Banning Senthil Mallar's Book. ... Hysteric reaction!!

The Tamil Nadu government’s banning of Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaaru (“Resurgence of Pandya History”), a Tamil work by K. Senthil Mallar and its subsequent invoking of sedition against the author is atrocious. A society which is afraid to read, see or listen to reconstructed histories betrays a lack of confidence in itself. In a democratic country, it is shameful to ban a book especially when no one has read it. Banning a book means banning ideas and thoughts. It is indeed unfortunate that a book on the history of Pallars, who were hitherto subjugated to caste based discrimination, is being banned. Such a knee-jerk reaction smacks of considerations other than the merit of the book. A mature democracy should not proscribe a history book apart from those exceptional cases when it is absolutely necessary to maintain public order. An author presents his opinion to the readers, who can either accept it or reject it. It is they who should decide the fate of this book, and the state should not stifle dissenting opinion.

The Supreme Court in a number of cases has emphasised that our commitment to the freedom of expression demands that it cannot be suppressed unless the community interest is endangered. In this case, the anticipated danger is remote, conjectural and far-fetched and doesn’t have proximate and direct nexus with the expression. Knowledge of history equips people with political consciousness and acumen, which is necessary for peace and prosperity. Recent attempts to rewrite history books, correcting colonial and other distortions are meeting with fierce resistance from vested interests. Instead of engaging in debate, they seek to avoid change with cries of sedition. Rewriting of history does not mean fabrication or sedition. If the government were to be allowed to ban the book, a more serious danger is it might use this precedent in future against all other critical writings against the government. Such an eventuality would be a serious blow to one of the cardinal principles of our Constitution — the freedom of speech and expression guaranteed to every person. The Government should learn to trap the message, not the messenger.

We in this country have had embarrassing instances of book banning both by Central and state governments. There has been a lot of criticism and the image of the country as a free, open society has suffered. The strong support of Voltaire for free speech “I disagree with every word you say but I shall fight to death for your right to say so,” needs to be constantly remembered by the governments. It is time, we should show courage and raise our voice against the banning of books.

For your Reading The Hindu Editorial dated 26-06-2013

The Tamil Nadu government is palpably in error in invoking the penal provision of sedition against the author of a book that it banned last month. The book, Meendezhum Pandiyar Varalaaru (“Resurgence of Pandya History”), a Tamil work by K. Senthil Mallar, argues that the Pallars, a Dalit community, had once ruled southern Tamil Nadu. Extracts given in the government notification ordering forfeiture of all copies of the book suggest the author has made loose assertions and claims about various groups, as well as sweeping generalisations about different castes. Though such writing is ill-advised in these hypersensitive times, the May 30, 2013 government notification surely exaggerates when it claims that “the content and language employed by the author clearly reveals his intention to spread hatred and disharmony among communities in the guise of research and thereby to cause disturbance to the public peace and tranquillity.” A book that runs to more than 600 pages and purports to be based on research ought not to be banned simply because its thesis and arguments are controversial. While historians, scholars and others have the right to refute or critique the author’s claims, or even campaign against the book being taken seriously, the government cannot decide on the authenticity or historicity of events in his book or indeed the accuracy or acceptability of opinions found in it.

In any event, regardless of whether the ban amounts to a reasonable restriction on the author’s freedom of expression, the slapping of sedition charges seems to be an invidious attempt to throttle him and the viewpoint he represents. The book’s contents may, at a stretch, perhaps attract legal provisions relating to creating disharmony between different sections of society, but definitely not sedition. Sedition involves promoting disaffection against the government established by law, but it is doubtful whether merely making some explosive claims about sections of society can come under its ambit. In recent times, the use of the sedition charge in Tamil Nadu and elsewhere has been questionable. It was invoked against activists engaged in the prolonged agitation against the Kudankulam nuclear project in a bid to portray the protest as anti-national activity. For those who see this book’s subject as a form of Dalit assertion and an effort by an oppressed community to reconstruct its past, the ban as well as the sedition case against the author may mean that alternative histories are being suppressed by the authorities to placate dominant communities. There is indeed a strong case to question the State’s approach without undermining its legitimate right to take steps to maintain communal harmony.

Flourishing Khap Panchayats...Impotent Governments!!!

