CHENNAI: Fervent attempts to mobilize support to commute the death sentence for Perarivalan, one of the convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, by human rights activists and Tamil nationalist groups are yet to catch the attention of mainstream newspapers or television channels. Yet, if the debate has been kept alive in the public fora, the credit should go to some small-time Tamil magazines that do not jostle for space with regular dailies and magazines on the newsstands.
Political and literary publications like ‘Tamil Desiya Tamilar Kannottam’, ‘Samooga Needhi Tamil Desam’, ‘Maanavan’ and ‘Kalachuvadu’ have been highlighting the Perarivalan issue for quite some time, so much so that when the convict’s mercy petition was rejected by the President, thousands of sympathizers gathered for public meetings and protests in Chennai last week.
Thirty-year-old Maamaruthan of Kayathar village near Thoothukudi, who came all the way to participate in a meeting at T Nagar, was spotted browsing small magazines spread out at a make-shift stall at the venue. “In the name of Dravidian ideology, big political parties have cheated Tamils and Perarivalan is one such victim,” said Maamaruthan, who runs a small magazine ‘Porkkalam’ in Tuticorin to address issues affecting Tamils at large and marginalized communities in particular. “We sell around 3,000 copies per month,” he said.
The stalls selling books and magazines are a regular feature in such meetings and protests and the magazines on display go by the names like ‘Tamilkodi Vazhi’, ‘Thaagam’, ‘Manurimai’, ‘Maatram’, ‘Manmozhi’, ‘Mudhanmozhi’, ‘Unmai’, ‘Sindanaiyalan’ and ‘Puthiya Jananaayagam’.� They are brought out on shoe-string budgets by small political groups, socially active youth and activists.
“But they have strong vision and want their voices to be heard. It was the genocide of Tamils in Lanka that provoked many youngsters to start these magazines,” said Chinnappa Tamizhar, who has been selling alternative books for the last 15 years.
A R Venkatachalapathy, a professor with the Madras Institute of Development Studies, who has done extensive research on the print culture in Tamil Nadu, called this a healthy trend which has democratised the political space in the state. Pointing out that the print culture is deep-rooted in the history of Tamil Nadu, he said more than 400 small political magazines were in circulation during the peak of Dravidian Movement. “In the present context, various small political parties have their own magazines and have changed their focus based on the issues. A classic example is the Tamil Eelam issue”, he said.
After the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, mainstream political parties in the State maintained a stoic silence over the Tamil Nationalism and the Eelam issues. But the small magazines kept the Tamil Nationalism flame alive by debating issues like Mullaperiyar dam controversy, Cauvery Water Dispute and Palar dam apart from the Eelam issue.
“In the name of pan-Dravidian ideology, our rights to livelihood, water and natural resources have been taken away by the neighbouring so-called Dravidian states like Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. We have been highlighting these problems in our magazine,” said P Maniarasan, editor of ‘Tamil Desiya Tamilar Kannottam,’ which has a circulation of around 10,000.
Meanwhile, activists-cum-book sellers like V Venkatesh have even spent time in prison for selling books. “My husband was arrested while selling books on Eelam issue. It took three months for us to bring him out,” said Ananthi, who was busy selling books on rational ideas at Devaneya Pavanar Arangam during a public meeting.
Chinnappa Tamizhar, who also runs a shop in MMDA colony, said he sells around 100 copies of small political magazines. Moreover, small pamphlets on reformers and leaders like Periyar, Ambedkar, Marx and Lenin are also sold in good numbers. Pamphlets on LTTE chief V Prabhakaran are also in demand, he pointed out.
However, the proliferation of the small magazines are not confined to political issues alone. Little magazines with strong focus on modern philosophical, literature and political ideas are coming out. But, without a huge market, their publication will often be irregular, said Venkatachalapathy.
Meanwhile,� new technologies like desktop publishing and digital system have changed the face of small magazines. Many magazines like ‘Kalachuvadu’, ‘Uyirmmai’, ‘Pudhiya Kodangi’, ‘Dalit Murasu’, and ‘Nizhal’ have captured the place of little magazines. Interestingly, they have incorporated the tradition of little magazines like publishing serious articles on international politics, culture, literature and critical review on cinema,” said Sorna Bharathi, general secretary of Tamil Chittrithazhgal Sangam.
Explaining how technology comes handy to them, he said that during the earlier times, they needed almost one full day to print a page. It used to take a minimum of 25 days to print 32 pages, but now proof-reading is done through DTP and within four days a magazine could be brought out.
Manushya Puthran, writer and the editor of Uyirmmai said, “Leading literary critics are writing columns and articles in our magazine. The magazine is also available in the book stores in the countries like Canada, Singapore, London and Malaysia,” he said, adding that they have huge online followers too.
“But what worries us is the quality of many of such magazines. Many middle magazines don’t have quality content, and even DTP centre owners have become publishers. This trend will affect the quality of small Tamil magazines in the long-run,” said writer D Ravi Kumar, who is also a general secretary of VCK.
Sharing the same view, social activist and writer A Marx said that even in the case of small political magazines, the articles lack depth. Many of them don’t study the issues in total, but make emotional appeals, he added.
However, Ravi Kumar added that this new trend in the small magazines has created cross-cultural interaction among Tamils, thereby creating a pluralist political culture in the state. “And now issues can be addressed globally,” he added.
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