Kallakurichi tragedy: Thalapathy Vijay slams govt, Kamal Haasan demands action

    Thalapathy Vijay, Kamal Haasan, and other members of the Tamil film industry demand the government for strict action to prevent tragedies like Kallakurichi in future. 

    Thalapathy Vijay and Kamal Haasan react to Kallakurichi incident.

    Thalapathy Vijay and Kamal Haasan react to Kallakurichi incident.

    The members of the Tamil film industry have expressed deep shock over the mounting number of deaths from consuming illicit liquor in the Kallakurichi district. Thalapathy Vijay on Thursday slammed the government, accusing it of being "indifferent," while holding it accountable for failing to prevent this tragedy.

    Last year, Kallakurichi was struck by a similar tragedy due to the thriving business of illicit liquor. However, this time, the disaster was much bigger, with about 34 reported to have lost their lives, while over 100 people are still undergoing treatment in government hospitals.

    "The fact that such an incident has occurred again shows the indifference of the government to the sufferings of people, who have not fully recovered from the tragedy of losing many lives due to the same incident last year," said Vijay in a statement.

    He also advised the government to put measures in place to prevent such incidents in future.

    Tamil superstar Kamal Haasan also joined the mourning and urged the government to root out the menace of illegal production of alcohol across Tamil Nadu.

    "The government of Tamil Nadu should crack down on the bootleg liquor dealers with an iron fist so that such a tragedy does not happen again in Tamil Nadu. Rehabilitation centres should be set up immediately to help addicts get rid of it. Now is the time for each of us to get involved in the war against addiction," said Kamal.

    Filmmaker CS Amudhan, who is also a known supporter of the DMK-led government in Tamil Nadu, expressed shock over the scale of the crime that has claimed so many lives. "The scale of the Kallakurichi tragedy boggles the mind and should never be allowed to happen again. This is clearly the product of organized crime with collusion from various officials, including the police. This government should demonstrably bring all those culprits to book," he said.

    Actor Vishal also tweeted, demanding the government take action against those responsible for this tragedy, suggesting that suspending or transferring a few officials was not enough.

    "As one of the residents of this state, I demand the Tamil Nadu government to formulate an action plan to gradually reduce the number of liquor shops as promised in the last assembly election," said Vishal.