Months after actor Kamal Haasan decided to establish his new political party, he launched it on Wednesday and the party name he announced is “Makkal Needhi Maiam” at a gala event in Madurai. He also unveiled the party symbol. The event was also attended by Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
The party symbol has six arms interlinked around a star at the center and is in the colors of red, white and black. The party flag, which is primarily white, carries the symbol along with the party name. “This is a party for you, for the people. I am your instrument, you are the leaders, this is a crowd full of leaders,” Haasan said.
He also said it was the result of “all of our anger boiling”. The anger he referred to was against the ruling AIADMK government, whose policies he had vocally criticized since the death of Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa.
Speaking at the unveiling of his party at the Othakadai Grounds in Madurai, Kamal said in Tamil, “If you look closely, you will find the new map of south India. The six hands stand for the six states. The six-pointed star represents you and people’s justice.”
The name of the party roughly translates to the Centre for People’s Justice in English. Kamal Haasan said, “People ask me what is this ‘Maiam?’, and if I am on the left or the right? That is why I kept the name ‘Maiam’, which means center.”
For several months now, Kamal Haasan has spoken out against the Tamil Nadu government as well as the southern states getting a raw deal from the center. With topics of Hindi imposition seeing a resurgence in public discourse over the past year, Kamal Haasan’s flag depicting the southern states occupies great significance in Tamil Nadu’s political landscape.
“Last night, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu asked me not to mind the left or right but just commit to action. Good and quality education must reach all sections of society. Games committed in the name of caste will have to be stopped. We will do it,” he said.
“I’m 63 years old. I haven’t come to rule for 40 years. I have come to sow the seeds for the next generation. People poke fun at my age. These are people with low life expectancy,” Haasan charged. The actor expressed his desire to “make a change” and “oversee it.”
Prior to the unveiling of his political party, Kamal undertook a ‘journey of learning’ wherein he met many leaders including Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who have spoken out against the saffron politics of the BJP and criticised the communal forces in the country.