Skip to main content

Ban on Jharkhand writer's fiction: Would govt also prohibit all erotic works, including Kamasutra?

 
Around hundred writers, academics, artistes and professionals have taken strong exception to the Jharkhand government banning young adivasi writer Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s collection of short stories, "The Adivasi Will Not Dance", calling the decision "absurd", setting "a dangerous precedent."
Interestingly, despite the ban, which was imposed a fortnight ago, the short stories collection is in English and is available online as well as on Kindle.
"We are bewildered and dismayed", the statement, signed among others, by top Booker prize winning writer Arundhati Roy, well-known sociologist Nandini Sundar, tribal rights activist Gladson Dungdung, development economist Jean Drèze, economist Reetika Khera, veteran social worker Stan Swamy, researcher Bela Bhatia, lawyer Sudha Bharadwaj, ex-editor Xavier Dias and others, says.
"Freedom of expression is a fundamental right under Article 19 of the Indian Constitution. The same article, admittedly, allows the state to make laws that impose 'reasonable restrictions' on this fundamental right, but only based on specific grounds (such as national security or public order), none of which apply in this case", the statement says.
"Superficially, it may appear that one of these pre-specified grounds, 'the interests of decency', could be invoked to justify the ban. The book does include some sexually explicit scenes, but calling them 'indecent' would be extreme prudishness. If books that include love-making scenes were to be banned, hundreds of thousands of novels would have to be banned, not to speak of the Kamasutra. Those who think of sex as indecent are free to read something else", the statement reads.
The statement further says, "It has been argued that some stories in the book are 'derogatory to Santhal women', in particular a story where a Santhal woman consents to casual sex with a policeman in exchange for money. Even if it were true that this story is derogatory, that would not constitute a permissible ground for banning the book under Article 19."
In fact, the statement says that "the view that the story is derogatory overlooks the fact that it is a work of imagination. The imaginary incident described in the story does not cast any aspersions whatsoever on Santhal women. It is just possible that the story is inspired by some real-life event, but if that is so, it makes the story all the more legitimate."
Belonging to the tribal community Santhal, Shekhar, earlier published his novel "The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey" (2014), followed by _The Adivasi Will Not Dance" (2015), both which explore the Adivasi life. Before the ban was effected, a group of adivasis in Jharkhand, where he works as a government medical officer in the town of Pakur, launched an online and offline campaign against him and his writing, which, they claim, objectify and exploit Adivasi women.
According to this campaign, his writings are pure “porn” and run down Adivasi culture. The campaigners burnt down Shekhar’s effigy and copies of both his books at a park in Pakur. A Sahitya Akademi Award-winning writer, the campaigners wrote a letter to the Akademi on July 20, 2017, questioning the criteria used to award the Yuva Puraskar, 2015, to Shekhar’s novel.
The citation with the award reads: “Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar’s 'The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey' is a novel about Santal life written from the perspective of an insider. The narrative weaves the warp and weft of Santal life in an idiom that is fresh, intimate and original. The characters in the novel are life-like and vivid and stay with the readers. His experiment and innovation with language is something that will remain a kind of milestone for new writers…”
The "trial" against Shekhar first started on social media, with a group of adivasis calling his writing about adivasi women nothing but “porn.” They soon called for his ouster from Jharkhand, organised protest marches and burnt his effigy, prompting the government — after the Opposition too rallied against the writer — to ban the book.
The ban was effected after the issue was discussed in the the state assembly, with Chief Minister Raghubar Das directing the Chief Secretary to confiscate copies of the book and start legal proceedings. Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Roy said the government was looking to slap a case on the writer under Section 295 of the IPC, which pertains to injuring or defiling a place of worship and carries a jail sentence of up to two years.

Comments

TRENDING

Dalit rights and political tensions: Why is Mevani at odds with Congress leadership?

While I have known Jignesh Mevani, one of the dozen-odd Congress MLAs from Gujarat, ever since my Gandhinagar days—when he was a young activist aligned with well-known human rights lawyer Mukul Sinha’s organisation, Jan Sangharsh Manch—he became famous following the July 2016 Una Dalit atrocity, in which seven members of a family were brutally assaulted by self-proclaimed cow vigilantes while skinning a dead cow, a traditional occupation among Dalits.  

Powering pollution, heating homes: Why are Delhi residents opposing incineration-based waste management

While going through the 50-odd-page report Burning Waste, Warming Cities? Waste-to-Energy (WTE) Incineration and Urban Heat in Delhi , authored by Chythenyen Devika Kulasekaran of the well-known advocacy group Centre for Financial Accountability, I came across a reference to Sukhdev Vihar — a place where I lived for almost a decade before moving to Moscow in 1986 as the foreign correspondent of the daily Patriot and weekly Link .

Boeing 787 under scrutiny again after Ahmedabad crash: Whistleblower warnings resurface

A heart-wrenching tragedy has taken place in Ahmedabad. As widely reported, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner plane crashed shortly after taking off from the city’s airport, currently operated by India’s top tycoon, Gautam Adani. The aircraft was carrying 230 passengers and 12 crew members.  As expected, the crash has led to an outpouring of grief across the country. At the same time, there have been demands for the resignation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, and the Civil Aviation Minister.

Ahmedabad's civic chaos: Drainage woes, waterlogging, and the illusion of Olympic dreams

In response to my blog on overflowing gutter lines at several spots in Ahmedabad's Vejalpur, a heavily populated area, a close acquaintance informed me that it's not just the middle-class housing societies that are affected by the nuisance. Preeti Das, who lives in a posh locality in what is fashionably called the SoBo area, tells me, "Things are worse in our society, Applewood."

Global NGO slams India for media clampdown during conflict, downplays Pakistan

A global civil rights group, Civicus has taken strong exception to how critical commentaries during the “recent conflict” with Pakistan were censored in India, with journalists getting “targeted”. I have no quarrel with the Civicus view, as the facts mentioned in it are all true.

Remembering Vijay Rupani: A quiet BJP leader who listened beyond party lines

Late evening on June 12, a senior sociologist of Indian origin, who lives in Vienna, asked me a pointed question: Of the 241 persons who died as a result of the devastating plane crash in Ahmedabad the other day, did I know anyone? I had no hesitation in telling her: former Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani, whom I described to her as "one of the more sensible persons in the BJP leadership."

Whither SCOPE? Twelve years on, Gujarat’s official English remains frozen in time

While writing my previous blog on how and why Narendra Modi went out of his way to promote English when he was Gujarat chief minister — despite opposition from people in the Sangh Parivar — I came across an interesting write-up by Aakar Patel, a well-known name among journalists and civil society circles.

A conman, a demolition man: How 'prominent' scribes are defending Pritish Nandy

How to defend Pritish Nandy? That’s the big question some of his so-called fans seem to ponder, especially amidst sharp criticism of his alleged insensitivity during his journalistic career. One such incident involved the theft and publication of the birth certificate of Masaba Gupta, daughter of actor Neena Gupta, in the Illustrated Weekly of India, which Nandy was editing at the time. He reportedly did this to uncover the identity of Masaba’s father.

Why India’s renewable energy sector struggles under 2,735 compliance hurdles

Recently, during a conversation with an industry representative, I was told how easy it is to set up a startup in Singapore compared to India. This gentleman, who had recently visited Singapore, explained that one of the key reasons Indians living in the Southeast Asian nation prefer establishing startups there is because the government is “extremely supportive” when it comes to obtaining clearances. “They don’t want to shift operations to India due to the large number of bureaucratic hurdles,” he remarked.