Singer Srinivas has become the latest Tamil celebrity to join the “secular” woke club, jumping into the debate over The Kerala Story 2 with a post on X criticising the filmmakers over love jihad cases, while describing Kerala and Tamil Nadu as among the most secular regions in the country.
Taking to X sharing a video of the makers of The Kerala Story 2 interacting with media persons, Srinivas wrote: “These people are the ones responsible for misinformation and manipulative story telling. Last year I landed at Delhi and the cab driver asked me ‘Aap Chennai se hai na, wahan poora Christian log hai na.’ That’s the kind of divisive mindset that prevails in the north thanks to such filmmakers and the media channels. Kerala and TN are probably the most secular people in the country. Hope the poison doesn’t reach us.”
These people are the ones responsible for misinformation and manipulative story telling . Last year I landed at delhi and the cab driver asked me Aap chennai se hai na, wahan poora Christian log hai na . That’s the kind of divisive mindset that prevails in the north thanks to… https://t.co/eIesbahXmu
— Srinivas singer (@singersrinivas) February 25, 2026
While Srinivas is outraged that a Delhi cab driver had a misconception about Chennai, he appears unbothered by a far more serious reality – that the film documents real victims of love jihad from across India, with three court cases cited in the very interaction he likely watched, where judges themselves have recorded observations establishing the pattern in their judgments.
The video in question featured the filmmakers being cornered by media persons demanding to know why Malayali victims were not featured – ironically the same “secular” argument Srinivas is now echoing. The filmmakers responded that victims from Rajasthan, Bihar, Maharashtra and other states were brought precisely to establish this as a pan-India phenomenon, not just a Kerala issue.
Srinivas makes bold claims about secularism. Let us test it against reality.
“TN is Probably the Most Secular State” – Really?
Exhibit 1: The Da Vinci Code Ban
When Hollywood released The Da Vinci Code in 2006, the DMK government under Karunanidhi banned the film in Tamil Nadu citing ‘breach of peace’. A fictional film. Banned. By the same political establishment that Srinivas and his secular friends enthusiastically support. Where was Tamil Nadu’s legendary secularism then? If Tamil Nadu is truly secular, why did the government decide that one community’s sentiments about a work of fiction were worth suppressing free expression entirely?
Exhibit 2: The US Embassy Attack Over a YouTube Video
When an American uploaded Innocence of Muslims on YouTube in 2012, a video that had nothing to do with Tamil Nadu, India, or anyone in Chennai, a mob attacked the US Embassy on Anna Salai, one of the busiest roads in Chennai, bringing the city to a complete standstill for hours in broad daylight. Not a protest. Not a candlelight march. A violent mob attack on foreign diplomatic premises, in the heart of Chennai, over a YouTube video made by a private citizen in America.
This happened in Srinivas’ “most secular state in the country.” The same state he is now holding up as a model of enlightened coexistence. The contrast with his outrage over a cab driver’s innocent geographic confusion could not be more stark.
Exhibit 3: Kaarthigai Deepam and a Father’s Death
In Thirupparankundram, the Madras High Court passed a clear judgment permitting the lighting of Kaarthigai Deepam on the hill. The DMK government under CM MK Stalin flatly denied permission, citing fears of communal violence. Think about what that admission reveals: the Tamil Nadu government was openly acknowledging that lighting a Hindu lamp on a Hindu hill, as ordered by a court, could provoke violence and their solution was not to protect Hindu worship, but to cancel it.
A young man gave up his life for this. He could not bear the humiliation of watching his faith being denied by the government of his own state. He ended his life in protest. And Tamil Nadu’s secular celebrities, including Srinivas had nothing to say.
So yes, Tamil Nadu is so secular that its government fears communal violence if someone lights a deepam on a hill. That is the secularism Srinivas is proud of.
The Cab Driver Argument Collapses Under Its Own Weight
Srinivas is outraged that a Delhi cab driver asked him whether Chennai is full of Christians. Let us be absolutely clear: that cab driver did nothing wrong. He asked a factual question about the religious composition of a city he had presumably never visited. He was not threatening anyone. He was not inciting violence. He was not even wrong to be curious.
Now ask yourself – is there even one political party in Tamil Nadu, or anywhere in India, that does not field candidates based on the religious and caste composition of the constituency. Every single party, be it the DMK, AIADMK, Congress, or the BJP, calculates caste and religion when fielding candidates. Every election analyst discusses it openly. Every voter considers it. If asking about the religious majority of a population is “divisive,” then every political strategist in India is guilty of the same “divisive mindset.” The cab driver’s question was more honest than any election manifesto.
What “Secular” Actually Means Here
In Tamil Nadu’s entertainment industry, “secular” is not a principle. It is a password. You say it to signal which side you are on, gain acceptance in the industry, keep your career safe, and avoid being labelled “communal” – the worst thing you can be called in this ecosystem, far worse than being called dishonest, indifferent to Hindu suffering, or factually wrong.
Srinivas almost certainly knows this. He is not naive. He knows about the Thirupparankundram Deepam row. He knows about the US Embassy attack. He knows about the Da Vinci Code ban. He has chosen to ignore all of it and post a feel-good secular statement because that is what keeps you relevant in the Tamil film and music industry. It is a calculated career move dressed up as a moral stance.
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