For Alleged Slurs On Women, Nair Service Society Asks Members To Stop Subscribing To Mathrubhumi Group

The Nair Service Society, Delhi has asked all its 24 village committees or Karayogams and their family members to stop subscribing to the Malayalam daily Mathrubhumi and its other publications in view of the daily carrying parts of controversial novel “Meesha” by S Hareesh in its weekly magazine.

The NSS, a body set up for the social advancement of the Nair society in Kerala, has been angered by some of the contents in the novel. In the novel, the writer has reportedly portrayed women going to temples and the priests there in poor light.

Last week, a Supreme Court bench, hearing a petition to ban the book, had observed that the culture of banning books was wrong. The Union and state governments have opposed any ban on the book.

In the petition, Delhi resident N Radhakrishnan had objected to a dialogue between two characters in the novel that allegedly insults women. He also alleged that the author has indulged in casteist slur with his comments on Brahmins.

Hareesh has been facing threats ever since Mathrubhumi began carrying parts of the novel last month. Following this, Hareesh withdrew the novel from Mathrubhumi but it was published separately as a book on 31 July.