Forgetting history will take us back to old times, warns Kamal Haasan

Chennai, Aug 14

Expressing his heartfelt wishes for Independence day to every Indian celebrating the occasion, actor and politician Kamal Haasan on Sunday warned that history has taught us that forgetting lessons from the past could take us back to old days.

The actor took to Twitter to share a post in Tamil, in which he said: "My hearty wishes to every Indian who is celebrating the 75th Independence Day of India."

He then recalled an incident that happened 25 years ago at the inaugural function of his eagerly-awaited film 'Marudhanayagam'. Kamal Haasan said that in the presence of the British Queen, he had delivered a dialogue for the film.

Recalling the lines he spoke in front of the British Queen, the actor said: "How did you get the thought that you can either own or lease or rent the sea, the air or the forests? Will you be as old as this tree? Who are you? This is my country. I walk on the ashes of my father. Tomorrow, my son will walk on my ashes."

The actor said that these lines were not written for cinema. "They were an expression of the fire burning inside me. This was the fire that was in the heart of every individual who had stepped up to recover the motherland that had been enslaved by foreigners," the actor said.

Pointing out that our history has told us that several brave freedom fighters had given up their lives, their livelihoods, wealth and comforts and had struggled for long to win our Independence, Kamal said: "If you forget history, you will have to return to the very same old days says history," and urged people to take a vow not to forget history.

He said: "Let us take a vow not to forget history. Let us recall with gratitude the services of the brave freedom fighters of yesteryears and the personnel of the three armed forces who stand guard at our borders to enable us to celebrate this day. Courage and sacrifice is meant for everybody. Let us inculcate these."