Strings attached

Leave him alone.” While the novel was being burnt and a disillusioned Murugan insisted on withdrawing it, the publisher attempted to keep the distribution channels alive. “The book was sold in the black market and it became the first Tamil book to appear in a pirated edition,” said Kannan, who received a hate call that greeted him as “enemy of Hinduism”. The panel agreed that censorship had traditionally come from the state, but today it is non-state players who are successfully stopping works they disagree with. “I believe women are a soft target in all the communities,” said Seyyid. She had created a furore among the Muslim community by speaking about legalising sex work. A photo of her face was superimposed onto that of a raped and murdered woman and circulated online.

Turning to Venkatachalapathy, Seyyid said, “You introduced me as a Sri Lankan Muslim Tamil woman, that is four identities. When a Muslim woman starts to write, every aspect of her is noticed, from how she dresses to how she talks. Everything is criticised.” Krishna pointed out that there weren’t enough voices raised for Koval, an ultra-left singer who has been charged with sedition by Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa. Does the tradition of protest in the country against persecution also reveal a language and class barrier?