CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has ordered notice to two authors and the publisher based at Noida directing them to file reply to a civil suit filed by Dravidar Kazhagam (DK) leader K Veeramani alleging that the book attributes “wilful and malicious” statements to the late rationalist leader ‘Thanthai’ Periyar about the annihilation of Brahmins in the state. He also sought Rs 1 crore and one thousand in damages from the publisher and the authors.
Justice K Govindarajan Thilakavadi directed the authors – Gautam R Desiraju of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, and Deekhit Bhattacharya of Delhi – and publisher BluOne Ink Pvt Ltd to file the counter-affidavit by September 9, and adjourned the hearing to September 10.
Veeramani filed the suit in his capacity as secretary of The Periyar Self-Respect Propaganda Institution. He said the book titled “Delimitation and States Reorganization for a Better Democracy in Bharat” attributes certain comments to Periyar as if he had called for killing Brahmins wherever they are found. He noted the book states that these comments were extracted from Periyar’s speech at Karikudi in 1973 as published in the “Collected Works of Periyar EVR”. At no point in his life did ‘Thanthai’ Periyar advocate violence against any community. The manufactured quotation reflects a “deliberate attempt” by the book’s authors to promote propaganda aligned with contemporary political narratives falsely attributing them to his publication, Veeramani stated. He alleged that the attribution infringes moral rights under the Copyright Act, 1957, and it amounts to “defamation and intentional falsification” of the historical record with an aim of furthering political agenda of Hindutva and creating hatred.
