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Radical Leftist Prakash Raj Narrates Twisted Ramayana Where ‘Rama Is North Indian, Ravana South Indian Tribal’; Criminal Complaint Filed

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The Commune
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Radical Leftist Prakash Raj Narrates Twisted Ramayana Where 'Rama Is North Indian, Ravana South Indian Tribal'; Criminal Complaint Filed

Radical leftist and actor Prakash Raj has come under criticism after remarks made during his speech at the Kerala Literature Festival in January 2026 resurfaced online, with clips from the talk, published in March on YouTube, now circulating widely on social media.

A criminal case has been filed against him for making the inflammatory remarks.

In the speech, Prakash Raj positioned southern India as more “open” and “inclusive” compared to the north, while also endorsing a reinterpretation of the Ramayana performed by children as part of his theatre-in-education initiative. His remarks, particularly the framing of the Ramayana and accompanying political commentary, have triggered backlash over what critics describe as the promotion of distorted narratives among young students.

Talking about how south is more welcoming and inclusive compared to the north, Prakash Raj said, “We are open because we have always accepted diversity. We have always accepted diversity but don’t come and impose. Don’t come and impose.”

He went on to describe how children in his programme reimagined the Ramayana through a fictional story involving ants consuming a book and transforming into its characters. He said, “I told a story among the childrens here. The children made a play in one of my, I do an incubator where we are working for the last two years – my theater as a tool in education. Those kids today, they rewrote Ramayana in the play. It is the story about an anthill. They say there is some function happening and they are going to have a rain of milk. So, they want to escape, they come out and they realise that human beings have poisoned the earth, they don’t have food. And elder one of those anthills, a white ant says the only thing man has not poisoned is books. So, they go to a library. And the elder white ant warns, whatever you eat, what you digest is yours and if you eat too much, you will become characters. And in the play, children took one Ramayana and ate, all the ants. Then suddenly Rama, Lakshmana, Sita came. So, they are coming down to the south, and Lakshmana says, “Rama, what lucky? There is one forest here.” Rama says, “No, it is somebody’s land. It’s somebody’s farm.” “Oh, there are fruits, can we eat?” “Yeah. But is it stealing?” “No, if we are hungry, we can eat.” As they are eating, Shurpanaka and Ravana come. And Shurpanaka is very angry. It says, “Anna, somebody is eating our fruits.” And Anna Ravana says, “No, they are hungry, let them eat. We can talk to them later.” After they have eaten, they come, and Rama says, “Hey Lucky”, Rama calls Lakshmana ‘Lucky’, “Hey Lucky, some tribals have come.” They say, “No, we are the owners. Please, now since you have eaten the fruit, you have to pay the price.” Then what is the price? Shurpanaka calculates and says, “$2,000 with GST.” And they say, “No, we don’t have money.” Then Ravana says, “Give them some discount.” “Okay, 20% discount.” “No, we don’t have.” “So in spite of giving a discount, if you don’t have the money then you are not tourists here. You have come in search of food. So what you do, since you have eaten the fruits, the seeds are there, no? Plant it, turn it into a tree, and go.” “What is your name?” “I am Rama from the north.” “Yeah, I am Ravana, from the south. Nice meeting you.” This is what the children said, politics.”

He added, “You guys want to come, don’t force your Hindi. Learn Malayalam, no? You have come to work here. Don’t become a manager of a bank and ask us not to eat beef, we will do a beef festival! Come, do something, work something, respect our culture and go. “No, one nation, one religion, one dialogue, get lost. Okay? This is our land. Behave yourselves.”

He concluded by asserting that such messaging formed part of his cultural work with children, adding, “That is the cultural politics I’m doing with my play. Children know the politics. These fellows don’t know what to do.”

Following the sharing of the clip, netizens slammed Prakash Raj for his derogatory comments and twisted Ramayana version. Advocate Amita Sachdeva shared on social media platform X that she had filed a criminal complaint against Prakash Raj for his derogatory comments.

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