Haunted by Fire: Essays on Caste, Class, Exploitation and Emancipation

by Mythily Sivaraman

Mythily Sivaraman's essays range from agrarian unrest, caste oppression, land, labour and wages, the centrality of class struggle, the early promise of change, the radical course of left struggles, the coercive apparatus of the state, issues of impunity, and the way the emergency worked out on the ground.

Genres: Nonfiction, India, Politics, Class

457 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

Reviews

[N Kalyan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent collection of essays presenting the Left's critique of the Indian state and Periyar/Dravidian parties in Tamilnadu during the period 1960-80.

Very valuable for anyone who wants to be educated on the limitations of the Periyarist movement and the profoundly meretricious and anti-people tendencies of the DMK. It also chronicles the rise of MGR and the brutal repression unleashed by the police under his watch.

Very useful introduction by social historian V Geetha.

[Sricharan AR · Rating 4 out of 5]

“The revolutionary urges of the masses find a vicarious fulfillment in the movies while in reality they are denied a real-life forum for articulation.”

[Preethi Krishnan · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was quite enlightening for me to read these essays, a left critique of Tamil Nadu politics, written at a particular time in history. Reading Mythily's documentation of repression of unions and peasant movements, it is amazing that the working class movements have managed to survive the way they do till today. The stories of state violence and state support for violence unleashed by landlords and factory owners were hard to read. There were so many of them! I have read about Kilvenmani before but Mythily's essay took me to the various narratives that were prevalent at the time and how they helped to play down the horrendous nature of the violence. The strategy of unleashing multiple narratives in the media can be seen even today. That way, many of her essays were useful not just as a historical document but rather to demonstrate the continuity of state violence till today. That is why, it is also understandable how Mythily writes about violence. She says, non-violence was never relevant to Indian politics. I am not sure, but clearly, non-violence was not the only form of struggle in India. I felt that the chronological organization of the essays could have been more structured. Some of her earlier essays also depict an admiration of Chinese policies. I wonder how she would evaluate China's role in the world today. Her essay on Cuba's education policy was also enlightening. Some of the terms/phrases/tone that she uses to describe the Dalit-Communist struggles, can be critiqued when read today. For me, it was interesting to read about Tamil Nadu politics as it was written about at that time.