Life in Hiding: Censorship Challenges faced by Salman Rushdie and Perumal Murugan

Abstract

Salman Rushdie and Perumal Murugan have made significant literary contributions to modern Indian Literature. The study focuses on the authors’ post-traumatic mental conditions and societal anxiety. Controversies were prompted by Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses (1988) and Murugan’s One Part Woman (2010). Due to their literary career, the writers were forced to leave their hometowns involuntarily into exile also underwent self-censorship and self-exile. This paper examines the societal worries that the authors experienced regarding the books, which were published after the controversies surrounding their censored and banned works. The study distinguishes the implication of censorship and writers’ freedom of expression in the contemporary era of Indian literature. The diverse mental state of the authors during enforced self-imposed quarantine and global pandemic lockdown are interrogated. The paper focuses on the authors’ physical and psychological problems caused by opposers’ conservative views towards their writings. The paper also details the authors’ resilience amid political, and social pressure.