Interview/ Seeman, chief coordinator, Naam Tamilar Katchi
IN TAMIL NADU’S alliance-driven politics, Seeman and his Naam Tamilar Katchi stand apart. Seeman prefers to fight elections on his own, eschewing coalition politics. He casts his politics as a long-term civilisational project rooted in purity, discipline and grassroots mobilisation rather than immediate electoral gain. In an exclusive interview, he says he looks forward not just to political victory, but political liberation. Excerpts:
Q/ Why do you insist on going it alone in elections?
To stand alone is to stand with a unique identity and a high philosophy. One must stand with good philosophy, truth and honesty. In a struggle of a hundred thousand people, there is always one person standing at the front giving the call. The leader is always alone. A farmer ploughing with a hundred oxen is still just one farmer. I came into politics to bring change. I will not follow the same old politics, which is a marketplace of seats and notes. Many caste-based parties and leaders came into politics—Dr Ramadoss, Thirumavalavan, Vaiko and Dhinakaran. When they started, they said they would stand by their people. But now they are with those who did not give them power or rights.
Q/ But the belief in Tamil Nadu is that an alliance brings the biggest advantage in an election.
You are looking at a petty electoral victory. I am working for political liberation. We need political freedom. Every party started with the politics of rights, but they have ended up at the counter of political business.
Q/ Do you think representation in the assembly or Parliament provides momentum for a party to move to the next level?
You have constructed a corrupt narrative. Did E.V. Ramasamy (Periyar) go to the assembly? Yet you say he achieved everything. Look at the Congress with 25 members or the VCK (Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi) with five members. What have they achieved? I launched the NTK to oppose corruption. If we join an alliance with those same parties, what is the point? Has any coalition partner spoken out or protested the mistakes made by the DMK in these five years? I have protested. You (alliance partners) get your seats and your notes. How can someone who cares about seats and notes care about the welfare of the people or the country? If you are weak, you seek a crowd. If you are a warrior, you stand alone.
Q/ Dravidian parties have always spoken about Tamil nationalism. Does your view border on secessionism?
Those who spoke of Tamil nationalism before me are now cleaning toilets in Karunanidhi’s house! You cannot label me a secessionist for anchoring Tamil nationalism in the constitutional logic of linguistic states. If a party can be named for Telugus, why is “Naam Tamilar” considered divisive? The reorganisation of states was intended for linguistic groups to protect their resources and culture, so people of that language could preserve their arts, literature and soil. If I ask for a Tamil to rule in Andhra Pradesh or Karnataka, you can hit me with a slipper. But when I ask for it in my own land, why does it hurt you? In the DMK alliance, of 40 members who contested in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, nearly 28 to 30 were non-Tamil speakers. How can they represent my mother tongue? I am not asking for hate; I am asking for my right.