Perumal Murugan - The Author is Dead, Long Live the Author

Do you know about the sudden death of Perumal Murugan, the author? Don’t worry, the Perumal Murugan, teacher is still alive, and will continue to live. But people have killed Perumal Murugan, the Author. This is clearly a major attack on Freedom of Speech, where people have forced the author to commit suicide. It sounds confusing, so let me put some light on him. 

Perumal Murugan is / was a Tamil Nadu-based writer, who has ended his writing career by announcing the death of Perumal Murugan, the author. His post, as reported by media (because I was not able to view his profile on Facebook), read, "Author Perumal Murugan is dead. Only the teacher Perumal would be alive. People could have issues with my other books, that's why I've decided to withdraw them all...I shall pay due compensation to publishers..Don't indulge in protests and let me go."

He was cornered to take such drastic decision due to protests against his latest book 'Madhorubagan', by hard-liners. This Tamil book was published in 2010, and was even recommended for Sahitya Academy Award. Recently the english translation was published under the name “One Part Woman”, and the protest started. The allegation is that the author has defamed their women and town. There was a call in his hometown for strike, which surprisingly, was successful. Majority of the local people stayed home and supported the strike. 

First of all, this is a work of fiction, with no claim whatsoever on history. Plus, the era of story is a century old. The story is of a childless couple, and the struggle they face in society. The protest is on a tradition mentioned in book, where childless women indulge in consensual sex outside marriage to conceive a child. There is no historical fact available for such tradition, only few unconfirmed stories about it are told orally. After the protest started, Perumal pleaded that it’s a work of fiction and agreed to remove the reference of location from book. But protestors did not budge and he had to exile his hometown due to fear. Based on media support, state government stepped in to negotiate peace, and they have them agreed for an unconditional apology for his work of fiction. 

The negotiation for peace was arranged by state government, which should have protected his right to Freedom of Speech. And this negotiation did not help Murugan, the Author, but only gave some relief to Murugan, the teacher. He can now go back to his hometown, and allowed to live his life. After the peaceful negotiation, Murugan decided to kill the Author, and let the Teacher live. It may sound an anti-climax to the peaceful negotiation, but if you read this first-hand account by G. R. Swaminathan, the lawyer who was with Perumal during the negotiation, on what happened there, you will understand the reason behind killing of Murugan the Author.  

His book is still available on Flipkart as well as other sites, but soon will be withdrawn as he requested. I do believe that his Freedom of Speech was hurt, and it was hurt badly enough to kill the author. 

I am not sure who killed him, the author himself, as he should have stood by and faced the protests? But he is just a simple man with a job and can not live in exile all his life. So, the protestors killed him? I don’t think so, they were not like the terrorists in France, and could have easily been controlled by our law and order agencies. The State government? Maybe, as they failed to protect the right of their citizen, which lead to this situation. But I am not a judge here, so I can not decide this. 

I am just an ordinary person, and would have done similar to what Perumal has done in his situation. I would also have valued my life, my job, my family more than my writings, and killed the author in myself to continue with the normal, ordinary life. 

I am not protesting against the protesters of Perumal, as I am not there to stand with him, and maybe I don't have the courage to stand with him against the protest he is facing. I can only put some words here on my Blog, hope that no one protests against it, and carry on with my life. I have done my duty, like millions of others who has just done their duty by posting Je suis Charlie and carried on with their life. People dies daily, lots of people, and this is not even a real death, but a virtual death of an author. Why should we be worried about it at all? We have better things to write about, read about, share and go on with our lives!  

Before I close this post, I have only one request for Perumal Murugan, keep writing, let the author be dead and buried, but keep generating words in his death. Do not publish, but keep writing it, for a time when he can be resurrected as people will be more mature to bring him back from dead. Just hope that one day, people will be more mature, and keep writing. The author is dead, long live the author.