Academicians and writers have rallied behind Tamil writer Perumal Murugan, the target of an organised campaign by the Sangh Paivar, which has taken objection to his novel Mathorubhagan.
Protests were organised in Tiruchengode, the native town of the writer, against some contents in the novel, and shops remained shut.
Consensual sex
In deference to the protestors, the police are reportedly considering filing an FIR against Mr. Murugan who has written about consensual sex that took place in the dead of the night of the car festival of the Arthanareeswarar temple in Tiruchengode in the past.
“It is really sad that the situation has come to such a pass in Tamil Nadu, the land of Periyar, a radical and an iconoclast,” said Prof A.R. Venkatachalapathy of the Madras Institute of Development Studies.
He said the protestors did not relent even after Mr. Murugan issued a clarification to assuage the feelings of those who had been offended by the contents of the book.
Mr. Murugan had agreed to remove certain portions in the next edition of the book.
“It is a story about a childless couple and the book should be seen in its entirety. Citing a few passages out of context is unacceptable,” Mr. Chalapathy said.
Consensual sex, Prof Chalapathy, said was not uncommon in Indian society.
Niyoga Dharma
“ Niyoga, the Hindu tradition, has always allowed a childless woman to have child through a person other than her husband. It is called Niyoga Dharma,” he said while adding that a modern literary work cannot be a yardstick to judge the past.
Alleging that fundamentalism seemed to have crept into every walk of life in the country, Sahitya Akademi winner Indira Parthasarathy said he could not have written Kuruthipunal or Nandan Kathai in the present circumstances.
“The BJP Government led by Narendra Modi seems to have opened the Pandora's Box of intolerance and the Sangh Parivar’s reconversion efforts bear testimony to the situation,” he said.
Inter-religious love affairs
Mr. Parthasarathy said it seemed that in the future, a writer might be forced to write only about love affairs confined to a particular community as inter-caste or inter-religious love affairs would not be taken lightly.
Another Sahitya Akademi winner Joe D’ Cruz said covering up what could be termed as social indiscipline would lead the society nowhere.
Mr. Cruz, who faced the prospect of his novel Aazhi Sool Ulagu translated into English being suspende for publication, said, what was considered as social indiscipline or unacceptable in society could be eradicated only if they are told to the next generation.
Prof V. Arasu, former head of the department of Tamil in the Madras Universtiy, described the protests as a “fascist attack on the rights of a writer.”
'Just a folk myth'
“The author has only dealt with a century-old folk myth and it cannot be seen as a commentary on the present day society. Culling out a portion of a book and quoting it out of context to achieve political mileage cannot be accepted,” he said.
Mr. Chalapathy said it was a matter of regret that major political parties such as the DMK and the AIADMK were silent on the issue.
