Press Statement in Support of Perumal Murugan!

on 10 Jan 2015

The signatories below would like bring to your attention the continuing violence and harassment of the esteemed, award-winning writer and novelist Perumal Murugan from Thiruchengodu. His novel Maathorubaagan (2010) is a fictional account of couples who are unable to bear children. Some parts of the novel includes accounts of erstwhile religious practices that have been fictionalized to suit the needs of the novel. This has been declared by some members of society to be insulting to their religious sentiments. Based on this contention, such elements have caused enormous discomfort and fear for both Perumal Murugan and his family. Even more importantly, their actions have disrupted the everyday lives of the residents of Thiruchengodu.

Perumal Murugan is a highly respected, award winning writer and a responsible member of society in Thiruchengodu and in Tamilnadu as a whole. His work has also been translated into English and has acquired national and international fame. In light of the discomfort caused to the people of his town, PErumal Murugan, as a responsible member of society, issued a statement explaining the context and content of his novel while also declaring that he will remove the name of the town in future editions. In spite of such efforts to come to a peaceful compromise, such groups continue their actions of intimidation and violence. In this context, it is a shameful fact that his democratic right to free expression is being curbed by a few who have taken law into their own hands.

Further, their actions are in direct contravention of Article 19, Section 1 of the Constitution of India which guarantees all citizens the right to Freedom of Speech and Expression. Further such groups are “Promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion…”, an act explicitly outlawed under Sec. 153a of the Indian Penal Code. Apart from these public concerns of law and order, their actions have amounted to Criminal Intimidation (Sec. 503, 504, 505 IPC) and Defamation (Sec. 499, 501, 502s IPC) of Perumal Murugan and his family.

Beyond these legal concerns, the actions by such groups has caused the use of a novel that is above all a great expression of creative genius, a matter of pride for Thiruchengodu, Tamilnadu and India at large, towards ends that are violent and of malicious intent. Through such actions they attack the very basic fabric of our society that has always believed in providing artists the space and the right to be creative witnesses and commentators on everyday life, our diverse histories and our traditions. By curbing such freedom these groups are denying the basic nature of our societies that hold within them a whole range of traditions and practices that may or may not exist today, and yet form a part of our history and tradition. To document and creatively use such histories is nothing less than a civic duty. To restrict such use or violently intimidate those who perform such civic duty is an act that is an insult to our social ethos, culture, tradition, law and order.

We urge you to immediately take action against the disruption that is being caused by the actions of such groups to the people of Thiruchengodu and to Perumal Murguan. Without such immediate action, we fear for the safety of the town and of the writer.

We, the representatives of the literary, legal and academic community of Tamilnadu strongly condemn such criminal intimidation and violence and will stand by Perumal Murugan and all other artists and other citizen’s right to express themselves with freedom and dignity.

R.NallaKannu, Communist party Of India
Thol.Thirumavalavan, President, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi
Ki.Veeramani, President, Dravidar Kazhagam
G.Velmurugan, Tamizhaga Vaazhvurimai Katchi
Gopal Krishna Gandhi, Former Governor, West Bengal
Kolathur Mani, President, Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam
Vasanthi Devi, Former Vice Chancellor, Chennai
K.Chandru, Former Judge, Chennai
Arundhati Roy, Writer, Delhi
Anand Patwardhan, Filmmaker, Mumbai
Uma Chakravarthy, Historian, Delhi
Ramachandra Guha, Historian, Bangalore
Joe D Cruz, Sahitya Akademi awarded writer, Chennai
Su.Venkatesan, Sahitya Akademi awarded writer, Madurai
K. Satchidanandan, writer, Kerala
Paul Zacharia, Writer, kerala
Cheran, Writer, Canada
DW Gibson, Writer, USA
V.Arasu, Academician, Chennai
A.Marx, Human Rights Activist, Chennai
Gnani, Writer, Chennai
V. Suresh, President, PUCL
Chandru, Artist, Chennai
V.Geetha, Historian, Chennai
Trotsky Marudu, Artist, Chennai
Baama, writer, kanchipuram
A.Mangai, Theatre Person Chennai
Prasanna Ramaswamy, Theatre Person, Chennai
Malathi Maithri, Writer, Delhi
Kutti revathi, writer, Chennai
Sukirtha Rani, Writer, Lalapet
B Lenin, Editor, Chennai
Ram, Film Director, Chennai
Pa.Ranjith, Film Director, Chennai
Kamalakannan, Film Director, Chennai
Pralayan, Theatre Person, Chennai
Pritham Chakravarthy, Theatre Person, chennai
M.D.Muthukumaraswamy, Writer, Chennai
A.R.Venkatachalapathy, Historian, MIDS, Chennai
Anjali Monteiro, Filmmaker, Mumbai
KP Jayasankar, Filmmaker, Mumbai
Prem, Writer, Delhi
Jeyarani, Journalist, Chennai
Kavitha Muralidharan, Journalist, Chennai
Kavinmalar, Journalist, Chennai
Urvashi Butalia, Publisher, Delhi
Kannan, Publisher, Nagerkoil
S.Anand, Publisher, Delhi
Aniruddhan Vasudevan, writer, Translator, USA
J.P.Chanakya, writer, Chennai
Prema Revathi, Writer, Chennai
Ponni Arasu, Research Scholar, Chennai
Athiyan, Writer, Chennai
Jeny Dolly, Media person, Chennai
K.Natarajan, Artist, Chennai
Stalin rajangam, Writer, Madurai
Indira, Writer, Karur
Punitha Pandian, Editor, Chennai
JeevaSundari, Writer, Chennai
Kalapriya, Writer, Madurai
Isai Karukkal, Writer, Coimbatore
Sam Raj, Writer, Chennai
Subagunarajan, Writer, Chennai
Libi Aaranya, Writer, Madurai
Ilango Krishnan, Writer, Chennai
Thakkai Ve Babu, Writer, Madurai
Bharathi Krishnakumar, film maker, Chennai
Jamalan, Writer, UAE
Bhaskar Sakthi, Writer, Chennai
Nirmala Kotravai, Writer, Theni
Vasumitra, Writer, Theni
Perundevi, Writer, Chennai
Yo.Thiruvalluvar, Journalist
Aazhi Senthilnathan, Publisher
Nityanand Jayaraman, Activist, Chennai
Ajayan Bala, Writer, Chennai
Aadhavan Deetchanya, Writer, Hosur
Pamaran, writer
Megavannan Puthiyathadam, Writer
Geetha Narayanan, Activist
Ilavehnil
Devibharathi, writer
Manonmani Pudhuezhuthu, writer
Pankaj Bhutalia, filmmaker
RR Srinivasan, filmmaker
Karuna DW, Historian
G.Manikanan, Asst professor
Boutha Ayyanar, Poet
Uma Shakthi, Writer, Chennai
Amudhan R.P., Filmmaker, Chennai
Parisal Senthilnathan, Publisher
V.Jeevagiridharan, Advocate
Geedha, Research Scholar, New Delhi
E.Pa.Chinthan
Chandra Thangaraj, Writer, Poet, Chennai