Rajadurai and Geetha continue to translate poetry and fiction from English to Tamil. They have also authored monographs on western Marxism, including a comprehensive volume on the life and thought of Antonio Gramsci. Their major work comprises essays on the Dravidian movement and politics published in the Economic and Political Weekly, and the book, Towards a Non Brahmin Millennium: from Iyothee Thass to Periyar. Geetha and S V Rajadurai have worked together for over 25 years-as authors and translators. She writes, in English and Tamil, on issues to do with caste, education, feminism and contemporary Tamil society. Geetha is a feminist historian, writer and translator, who has been active in the women's movement for several years. Associated with a broad spectrum of left movements, he has worked for several years in the civil liberties movement and was Vice-President, PUCL. But at its core, it is a gruesome reminder of the treatment that is meted out to the oppressed when they start demanding what is rightfully theirsĬonversation : S V Rajadurai, V Geetha & Vidya Bhushan Rawat on Periyar's ideology, self respect movement and opportunism of political parties S V Rajadurai is one of the leading intellectuals from Tamil Nadu who has written, in English and Tamil, on a range of issues to do with Marxism and literature with Tamil politics and modern history, including Periyar and the Dravidian movement and translated widely, both fiction and non-fiction.
Politics, caste and class issues are so inextricably intertwined that it is impossible to know where one ends and another begins. The incident in which 44 people, mostly women and children, belonging to dalit agricultural families, were burnt alive by landlords and their henchmen is more than just a class clash. But the passage of time, lack of proper documentation and multiplicity of narratives have buried the incident in mystery and uncertainty. Keezhvenmani often finds mention in the discourse of dalit atrocities as one of the earliest and most violent crimes in post-independent India.
This paper is an attempt to reconstruct the Keezhvenmani dalit massacre of 1968 by placing it in the larger socio-political scenario, giving it a ‘pre-history,’ scouring the various narratives of the incident and its aftermath, the emotions and movements it spurred, and finally how it lives on – constructed and shaped by memories.
0 kommentar(er)
