Rajnikant says he did not seek to instigate violence

Chennai: Tamil film icon Rajnikant clarified on Monday that he never meant to instigate violence through his anti-Karnataka remarks on the Hogenekkal drinking water project.

In a television interview, the superstar said that if a "few troublemakers stop my movies from being screened in Karnataka, it will not be my loss".

"I only wanted poisonous vermin indulging in arson against Tamils in Karnataka in the name of opposition to the Hogenekkal project to be dealt with appropriately. Such measures can be initiated by every person with civic sense in Karnataka itself," Rajnikant told the Maran-owned channel Udaya-TV, speaking in Kannada.

"But I never wanted violence unleashed on innocent people, as is being alleged through propaganda efforts by vested interests."

On the culmination of a day-long fast Friday, organised by leading lights of Tamil cinema, Rajnikant launched a blistering attack on Kannada chauvinists in Bangalore who shut down cinemas showing Tamil films and marred the Tamil Sangam in the IT hub.