Kamal Haasan says ‘Ambedkar fought against caste, my political rival is the same’

Pa Ranjith and Kamal Haasan came together on stage for the launch of Ranjith’s Neelam Books, a book store and a cultural space, in Egmore, Chennai. Ulaganayagan Kamal Haasan, President, Makkal Needhi Maiam, spoke about the initiative and also why it was important in the political scenario also. 

“My biggest rival – my political rival – is caste. I have been saying this since I was 21 years old and I still say it. My opinion has never changed. After the invention of the wheel, man’s biggest creation is God. Don’t forget that. We cannot accept the fact that what we created is now attacking us. Caste is a terrible weapon and leaders like Dr B R Ambedkar, who came three generations before me, also fought for this. The spellings may be different, but Maiam and Neelam are one – the aim is the same,” reiterated Kamal Kaasan.

 Watch Kamal Haasan speech in Tamil:

He further added, “It is people who have created politics and politics is for the people. But we have turned the lens around and talking about the governing party and those in governance. Politicians are elected by the people and when that is realised, then democracy will flourish.”

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PA RANJITH AND NEELAM SOCIAL

Director Pa Ranjith has been vocal about Dalit rights and their struggles and launched Neelam Cultural Centre and Neelam Social as his social work initiatives some time back. They also have a You YouTube channel titled Neelam Social which features content on culture, society, infotainment and satire.

Neelam Books is Ranjith’s latest project which seeks to feature a variety of books, from poetry to  literature but aimed at creating political awareness. The Attakathi director was clear that there wouldn’t be books that were written primarily for commercial purposes.

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