As the Supreme Court puts the notorious Section 124A on hold, Kabani reviews Shinilal’s novel based on the controversial law, arguing that the book goes beyond a critique of the overpowering fascist ideological tendencies in state machinery to ask pertinent questions on democracy and citizenship.
Kabani R.
On 11th May 2022, the Supreme Court of India put Section 124 A, the notorious sedition law, on hold. The law enacted in 1870 was used by the British Raj to curb political dissent against the state and to imprison political leaders for their criticism of the colonial government. After Independence, the colonial relic was used as an instrument by the state authorities to attack their political rivals, subdue dissent, and crush free speech. In recent years, the provision has been misused to control all democratic dissent as an offence against the state. V. Shinilal’s novel, 124, exposes the abuse of power under this law and its unlawful exertion to target, oppress, and silence any citizen. At first, it was published as a short story, but the acknowledgement it received motivated the writer to develop it into a novel. The novel inquires into the position of the individual in a free state. It critiques the supremacy of the State and its ideology over individuals and freedom of expression. Democracy is a polished form of dictatorship—a view expressed by Shinilal in his previous work, Sambarkkakranthi, gets reiterated in 124.
The novel is in the first person narrative and depicts the terrifying situations that a writer faces when his writing is scrutinised through the lenses of nationalism and nationalist spirit. His short story ‘124’, based on a childhood incident, is to be held responsible. One day at the author’s school, the national anthem—Jana Gana Mana, printed in a school textbook, got disfigured by ink spilt from his pen. Years later, Shinilal’s classmates blackmail him for this episode and extract money. The accident is misinterpreted as disrespect to the national anthem and ensues in verbal abuse and threats towards the author. When threatening attempts extend to the home, the writer decides to lodge a complaint at the police station.
At the station, the victim becomes the perpetrator—the police arrest and interrogate the writer for committing the crime of sedition. In the preliminary questioning, the writer had to answer questions based on the national anthem to assess his attitude and devotion. Shinilal has to justify before interrogating officers why his short stories and creative expressions deal with anti-national themes, political responses, and concerns. Moreover, they even tell him what themes should be present in his writings. In the following pages, we see how the Police, a symbol of authoritarian arrogance and control, crush individual lives and liberties to serve the State’s interests. Through this, the novel explores the irony of how one in need of justice is deemed a criminal on the pretext of nationalistic fervour.
Form is Political
Though 124 uses the framework of the novel, by incorporating small short stories, scenes of a screenplay, autobiographical elements, and biographical references, it dismantles the conventional novelistic techniques. By illustrating a math problem—rat and cat—in the beginning, the writer sets the tone of the novel. While solving the problem, his daughter remarks that if a question is set with the purpose of catering to the cat’s success, a student is helpless to save the rat. So, if the state mechanism decides to exert manufactured narratives and false allegations over any voice of dissent, citizens are powerless. A usual novel format is replaced; the unforeseen arrangement that disturbs the expected novel form reflects the scattered and conflicting ideas that exist in society.
By giving the writer, i.e., the main character, his name, Shinilal becomes a representative of all writers and readers in the world. All the components in the novel extend the underlying theme, the quest for freedom, in one way or another. Besides, the novel depicts a universe where characters from Shinilal’s earlier works come into his recollection or converse with him. Their presence reaffirms his political purpose in writing. For instance, he remembers Kunchan Nambiar, a prolific Malayalam poet and social satirist who is counted as a rebel for his staunch criticism of the monarchy. Shinilal also questions the whole point of writing as a vocation, if the writer must suffer the consequences. This points to the earlier right-wing attack on fellow Malayalee writers like S. Hareesh who faced criticism for his novel, Meesha, and lately, the cyber attack on Rafeeq Ahamed for his anti-K rail poem.
Aside from chronicling the sedition cases from Gandhi to Disha Ravi, Shinilal’s novel mentions the ‘urban-Naxal’ arrests and witch hunt, encounter killings alleging Maoist and Naxal inks, the disappearance of JNU student, Najeeb Ahmed, and Citizenship Amendment Act protests, attacks, and deaths. The novel narrates an incident where to incite fear in the writer, police plant fake evidence on his social media platform to frame him. This incident recalls the Bhima Koregaon case, where Pune cops’ link to planting fabricated digital evidence on activists’ devices has been reported.
Sedition and Kerala
It was in 2019 that veteran Malayalam film director and Dadasaheb Award winner Adoor Gopalakrishnan, along with 49 other intellectuals, was charged with sedition for writing an open letter expressing concern about mob lynching incidents and rising intolerance in the country. Though the suspension of sedition laws is a positive step, the incorporation of sedition offences into the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, which is more stringent and dangerous than the 124, is a cause for concern. Similarly, in Kerala, there is a growing apprehension that the government might invoke KAAPA (Kerala Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act), another draconian law with no judicial scrutiny, as a political tool to suppress dissent in the state.
At the time of publication of the novel, 124 A cases were increasing in the country in relation to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) protests, the Pulwama terror attacks, and the Hathras gang-rape incident. Besides, the raising of anti-government slogans, the showing of placards, and social media posts all fell under the purview of seditious acts. Some of the most bizarre instances of misuse of this provision were when Shashi Tharoor and six journalists were booked for their alleged misinforming tweets during the farmer’s tractor rally violence, and when three Kashmiri students in Agra were charged for their celebration of Pakistan’s victory against India in the T20 World Cup. Certainly, the Supreme Court placing 124 A on hold is a historical order, yet in the name of UAPA, another ruthless provision, people like Siddique Kappan, a Kerala-based journalist, are in jail for more than two years, being denied freedom and justice.
Conclusion
Shinilal is one of the prominent literary voices in contemporary Malayalam literature. His writings are relevant and offer a solid critique of current socio-political issues. Unlike other contemporary Malayalam novels, which address political themes peripherally, 124 is outrightly political. Though he describes himself as a weak and powerless human who stumbles upon these controversies and police inquiries, Shinilal identifies and remains a responsive writer. His writings reciprocate his politics with fierceness and conviction. Along with critiquing the overpowering fascist ideological tendencies in the functioning of the state machinery, the novel pushes certain pertinent questions into our consciousness–Why is the spirit of democracy getting associated with a reign of terror, fear, and oppression lately? Where does the position of a free citizen lie in a democratic nation? And which is more important, the freedom of the individual or the ideology in power?
About the Author:Kabani R. is a freelance writer and reviewer. She is interested in literature, culture and politics.
Editor’s Note: This article is one of six articles written by participants from our 2022 Writing Workshop, and part of Ala’s fourth-anniversary specials: Issue 49 and Issue 50.
Good review.relevant