P Jimshar: A writer who believes in his work

Writer P. Jimshar has several tales to tell about his ancestral village Koonammoochi in Palakkad. His first novel, Bhoopadathil Ninnum Kuzhichedutha Kurippukal was set in Koonammoochi, where his uncle was brutally killed long ago. And now, most recently, he was assaulted by a group alleged to be religious fanatics after the news broke out on the release of his anthology of short stories named Padachonte Chitrapradarsanam. “More than the physical assault, what saddens me is that the world will relate the short story collection to the attack. I don’t want any fame from the attack and use it as a marketing tool. I want people to read the book based on my writing. No one should buy the book just because I was assaulted,” says Jimshar.

For the same reason, Jimshar painfully decided not to attend the book release event. “I believed that the function would become a platform to exploit the attack on me and popularise the book. I am a writer with self-esteem. My first novel was a best-seller. I don’t want anything like this to promote my book. My literature itself is powerful to do it,” says Jimshar. Jimshar, who did a Masters in Journalism from Kannur University, had published another short story collection when he was a student and a novel before the incident. The writer decided to publish Padachonte Chitrapradarsanam, a collection of nine short stories he wrote in the past four years, while he was working on his second novel Editing Nadakkuna Aakasham.

The writer likes to tell the stories with historical background and his first novel Bhoopadathil Ninnum Kuzhichedutha Kurippukal deals with how major historical happenings affect a small village. “The irony is that those who manhandled me shouted at me that I wrote derogatorily about Allah.  It is clear that they have not read what I have written and they have no knowledge about literature. I see an element of intolerance that has plagued our society at present. In the past, several famous writers have criticised religion. But now, even just naming a book in the name of God is seen as a crime. And this intolerance is not specific to any certain religion. Even the state has intolerance towards its own people. What we see is a reflection and by-product of the larger intolerance shown to Muslims,” says Jimshar.

Jimshar is sad about the lackadaisical approach by the police to arrest anyone related to the attack. “The police also behaved as if I have committed a crime. I think even if someone hurts religious sentiments, there are law and judiciary to punish him. But what they did it to me is atrocious and the police have not still arrested anyone though I gave concrete evidence of their involvement,” said Jimshar.  “I only evaluate my literature on the basis of how the book is discussed in society,” says Jimshar, who has written two scripts based on his stories and plans to make a movie.