Naam Tamilar Katchi (We Tamils Party; NTK) is a
Tamil nationalist party in the Indian state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
and the
union territory of
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to:
* Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India
** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry t ...
. The party is known to revere
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
founder
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Velupillai Prabhakaran (; ta, வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; , (26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was a Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla and the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) ...
, whose image is prominently displayed at party events and gatherings. Originally founded in 1958, it was revived in 2010.
History
![Senthamizhan Seeman](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/69/Senthamizhan_Seeman.jpg)
In 1958, Adithan founded the "We Tamils" (
நாம் தமிழர் கட்சி) party with the platform of forming a sovereign Tamil state. It wanted the creation of a homogeneous
Greater Tamil Nadu
Greater Tamil Nadu is an irredentist and nationalist concept of Tamil nationalism that centers on forming a national homeland for the Tamils by merging the Tamil speaking areas of India proper (the "mainland") and Sri Lanka (the "island"). Ho ...
incorporating Tamil speaking areas of India and
Sri Lanka. The party's headquarters was named as Tamiḻaṉ Illam (lit. The Home of the Tamilian). In 1960, the party organised statewide protests for the secession of Madras and the establishment of a sovereign Tamil Nadu. The protests were marked by the burning of maps of India (with Tamil Nadu left out). Adithanar was arrested for organising them. The party along with
M. P. Sivagnanam's
Tamil Arasu Kazhagam was also involved in the movement to change the name of the state from
Madras State
Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and ...
to
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil language ...
. Adithan lost the
1962 election from Tiruchendur and was elected to the Legislative Council in 1964.
The WT contested the
1967 election as an ally of the
Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam
The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; DMK) is a political party based in the state of Tamil Nadu where it is currently the ruling party having a comfortable majority without coalition support and the union territory of Puducherry where it is curre ...
(DMK) under the DMK's "Rising Sun" symbol. It elected four members to the Assembly, including Adithan, who won from
Srivaikuntam. The party merged with the DMK in 1967.
On 18 May 2010 in
Madurai
Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...
, a year after the military subjugation of the
Eelam Soora Tamils and the first anniversary of his Naam Tamilar Iyakkam (We Tamils Movement), Seeman formed the party as a revival of
S. P. Adithanar's Naam Tamilar (We Tamils).
Seeman, the NTK's chief co-ordinator, said that it would be an alternative political party different from the mainstream parties; the establishment of an independent
Tamil Eelam
Tamil Eelam ( ta, தமிழீழம், ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora ...
would be the moral goal of not just the party, but of the Tamils in Tamil Nadu.
During the rally, Seeman said: "We are not founding the Naam Tamilar party, we are continuing what S. P. Adithanar founded."
Name and emblem
The party's name indicates that "We are Tamils", not labeled by caste or religion.
It emphasizes Tamil rule of their homeland, opposing the
Dravidian and Indian parties which have purportedly contributed to the downfall of the
Tamils
The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...
.
The NTK flag is similar to the
flag of Tamil Eelam; its tiger is also the emblem of the
Cholas and the
Tamil Tigers
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
. The flag was introduced in
Thanjavur
Thanjavur (), also Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is the 11th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of South Indian religion, art, and architecture. Most of the Gr ...
, the historic Chola capital.
Policies
Water sharing and sand mining
The party has launched several demonstrations demanding Tamil Nadu's share of
Kaveri River and
Mullaperiyar Dam
Mullaperiyar Dam , is a masonry gravity dam on the Periyar River in the Indian state of Kerala It is located above the sea level, on the Cardamom Hills of the Western Ghats in Thekkady, Idukki District of Kerala, India. It was constructed b ...
water from upstream states.
Seeman has criticized political apathy on this issue and the
illegal sand mining
Sand theft or unauthorised or illegal sand mining leads to a widely unknown global example of natural and non-renewable resource depletion problem comparable in extent to global water scarcity. Beach theft is illegal removal of large quantities ...
of the state's riverbeds.
NLC privatisation
In 2011-2012, when Tamil Nadu was in the midst of a power crisis which led to exorbitant tariffs and industrial failure,
the management of
Neyveli Lignite Corporation
NLC India Limited (NLC) (formerly Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited) is a central public sector undertaking under the administrative control of the Ministry of Coal, Government of India. It annually produces about 30 million tonnes of Ligni ...
(a government-owned company in
Neyveli
Neyveli is a industrial town in the Cuddalore district in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is located inland from the Bay of Bengal, west of Pondicherry and south of Chennai. The town was developed in 1956 after the establishment of Ney ...
) considered selling stock to private investors. This sparked unrest in the state, and NLC employees organized a strike against the central government's decision. The corporation was accused of manipulating its workers and covering up the issue.
Naam Tamilar Katchi opposed the decision, with Seeman saying that the Tamil strikers experienced discrimination from non-Tamil management. He also criticised the NLC for investing in other Indian states during an acute power shortage in Tamil Nadu.
