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KOCHI: Prominent writers, artists and activists on Saturday expressed their solidarity with Tamil writer Perumal Murugan by reading a portion of his book ‘Madhorubhagan’, which was recently withdrawn from stores following protests, before a packed audience at Aspinwall House, the main venue of the Kochi Muziris Biennale.

“His pen was virtually broken. No writer should have such a plight,” said writer N S Madhavan, who led the programme. “It comes down to a question of our survival. There is too much silence on the issue by the two big political parties in Tamil Nadu. Creative people feel obliged to exile themselves in situations like this. We should stand together to prevent such incidents,” he said.

Perumal Murugan, a prominent Tamil writer and scholar, declared the writer inside him as dead after his novel Madhorubhagan was attacked by certain religious outfits, and was forcefully withdrawn by pressurising the publishers. Apart from burning copies of the book, which was published in 2010, the protesters also called for the arrest of the writer. The Biennale Foundation members said that the idea behind the book reading session was to create ‘a space for artists to voice their protest’.

Simon Britto, a mighty voice of the Left-wing student movement and the CPM, said that the government was succumbing to the pressure of the powerful Thevar community. “In today’s world, and in the ‘sovereign, socialist and secular’ India, a writer has his neck on the line and his assassin is waiting on the tip of his pen,” said Britto.

Filmmaker Kamal, music director Bijibal, scriptwriter Shibu Chakravarthy, activist T N Joy and radical-movement artist K Raghunathan, among others, also spoke. Another interesting voice of protest was that of composer-singer Shahabaz Aman, who seized the opportunity for some reflection on the Kerala psyche. “It is worth remembering that writer Madhavikkutty was stifled, in spite of the presence of creative people like us. The difference between ‘then and now’ is that now-a-days youngsters take even the smallest of issues to the social media, and the authorities have no other way but to address it some way. This reading is a protest against ourselves and a tribute to Madhavikkutty,” Shahabaz added. Further, he rendered a few lines from his Malayalam ghazal, suggesting that “the fires of hell and the gardens of heaven are all in our imagination”.

CPM leader M M Laurence made a surprise visit at the event, to the excitement of both the audience and speakers. Then, everyone read aloud from the novel’s English translation ‘One Part Woman’.

“We take energy from the presence of political, social and creative voices and the engagement they bring to Kochi. We will always try to protect the autonomy of artists,” said Riyas Komu.