Chennai, 23 July

MNM founder and top actor Kamal Haasan on Thursday flayed the BJP-led Centre on the NEET issue and ongoing students' protest, saying the "nation has failed" when its children are met with barricades and batons instead of answers.

Without directly naming the national test for medical aspirants, the Makkal Needhi Maiam leader and Rajya Sabha member alleged it was a rotten system where "anxiety replaces curiosity" and "criminality replaces merit."

In a post on 'X,' Haasan said: "We should have listened when one child cried. Instead, we waited until far too many of our children died. A system where coaching replaces learning, anxiety replaces curiosity, and criminality replaces merit is rotten.

A nation has failed when its children are met with barricades and batons instead of answers. @Wangchuk66, the nation will need your conscience for the journey ahead. Please end your fast. To the children of India: You are the best of us. You have done your duty. It is now time for the country to do its duty by you. May your dreams forever be bigger than our failures."