Romila Thapar, Ashok Vajpeyi speak up for Perumal Murugan

February 18, 2015 01:28 am | Updated 01:28 am IST - NEW DELHI

(From right) Historian Romila Thapar, poet Ashok Vajpeyi, KannanSundaram, MD, Kalachuvadu Publications, and Rajan Krishna of AmbedkarUniversity at a meet organised by SAHMAT, in solidarity with Tamil writerPerumal Murugan in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

(From right) Historian Romila Thapar, poet Ashok Vajpeyi, KannanSundaram, MD, Kalachuvadu Publications, and Rajan Krishna of AmbedkarUniversity at a meet organised by SAHMAT, in solidarity with Tamil writerPerumal Murugan in New Delhi on Tuesday. Photo: Sushil Kumar Verma

On a day when Tamil writer Perumal Murugan began his “life in exile” in Chennai after being “hounded” to declare the death of the author in him last month, his publisher Kannan Sundaram on Tuesday feared that the novelist’s writing would be scarred for life even if he were to write again.

In the capital to participate in the World Book Fair, Mr. Sundaram joined a meeting organised by the Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust in solidarity with Mr. Murugan, who was pilloried by Hindutva and caste outfits for his novel Madhorubhagan (One Part Woman).

According to the publisher, Mr. Murugan has made enemies on various fronts by taking on the education cartel that flourished in his district, speaking up for Dalits in the area, and trying to wean people away from the RSS. Such has been the campaign against him that barring his immediate family and brother, all relatives turned against him.

Lamenting the turn of events that saw Mr. Murugan declare the author in him dead in sheer despair, Mr. Sundaram said: “Perumal was at the peak of his writing skills. If he starts writing again, can he write fearlessly? He declared the author dead because he believes that a writer cannot write with fear in his heart.”

Not a stranger to such attacks on her academic work, historian Romila Thapar made out a strong case for civil society to come together on such issues and make their presence felt. “We also have a right to assert that our sentiments get hurt by such actions. Such bans are a deliberate way of hurting the author,” she said, warning against the possibility of self-censorship in an atmosphere of intolerance.

Describing Mr. Murugan’s declaration of his “death as a writer” as unprecedented, Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi said this was the result of the campaign by those who claim to be defenders of Indian tradition. “The advocates of Indian tradition are growing in number these days, but sadly those who truly understand Indian tradition are being marginalised.’’ Civil society should become more vigilant as the State was increasingly surrendering to intolerance instead of protecting the constitutional rights of every citizen, he said.

Rajan Krishna of Ambedkar University said the novelist clearly became a victim of the Hindutva forces’ eagerness to find a foothold in Tamil Nadu after the BJP came to power at the Centre since the book they found objectionable had been in circulation for years now.

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