I believe in my obituary, says Perumal Murugan

CHENNAI: Embattled Tamil author Perumal Murugan told the Madras high court on Tuesday that he had written his own obituary and still believed in it. “I published my own obituary in my Facebook account. Whether others believe in the death of Perumal Murugan as a writer or not, I believe in it. A writer cannot function under threat or fear,” the author of the controversial novel ‘Mathorubagan’ (One Part Woman) said in an affidavit.The court is hearing a batch of public interest petitions filed in the aftermath of the controversy.
Taking note of the fact that the author himself had come before the court for the first time since December 2014 when caste and fringe groups hounded him out of his home town Tiruchengode in Namakkal district, the first bench of the court said it would treat the author’s affidavit as a petition and close the PILs filed by others including a writers’ association.
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Multifarious litigation would never serve the purpose, Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul said, adding, “Everyone wants to have a share in the excitement.” He, however, said he would permit other petitioners to assist the court.
In his affidavit, Murugan narrated the entire sequence of events beginning with the threats and his complaint to police in Tiruchengode on December 22, 2014, and added that he had merely affixed his signature on the “undertaking” and “unconditional apology” drafted by a woman divisional revenue officer who convened a “peace committee meeting” at the Namakkal collectorate at the peak of the controversy.
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‘Mathorubagan’ kicked up a controversy as a portion of the novel spoke about a strange temple custom. Facing flak locally and targeted by fringe groups, he had to flee the town and remain underground. He later lodged a police complaint.
Local police and revenue authorities then held a “peace committee” meeting, where the author had to face representatives of protesters alone. At the end of the meeting, he gave an undertaking to delete the controversial portions from the book, withdraw unsold copies of the book from the market and not to write such objectionable stuff in future, and offered unconditional apology.
After the meeting, Murugan announced in his Facebook account that writer Perumal Murugan was dead and that he would not write anything anymore. He would simply be a college lecturer henceforth. The self-obituary created a storm in literary circles and support poured in from different quarters. Progressive Writers Association and PUCL filed PILs in the high court. The court, however, was keen to hear the writer.
On Tuesday, for the first time, Murugan made his written submissions in the court. He said ever since the controversy broke, his family had been living in exile and suffering unbearable mental tension and confusion. The function of a writer is to question social values and subject them to critical examination, Murugan said, adding that he did not know if he could continue to write with same understanding hereafter. “At the end of the introspection, I concluded that I should cease to write,” he said in the petition.
The bench adjourned the matter to April 27 for further hearing.