The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed the petition seeking a ban on the Malayalam novel ‘Meesha’, authored by S Hareesh.
Welcoming the verdict, Hareesh said, “I am happy the verdict upholds a writer’s creativity and free thinking. Hope it will encourage free flow of ideas.”
The judgment pronounced by a bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said, “Subjective perceptions about a book should not be allowed to enter legal arena when it comes to censorship”.
The petitioner N Radhakrishnan had objected to a dialogue between two characters in the novel, which he claimed ‘insulted Hindu women.’
Hareesh was forced to withdraw Meesa, being serialized in a weekly, last July after threats from suspected right-wing groups. The writer, also a Kerala Sahitya Akademi winner, said he was really pained over a concerted campaign against his novel and forced to withdraw it.
The novel depicted rigours of caste system that existed in Kerala half a century back. The writer had said some people circulated excerpts of the book on social media and started a virulent campaign alleging he hurt religious sentiments.
They reportedly took exception to a conversation between two characters in the novel who are discussing reasons behind young women dressing up in their best attire and looking pretty when they go to temples. One of them observes: “They are consciously announcing that they are willing for an intimate relationship.”
{{/usCountry}}They reportedly took exception to a conversation between two characters in the novel who are discussing reasons behind young women dressing up in their best attire and looking pretty when they go to temples. One of them observes: “They are consciously announcing that they are willing for an intimate relationship.”
{{/usCountry}}He was trolled and abused on social media and was also threatened he would be taught a lesson the way poet Kureepuzha Sreekumar had been. Sreekumar was attacked allegedly by Sangh Parivar supporters a couple of months back.
(Inputs from Ramesh Babu in Thiruvananthapuram)