Katta panchayats in particular and those who support these inhuman practices or remain mute spectators in general, should get the right message that no one can take the law in their hands. A family is forced to obey the self-styled law and is boycotted from the community merely for defying its dictates. Ironically, these obnoxious panchayats are functioning in a state that boasts of Periyar’s social Justice and secular ideals. In this age of globalisation when we consider the world as a single family and try to bridge the gap, the katta panchayats widen the gap among people by creating gulfs through their irrational dictates.
Over the recent years, the katta panchayats prompted by the PMK, in the guise of maintaining the honour and pride of their community, have issued the most grotesque, barbarous and extremely disturbing diktats. Moreover, there is total absence of law enforcement. The police is also to be blamed for not taking action against these illegal panchayats. Recent violent incidents show Tamilnadu, otherwise a progressive state, in poor light. Despite the state’s modernisation, and rapid progress, these mindless killings are giving an impression as if we are still living in a medieval period.  Katta panchayats are out of place and need to be strictly dealt with by the government of Tamilnadu. It is a shame that the politicians see in katta panchayats a dependable political tool and vote bank. Unless and until laws accurately define and punish these acts, katta panchayats will continue to brew a poisonous cocktail of crime, ignorance and bigotry.
In fact, katta panchayas have no legal standing and should not be allowed to function as a parallel judicial system. Self-appointed moralistic organisations have no place in a democracy. Our political parties can cultivate or tolerate them for their narrow political ends only at the cost of rights and freedoms guaranteed to people by the Constitution. Despite the state’s modernisation and rapid progress, the dictates of PMK and its subsidiary katta panchayats are giving an impression that we still live in a medieval period. Katta panchayats are out of place and need to be strictly dealt with by the government. Modern youth, especially women, should boldly come forward to fight against the feudalistic mindset and misdeeds of the katta panchayats.

My Letter to the Hindu dated 19-06-2013

The editorial, “Violence in disguise” (June 18) — on a young caste-Hindu woman from Dharmapuri deserting her Dalit husband under pressure from casteist forces — is a right step towards building public opinion against katta panchayats responsible for the ever-increasing violence against women and the socially marginalised Dalits. It is shocking that such panchayats exist in the Dravidian ideology-driven State of Tamil Nadu. In recent years, katta panchayats have issued grotesque and disturbing diktats. Since the dominant community which controls land and muscle power and is highly patriarchal in its view hegemonises such panchayats, they are anti-woman and anti-weaker sections. No political party has shown the courage to challenge them. In fact, politicians see in katta panchayats a dependable vote bank.

For your Reading, The Hindu Editorial dated 18-06-2013

Violence in disguise
Where coercion fails, persuasion might succeed. But social groups and community leaders often use a combination of the two, a kind of coercive persuasion, to ensure that individual members do not violate social mores while making life choices such as those relating to work and marriage. Recently, rural Tamil Nadu was witness to a case of a woman deserting her husband to return to her familial home, after her marriage triggered violence between her caste Hindu community and her husband’s Dalit community. What should have been a simple choice for two individuals to make was turned into a raging casteist campaign with leaders of the Pattali Makkal Katchi, a caste-based party, warning women of the Vanniyar community not to be “taken in” by Dalit men wearing “jeans, T-shirts and fancy glasses”. Even while informing the court she wanted to live with her mother, and not her husband, the young woman made it known this was not because she loved her husband less, but because she was shocked by the violence her marriage had triggered. She seemed prepared to sacrifice her love for what she must have seen as a greater social good: peace between the two communities, and quiet for her family.

The case is another reminder of the reality of caste in rural India, where the law and the law enforcers are no protection against the writ and the might of village elders and community heads. Across the country, old men who owe their position to feudal custom and traditional authority, and who therefore believe they are above the law of the land, constitute kangaroo courts (known as katta panchayats in Tamil Nadu or khap panchayats in parts of north India), which not only order social boycott or expulsion from the village, but also use coercion and force to enforce their diktats. Marriages outside the caste are frowned upon, and the whole family faces ostracism. This is especially so when it is the woman who belongs to a caste higher in the social hierarchy. Feudal values of honour and betrayal enter the equations of such marriages. Worryingly, newer forms of representative authority, especially politicians and parties with a casteist agenda, are seeking to ally with these extra-legal entities. Their attempt seems to be to accentuate existing social divisions and mobilise support through caste polarisation. Unfortunately, the civil administration in Tamil Nadu appears incapable of dealing with these katta panchayats. Unless the government takes a serious view of the legal transgressions of such bodies, instead of condoning or ignoring them, rural India will continue to be witness to tragedies similar to the one that unfolded in Tamil Nadu.

