Kerala: Its pen against the sword

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Jnanpeeth award winner Mahasveta Devi has come out in the open against the alleged derogatory remarks cast upon her by controversial CPM Idukki district secretary M M Mani  in the course of his speech at Thodupuzha last week.
“I request Keralan  writers, film workers and cultural workers to stand up and protest. We the cultural people have only one weapon. We can protest. In West Bengal  we do openly protest,” she appeals to the people  in an open letter  to CPM state secretary Pinarayi Vijayan.
She says she is writing the letter after she received a telephone call on Thursday from  Majeendran, a  fisherman from Thoppumpady, much agitated over the remarks on her.
In a three-page handwritten letter, she says, “I see this crude and uncouth character spitting venom on me. But I am not angry with Mani. Watching him was great fun.” “I can’t take any action against Mani. In a strange and metaphysical manner, he is true. At the young age of  87, I am still suffering from lust of life,”  she said referring to Mani’s derogatory remark castigating her as one with a bad character.
“What crime did I commit to deserve this,” she asks Vijayan.

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