeam) July 19, 2023
This is not the first time actor Vinayakan is making a controversial statement. Last year in June, during a press meet related to the release of the film Oruthee, he asked “what is Me Too?”. He said that if asking for sexual favors falls under Me Too, then he has done it. Questioning if asking for favours falls under Me Too, he pointed fingers towards a woman journalist and said that he would ask for sexual favours if he wants it. Following widespread criticism, he apologised for his comments.
Watch: Answering Vinayakan's big question: What is MeToo and consent?| വിനായകൻ