Tamil books and recurringCustoms meddling

“…Deputy Minister of Religious and Cultural Affairs, Muneer Mulaffer told the Sunday Observer that the Government does not intend to censor writing in any language and that they will look into the detention of Yatharthan’s books.

However, releasing a book after Government intervention, on behalf of individual authors, leaves the next writer dependent on a similar action. Officials must be given instructions that enable them to resolve an issue without passing responsibility indefinitely between institutions.

Yatharthan said his novel Nakulaathai, also set against the war, passed through the same office in 2022 without any issue. “This is an indication that decisions on books are ad hoc. Whether a book is detained or not depends on how the officer-in-charge feels at that particular moment,” he said.

Jaffna poet and editor, Kirishanth Sivasubramaniyam said that the Government must end the repeated detention and harassment of writers through clear instructions to the Customs staff.

“Friends who visit Jaffna after some time tell me there have been some changes in administration since this Government came to power. I appreciate the office environment in which people are treated with dignity and care. But writers deserve such an environment too. If anyone wandering around the Customs Department can question a writer and look down on him, that deserves condemnation,” he said..”