‘The values of Gandhi, Ambedkar, Periyar flow in my veins': Kamal Haasan
Actor and Makkal Needhi Maiam (MNM) chief Kamal Haasan made his parliamentary debut on Friday as he took oath as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha in Tamil.
He said that "in his veins flow the values of Mahatma Gandhi, BR Ambedkar and Periyar".
The 69-year-old politician was elected to the Rajya Sabha on June 12, with the support of the DMK-led alliance.
“I will have true devotion and dedication to the Indian Constitution and ‘I will steadfastly uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India.’ I took the oath in Tamil today in the Indian Parliament, commencing my journey as a member of the Rajya Sabha,” Haasan said.
He said he was grateful to the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin. "I also carry the invisible, enduring presence of my father — a freedom fighter who taught me that liberty must be lived, not merely won. In my veins flows not just his blood, but his values forged in the crucible of our struggle for independence, tempered by the dreams of Gandhiji, the intellect of Ambedkar, and the conviction of Periyar," he said.
Haasan said that he did not arrive in Parliament as a mere critic, but as a committed contributor to the idea of India. "Where I must oppose, I will do so with reason. Where I must support, I will do so with conviction. And where I must advise. I will do so constructively not to score points, but to build consensus," he said.
He said that India's freedom movement itself was a coalition of diverse dreams and ideologies. "It was not a monochrome march, but a magnificent mosaic — Gandhiji's non-violence, Ambedkar's constitutionalism, Nehru's pluralism, Patel's pragmatism, and Periyar's rationalism all found space under the same sky. At its heart was an instinctive centrism, a philosophy that balanced competing ideals without losing sight of the common purpose. That spirit of synthesis built our Republic; it must now, once again, rescue our Republic from the perils of division," he said.
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