Was bitter critic of Gandhi: Kamal Haasan tells Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi, Jan 02: Kamal Haasan has revealed that he was a bitter critic of MK Gandhi in teens. This he revealed during a conversation with Congress MP Rahul Gandhi.

"My father was a Congress man, but my environment made me a bitter critic of Gandhiji when I was in my teens. Around 24-25 I discovered Gandhiji on my own, and over the years, exponentially, I have become a fan," he said. The actor claimed that the movie was a functional story of a parallel assassin who wanted to kill Mahatma Gandhi but changed his mind when he got closer to him, to correct himself and "say sorry".

The conversation was uploaded on Rahul Gandhi's official YouTube channel.

Rahul Gandhi also presented a large large portrait of a tiger drinking water captured by Priyanka Gandhi's son. "It tells of your approach and attitude to life and it tells us the fact that you are a great Indian and a great champion," Rahul Gandhi told Kamal Haasan.

Kamal-Rahul on China

The conversation then veered towards India-China border issue. "In the 21st century, one has to have a global view about security, and that's where I think our government has miscalculated. We constantly hear about what's going on at the border, and the fact of the matter is China has taken 2,000 sq km of our territory. And frankly, we haven't said anything. The military has clearly said that they are siting in our territory, but the Prime Minister says that nobody has come. This sends a very clear message to China -- "we can do whatever we want, and India will not respond," he said.

He then stated,"In some of the conversations the Chinese are having with our military, they are saying, "your Prime Minister himself has said we are not in your territory. So, what is this conversation about? It destroys the entire negotiation position of India," "The single most important thing in the 21st century is that a country have internal cohesion. That there's harmony in the country, that people are not fighting, there's peace in the country, and the country has a vision. The point is not going to war, the point is being in a position where you cannot be attacked. There is a link between a weak economy, a confused nation without vision, hatred and anger, and the Chinese sitting in our territory. Because they know that we are dealing with internal confusions and lack of harmony, so they can just go in and do whatever they want," Gandhi said.

Gandhi then pointed out Chinese tactics to Russia in Ukraine. According to him, China is applying the same strategy in case of India as it is threatening to alter India's boundaries.

"Essentially, what the Russians have done in Ukraine is that they have said we do not want Ukraine to have a strong relationship with the west, and they have basically told the Ukrainians that if you will have a strong relationship with the west, we will alter your geography. That is the exact same principle that can be applied to India. What the Chinese are saying to us is that be careful with what you are doing, because we will alter your geography. We will enter Ladakh, we will enter Arunachal (Pradesh), and what I can see is them building a platform for that type of approach," Gandhi added.

During the conversation, the two discussed about how India has compete with China in manufacturing sector. "I see a huge opportunity for India to become like China, the producers of the world. Of course, the west has the its space in high-end manufacturing and high technology. etc etc. at which they will dominate. I don't think they can compete with China on large scale manufacturing," Gandhi stated.