Shame on Dravidian Land!!

The Court’s decision to allow N. Divya, whose marriage with a Dalit man led to caste violence in Tamil Nadu, to go with her mother as per her wish signals the success of casteist forces and the failure of social justice. It is apparent that she was under huge pressure and she has decided to sacrifice her love, her marriage, for the sake of a society that is caste-obsessed. It is a shame that great social reformers like Periyar EVR once lived in this land where the castesit forces still abound with impunity, punishing the inter-caste couples. Social rigidity towards inter-caste marriages and police’s dubious role is appalling. The Indian Constitution did away with guardianship role in marriages in 1978 and yet till date the parents impose their choices on their children and unfortunately the police and the judiciary pander to their egos. The PMK has arrogated to itself the role of parallel judiciary with self assumed powers to order social boycott, threats and exile. Social engineering to remove age-old barriers among different castes in Tamilnadu like sanctioning incentives to the newly-wedded couples who go for inter-caste marriages and promoting Samathuvapurams(Village of equals) is not bearing fruit. Despite the Supreme Court having declared khap panchayats illegal in April last year, casteist groups still hold meetings and pass strictures against inter-caste lovers.

Castes are simply petty consideration of myopic stance our society had been holding on to for centuries. Whenever an inter-caste couple runs away and gets married, they live under constant fear of elimination. We have a long way to go before evolving as a civilised society. Even as caste violence claims lives, there are young lovers who bridge the caste divide and defy the diktat of society. It is a welcome step that the young generation Dalit youth which has revolted against this system and is choosing the lifemates only on merit, taste and choice. Sidney Poitier rightly grieves: “I lived in a country where I could not live where I wanted to live. I lived in a country where I couldn’t go where I wanted to eat. I lived in a country where I could not get a job, except for those put aside for people of my colour or caste.’’ As Dr.Ambedkar rightly says, “The real remedy for breaking Caste is inter-marriage. Nothing else will serve as the solvent of Caste. Make every man and woman free from the thraldom of the Shastras, cleanse their minds of the pernicious notions founded on the Shastras, and he or she will inter-dine and inter-marry, without your telling him or her to do so.”

My Letter to The Hindu dated 08-06-2013

Divya’s decision marks the success of the casteist forces and the failure of social justice. It is apparent that she has been under tremendous pressure to sacrifice her love and marriage for the sake of a caste-obsessed society. Guardianship in marriage was repealed in 1978 but parents continue to impose their choices on their children.

For your reading, the hindu Report dated 07-06-2013

Happy with husband, but Divya joins mother

N. Divya, whose marriage with a Dalit man, I. Ilavarasan, led to caste violence in Tamil Nadu last year, presented herself before the Madras High Court on Thursday after her mother filed a habeas corpus petition. The court allowed her to go with her mother as per her wish. She had removed her thali. The 21-year-old, a caste Hindu, told The Hindu later in the day that she felt happiness in the presence of her husband and did not face any trouble from her mother-in-law.

Yet it appeared on Thursday that the couple were set to go their separate ways, with the social strain casued by their marriage overwhelming all individual sentiment. On Tuesday, Mr. Ilavarasan had lodged a missing person complaint with the police in Dharmapuri after Ms. Divya left the couple’s home. Ms. Divya told The Hindu over the phone after appearing in court: “I faced life with a lot of confidence and believed that I could lead a happy and peaceful life. The caste issue was not at all on my mind [when she fell in love and later decided to marry Mr. Ilavarasan]. But the death of my father and the violent incidents that followed turned my life upside down.”

Ms Divya said while Mr Ilavarasan had been a good husband she could not reciprocate his feelings as she was constantly haunted by the death of her father and the violent incidents that followed. "It is my own making. The thought of suicide also crossed my mind. I don't think I can overcome these feelings and can lead a life with him. " Ms. Divya was pursuing a nursing course when she fell in love. Her marriage with Mr. Ilavarasan, a native of Natham Colony near Naikkankotai in Dharmapuri district, took place in August 2012. But things changed for the couple after her father Nagarajan committed suicide in the wake of the marriage. This led to attacks on Dalit colonies in the district and to an intense campaign by the Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK). PMK leader S. Ramadoss accused Dalit youths of luring girls from other communities into short-lived marriages.