CEOs should run the nation- Kamal Haasan

Chennai

Chennai: “I’m a great fan of Albert Camus who said “Don’t walk behind me; I may not lead. Don’t walk in front of me; I may not follow. Just walk beside me and be my friend.” We don’t need leaders, I don’t know why people keep looking for leaders. We are not sheep, we don’t need shepherds. We are people, what we need is friends. And probably CEOs to run the country. We should appoint them, and just like any boss who appoints a CEO, we must applaud them when they do a good job, and fire them when the time comes.

We are lazy and it has got nothing to do with the politicians. Believe me! I’m talking about the general, individual progress that we have failed to do the past 65 years. It’s not just the country. It’s me. I’m trying to correct myself. I started 35 years back when I started paying my taxes to begin with. I lost a lot of money doing that. I couldn’t buy my Rolls Royce cars or throw lavish parties, but what else do you do with the black money except throw parties or wear gold that could be stolen any time? We need to wake and see that this tax is put by us, and not a foreign government. Those days, when we were under the British rule, maybe it was okay for a villager not to pay taxes. Cheating the government was considered a virtue - part of the Independence movement, but not now! I am the government. So I’m cheating myself if I don’t pay taxes.

If a lot of us pay taxes, we can demand our rights. Then our voice will become stronger. Why are so many influential people quiet about key issues? Because they themselves are corrupt. Why am I talking so loudly about taxes? It’s a very dangerous subject – it could backfire anytime. But I’m proud and in fact, even headstrong about the fact that I pay my taxes and I can be this outspoken. It’s almost a sort of reverse snobbery that comes out of honesty.And honesty may not be the best policy, but it’s a luxury and very few people can afford it.

— As told to Yagna Balaji