Law and order
Seeman cited a deterioration in law and order in the state during the Congress-DMK alliance.
Denying NTK involvement in an assault on a group of Lankan tourists in Chennai, he said that the party abhors violence in any form and cadres who violate its principles of conduct would be punished.
Refugees
Naam Tamilar Katchi has highlighted the plight of
Sri Lankan Tamils who seek refuge in India, and their persecution by the state and central governments.
Abolition of the death penalty
NTK has supported commuting the death sentences and releasing those convicted in the
Rajiv Gandhi case. Seeman has said that the party's stand was not limited to the three Tamils condemned to death, but for the abolition of the death penalty in India.
Naam Tamilar Katchi has also called for the humanitarian release of prisoners jailed for more than 10 years. It supported closing the Eelam refugee special camps in Tamil Nadu, in which inmates were reportedly tortured.
Retrieval of Katchatheevu
Seeman says that
Katchatheevu is an Indian island, and it was illegal to cede it to
Sri Lanka. He promised to retrieve Kachatheevu by arming fishermen,
which resulted in sedition charges.
Tamil rule in Tamil Nadu
Seeman said that the
chief minister of Tamil Nadu
The chief minister of Tamil Nadu is the head of government, chief executive of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. In accordance with the Constitution of India, the Governors of states of India, governor is a state's ''de jure'' head, bu ...
should be a
Tamil
Tamil may refer to:
* Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia
**Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils
**Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia
* Tamil language, nativ ...
. According to a party slogan, everyone has right to live in Tamil Nadu but only a Tamil has the right to govern the state as chief minister. Seeman's statement was criticised as
racist, and he was accused of
identity politics
Identity politics is a political approach wherein people of a particular race, nationality, religion, gender, sexual orientation, social background, social class, or other identifying factors develop political agendas that are based upon these i ...
and creating ethnic divisions. Tamil media asked, "Who is a Tamil? How do you define a Tamil?" His statement had a mixed reaction from Tamil nationalists.
Proposed Chennai–Salem Expressway
Naam Tamilar Katchi is against the proposed
Chennai-Salem Expressway project. According to the party, the project would be a disaster for the region's fragile ecology and would enable mining companies to
illegally mine valuable minerals in the
Kalrayan and Servarayan Hills (on the expressway's proposed path). Seeman and his cadres, protesting the project's implementation, were arrested on 18 July 2018. The party also filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court, and the court quashed the government order to acquire land for the project.
Elections
2011 Tamil Nadu Assembly election
The NTK spearheaded a campaign against the
Congress Party in the
2011 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
The Fourteenth Legislative Assembly Election was held on 13 April 2011 to elect members from 234 constituencies in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Results were released on 13 May 2011. Two major parties Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and All In ...
for their alleged role in the genocide of Tamils in Sri Lanka and other anti-Tamil policies.
2016 Tamil Nadu Assembly election
Naam Tamilar Katchi contested in all 234
constituencies in Tamil Nadu and the districts of
Puducherry Puducherry or Pondicherry may refer to:
* Puducherry (union territory), a union territory of India
** Pondicherry, capital of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry district, a district of the union territory of Puducherry
** Puducherry t ...
and
Karaikal
Karaikal (Help:IPA/English, /kʌdɛkʌl/, french: Karikal Help:IPA/French, /kaʁikal/) is a town of the Indian States and territories of India, Union Territory of Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry. Karaikal was sold to the French by t ...
.
On 12 February 2016, all 234 NTK candidates were introduced in
Cuddalore
Cuddalore, also spelt as Kadalur (), is the city and headquarters of the Cuddalore District in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Situated south of Chennai, Cuddalore was an important port during the British Raj.
While the early history of Cudda ...
by Seeman. The party promotes equal rights, and has included candidates with disabilities. It is the first party in the history of Tamil Nadu with a
transgender
A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...
candidate. The
Election Commission of India authorised twin candles as the party's symbol.
Seeman told a
CPM CPM may refer to:
Advertising
*Cost per mille, the advertising cost per thousand views
*Cost per impression, Cost per thousand impressions, the online advertising equivalent
Management
*Certified practising marketer, a qualification for Australi ...
member that his party would receive more votes than the CPM's PWF alliance in the 2016 state assembly elections, or he would dissolve his party and join the CPM. The NYK received fewer votes than the alliance, and fewer than
NOTA
Nota Sports and Racing Cars is an automobile manufacturer in Australia. The company was founded by Guy Buckingham in 1952. He was an aircraft engineer and used his expertise to build triangulated spaceframed sportscars. Possibly Australia's ...
. The NTK lost everywhere; Seeman finished in fifth place in Cuddalore, and lost his deposit. Asked by reporters about his challenge, Seeman said that he challenged the Communists (not the
Vijayakanth
Narayanan Vijayaraj Alagarswami (born 25 August 1952), better known by his stage name Vijayakanth, is an Indian politician and former actor who has worked predominantly in Tamil cinema. He was the Leader of the Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Leg ...
