After running into trouble with Right-wing forces in December 2014 for Madhorubhagan , acclaimed Tamil writer Perumal Murugan returned to his literary passion by releasing a collection of 200 “secret poems” on Monday.
As conservative religious groups and Right-wing activists mounted intense pressure on him, calling his novel blasphemous, Mr. Murugan was compelled to migrate from his native Namakkal town.
Known for maintaining a distance from media and literary festivals, Mr. Murugan responded to the controversy with a heartbreaking Facebook post: “Author Perumal Murugan is dead. He is no God. Hence, he will not be resurrected. Hereafter, only P. Murugan, the teacher, will live.”
Free to write
With the Madras High Court dropping charges of blasphemy against him in a historic judgment in July 2016, Mr. Murugan is now free to write.
But at the launch of his poetry collection at the Teen Murti library here, he came across a man who still hasn’t reconciled with the adversity he recently faced. He said the threats of Right-wing forces and a legal ordeal have put him in a situation where he feels a “censor is seated” inside him.
“He [the censor] is testing every word that is born within me. His constant caution that a word may be misunderstood so, or it may be interpreted thus, is a real bother,” Mr. Murugan said.
Speaking to novelist Nilanjana Roy, he said he is conflicted about what form of writing he should adopt in future.
“Most of my writings, thus far, have been written in a realist mode…I doubt if I can continue to write in future in a realist mode. I might have to resort to other techniques [of story telling]. I will think it through. Only time will tell what I write in future,” said Murugan.
“Command”
He read some lines of his poetry and addressed the packed auditorium. Appreciating the Madras High Court judgment, that now allows him to “advance the canvas of his writings”, he said: “The last word of the [Madras High Court] verdict —‘write’— sounds to me both as a command and benediction.”
