Ever since actor Vijay Sethupathi confirmed that he will be playing Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan in a biopic film, the pro-Tamil community has been against the idea because of the tension Tamils and Sri Lankan-Tamilians share with the native Sri Lankans i.e. the Sinhalese.

It all started in 1976 when a Tamil militant and political organisation named Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was formed in Sri Lanka demanding a separate state for them. The LTTE's civil war against the government of Sri Lanka came to an end, when the latter uprooted them in 2009. 

Commenting on the same, Muralitharan at a recent event said, "I am a Tamil.. We lived in this country with fear..In 1977, 80% of us had migrated to India..At that time the government was wrong, then the LTTE was wrong..the greatest day in my life was in 2009 when I thought we can go on without fear."

This statement of Muralitharan's has not gone down well with the people who were already against the idea of a Tamil actor reprising him the cricketer in his biopic. They think that his stance was anti-Tamil and have not shied away from expressing the same.

Muralitharan was never for Tamils nor should Tamils claim him (Eelam Tamils didn’t). Shame on kollywood’s attempt to make a film about him and any Tamils praising a sellout supporting the SL gov, it’s statehood, genociders and war criminals. #Cricket sucks! https://t.co/OttkWCuWMO

— Vidhya Manivannan (@Videominivan) September 8, 2019

விஜய் சேதுபதி நடிக்கும் படத்தில் இந்த கருத்து வருமா??

— குமாபசா அன்பழகன் (@kumapasa90) September 9, 2019

It is worth mentioning here that despite the earlier opposition, Vijay Sethupathi was firm on acting in this film. He had said, "I think it is a really good story. It is a story that needs to be told. I believe humaneness is very important. The script has scenes that talk about integration..being a celebrity, if you are going to talk about something, you need to know the topic well, and your statement should not affect anyone or lead to anything bad while at the same time, registering your comment. I think the questions that are being raised now will vanish when the film comes out.”