Surappa honest, facing witch-hunt for not yielding to pressure, says Kamal Haasan

Chennai

In a video message, Haasan recalled how MNM had opposed his appointment for not choosing a person from the State and alleged that Surappa was being hounded because of his honesty and not yielding to pressures.

“He is an honest man and did not give into authoritative pressure. He wanted to raise State’s engineering education standards to world-class. But will our corruption collective let that happen? They break anyone who won’t bend to their will,” he charged.

He also asked whether any inquiry was held on those who illegally stayed at the university and misused official vehicles. “Did you inquire former VC Balagurusamy’s allegation of Higher Education Minister taking Rs 60 lakh bribe to appoint professors? What inquiry was conducted on the allegations against the Ministers of Local Administration, Animal Husbandry, Health and Family Welfare, and Milk and Dairy Development,” he wondered. This was a war between an honest individual and a group of corrupt politicians, he noted, adding that the creation of another Nambi Narayan — a former ISRO scientist who was falsely charged in an espionage case – should not be allowed.

The government was sending a threat to honest officials who refuse to be part of their corruption that their lives would be destroyed by spreading false information to malign their image. “From Sagayam to Santhosh Babu, so many have been hunted by these corrupt politicians. If this is the situation of higher-ranked officials who were finally forced to take up voluntary retirement, what would be the state of ordinary citizens? We should not let this continue,” he said.