-PWF alliance); his party received more votes than every single party in the PWF alliance, winning the challenge. The NTK received 458,104 votes (1.1 percent) in the
2016 Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly election
The Fifteenth Legislative Assembly Election was held on 16 May 2016 for the 232 seats (except Thanjavur and Aravakurichi for which held on 26 October 2016) of the Legislative Assembly in the state of Tamil Nadu in India. AIADMK under J. Jayal ...
, more than older parties such as
MDMK
The Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( 'Renaissance Dravidian Progressive Federation') is a political party active in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. It was established by Vaiko in 1994 after he left the Dravida Munnetra ...
,
CPI
A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time.
Overview
A CPI is a statistic ...
,
VCK,
CPM CPM may refer to:
Advertising
*Cost per mille, the advertising cost per thousand views
*Cost per impression, Cost per thousand impressions, the online advertising equivalent
Management
*Certified practising marketer, a qualification for Australi ...
and
TMC.
2017 R. K. Nagar by-election
The NTK fielded K. Kalaikottudhayam as its candidate for the
2017 R. K. Nagar by-election. According to Seeman, voters in Tamil Nadu pay more attention to party symbols than to the candidates. He said that the election commission should replace party symbols with candidate numbers or give every election new party symbols. Seeman criticized the commission for not attempting to halt the bribery of voters in the constituency, asking about the location of promised CCTV cameras. Tamil news channel
Puthiya Thalaimurai TV
Puthiya Thalaimurai TV is a Tamil news channel headquartered at Chennai, Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and lar ...
surveyed the constituency on which participating party was an alternative to
DMK and
AIADMK
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief m ...
. The results were NTK 11.72 percent,
BJP
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Mo ...
8.99 percent,
DMDK
The Desiya Murpokku Dravida Kazhagam (; DMDK) is an Indian regional political party in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former leader of the opposition in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly Vijayakant (Captain ...
8.54 percent,
CPI
A consumer price index (CPI) is a price index, the price of a weighted average market basket of consumer goods and services purchased by households. Changes in measured CPI track changes in prices over time.
Overview
A CPI is a statistic ...
5.45 percent, and no one 62.67 percent. The by-election was not held as planned on April 12, because the election rules were violated by bribery and
corruption. Seeman expressed his dissatisfaction with democracy in India, saying that it was unfair of the Election Commission to stop the elections, rather than disqualifying the parties involved in bribery. The R. K. Nagar by-election was held on 21 December 2017, despite voter-bribery allegations.
T. T. V. Dhinakaran
Thiruthurapoondi Thiruvenkatam Vivekananda Dhinakaran (born 13 December 1963) is an Indian politician and founding General Secretary of Amma Makkal Munneetra Kazagam. In the past he was the Treasurer of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ...
reportedly gave voters about per vote;
AIADMK
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief m ...
gave , and
DMK . Independent candidate
T. T. V. Dhinakaran
Thiruthurapoondi Thiruvenkatam Vivekananda Dhinakaran (born 13 December 1963) is an Indian politician and founding General Secretary of Amma Makkal Munneetra Kazagam. In the past he was the Treasurer of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ...
won the election, and
AIADMK
The All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (; AIADMK) is an Indian regional political party with great influence in the state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a Dravidian party founded by the former chief m ...
and
DMK took second and third place. NTK finished fourth, with 3,802 votes.
2019 Indian general election
Naam Tamilar Katchi contested all 39 Tamil Nadu constituencies and Puducherry. NTK was the first party to field 20 women in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections for the total of 40 seats (39 in Tamil Nadu and one in Puducherry).
The NTK received 84,855 votes for H. Mahendran in the Sriperumbudur constituency, the party's highest vote count in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. V. Jainteen received 17,069 votes in the Kanyakumari constituency, the party's lowest vote count in the state. NTK received a total of 1,645,185 votes, 3.909 percent of the 42,083,544 votes cast in the state.
2021 Tamil Nadu Assembly election
Naam Tamilar Katchi contested all 234 assembly constituencies in Tamil Nadu and 28 in Puducherry. The party again fielded equal numbers of male and female candidates (117 women and 117 men in Tamil Nadu). On 7 March 2021, Seeman introduced his party's candidates at a meeting in Chennai.
Seeman would contest the
Thiruvottiyur constituency, although he said earlier that he would contest the
Kolathur constituency against
DMK leader
M. K. Stalin
Muthuvel Karunanidhi Stalin ( , born 1 March 1953), often referred to by his initials MKS, is an Indian Tamil politician serving as the 8th and current Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu. The son of the former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, Stalin ...
.
Electoral performance
References
{{Indian political parties
2010 establishments in India
Political parties established in 2010
Political parties in Tamil Nadu
Regionalist parties in India
State political parties in Puducherry