Actor and politician Prakash Raj, who has built a political identity around aggressive secularism, repeated declarations of irreligiosity, and pointed criticism of Hindu religious practices, quietly conducted the Christian funeral and prayer rituals for his mother Swarnalatha Rai at a Bengaluru church on 31 March 2026 – a fact that has reignited sustained public questions about whether his public irreligiosity is a genuine philosophical position or selective political theatre.
The Funeral
Prakash Raj’s mother Swarnalatha Rai passed away on 29 March 2026, at the age of 86 due to age-related ailments in Bengaluru. Her final rites and prayer meet were conducted at a church in Bengaluru on 31 March 2026, following Christian religious customs. Actor Pawan Kalyan was among those who extended condolences.
Prakash Raj attends a prayer meet at a church for his mother’s death. May her soul RIP..
But the same person who masks as an atheist for the outside world is now following religious rituals quietly. Our ‘secular’ crowd will still believe this crypto! pic.twitter.com/iBuDV53O4A
— Shilpa (@shilpa_cn) March 31, 2026
What He Has Said Publicly – His Own Words
The contradiction lies entirely in Prakash Raj’s own documented statements:
“Education, health and jobs matter more than religion” – a formulation he has repeated across multiple public forums
February 2025, in Mangaluru: “I don’t believe in religion. Mixing politics even in religious matters does not make them real Hindus.”
He has described himself as someone who puts the Constitution above religion as the guiding force of his life.
As recently as March 2026: “India will neither become a Hindi nation nor a Hindu nation” – a statement that sparked fresh online debate
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His Anti-Hindu Statements on Record
What gives these contradictions their political edge is that Prakash Raj’s “irreligiosity” has overwhelmingly been directed at Hinduism alone. His documented statements include:
On Sabarimala (2018): Speaking at the Sharjah International Book Fair, Raj said: “I have no respect for the religion which prevents women from worshipping. The religion which doesn’t allow my mother to pray is not a religion. The devotees who don’t allow my mother to worship are not actual devotees and the God who denies her is not the actual God.” It is noted he was referring to the Sabarimala custom involving one temple and one deity misrepresenting it as a blanket Hindu position. At the same time, he applied no equivalent standard to any restriction in Islamic or Christian worship.
On Sanatan Dharma (2023): Addressing an event in Kalaburagi, Karnataka, Raj reportedly stated that “Sanatan Dharma is like dengue fever and must be eradicated” – a remark that drew protests from Hindu organisations across Karnataka.
On Chandrayaan-3 (2023): Raj shared a cartoon mocking ISRO’s historic Chandrayaan-3 moon landing — depicting a chai-serving figure — with the caption “Breaking news: first picture coming from the Moon by Vikram Lander. Wow, just asking.” Hindu organisations filed a police complaint in Bagalkot district of Karnataka over the tweet.
On Hindutva (2018, India Today South Conclave): “I am not anti-Hindu. I am anti-Modi, anti-Amit Shah and anti-Hegde. Those who support killers cannot be called Hindus.” He further declared at the same event that Hindutva is “uncultured and ritualistic and has no place in India.”
In the wake of Udhayanidhi Stalin‘s Hindumisic comments that stirred anger among Hindus across India, Prakash Raj appears to be capitalizing on the same sentiment by making another post insulting Hindu seers as “Tanatanis”, a mockery of “Sanatani” (Hindus). He tweeted on Twitter (X), “Back to the Future ..a #Tanathani parliament.. dear CITIZENS are you okay with this… #justasking”
He shared a photo of the Aadheenams sharing space with Prime Minister Modi during the Sengol ceremony before its installation in the new Parliament premises.
On 3 September 2023, he shared the below meme which said, “Hindus are not #TanaThanis .. Tanathanis are #AntiHumans .. RT if you agree. Happy Sunday to all #justasking” with the image of EV Ramasamy Naicker and BR Ambedkar.
Notably, no comparable statements about Christian theology, Islamic doctrine, or church/mosque practices have been documented in his public record.
His Christian Background – Not Widely Publicised
Prakash Raj’s original surname is Rai, and multiple accounts, including a Facebook post quoting him directly, indicate that he was baptised Catholic. A post from a user who claims to know him personally wrote: “You are Catholic (by baptism). That’s not a crime, but you lie and say that you are a Hindu and pretend to be a spokesperson for the ‘true Hindus’.”
In 2019, photos of him visiting Bethel AG Church in Bengaluru during his election campaign went viral. He defended the visit by saying he also visited temples, mosques, and gurudwaras. His public rhetoric against Hindu religious practices was never matched with equivalent criticism of other faiths.
Put together, the picture that emerges is this: a man who declares publicly he does not believe in religion, reserves his sharpest religious criticism exclusively for Hinduism and Hindu practice, calls a centuries-old Sabarimala tradition worthy of “no respect” while never applying the same standard to any other faith, and conducts his own mother’s final rites in a Christian church, with Christian prayer rituals.
His defenders will argue he is a private Christian who opposes the politicisation of religion. While privately practising Christianity and never once publicly criticising Christian or Islamic doctrine is not secularism. It is asymmetry.
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