Chennai: A division bench of the Madras High Court settling once for all the issue relating to the Tamil novel “Madhorubagan”, authored by Perumal Murugan and which had kicked up controversy in December 2014. The furore had even led to a one-day bandh at Thiruchengode Taluk in Namakkal district and the author announced his death as a Tamil writer. The bench said, “Let the author be resurrected to what he is best at. Write”.
The author Prof Perumal Murugan should not be under fear. He should be able to write and advance the canvas of his writings. His writings would be a literary contribution, even if there were others who may differ with the material and style of his expression. The answer cannot be that it was his own decision to call himself dead as a writer. It was not a free decision, but as a result of a situation which was created”, said a division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Pushpa Sathyanarayana.
Allowing the petitions filed by S.Tamilselvan and Perumal Murugan, the bench said there was no binding force or obligation arising from the so called settlement arrived at with the intervention of the state authorities and a quietus be given to that issue. "There is no necessity warranting action against any publication of the novel Madhorubagan or its English translation One Part of Woman as sought for by the opponents of the novel. There can be no possible direction for any police action against the author and/or the publisher or for any case to be registered or proceeded further”, the bench added.
The bench said the novel refers to a social practice, if at all it ever existed, to somehow solve the problem of a childless couple through this peculiar, yet not very desirable practice. It was in fact a reflection of the desperation to which the society drives the childless couple to make such a compromise. “The novel shakes you, but not in the manner its opponents seeks to profess. It jolts you, because it succinctly sets for the pain and sufferance depicted through the words of this childless couple. That is the take away from the novel”, the bench added. The bench said people have read the novel and have found nothing wrong with it. Four long years elapsed since its initial release. It was nobody's case that it had fallen into some hands where it could cause damage. In any case, there were different kinds of books available on the shelves of the book stores to be read by different age groups from different strata. “If you do not like a book, simply close it. The answer is not its ban”, the bench added.
The bench said a reading of the novel does not create an appeal to the prurient interests or can be said to be lascivious or tending to deprave or corrupt. It can hardly be said that this novel was so offensive even by the current mores. It was not to be judged by the eyes of the insensitive which sees only obscenity in everything. “No one reading the novel would be persuaded to draw a definite conclusion as sought to be canvassed by the opponents of the novel that the endeavour of the author was to portray all women coming to the car festival as prostitutes. This is a complete misreading of the novel and its theme”, the bench added.
