I Accuse…!".

Thus screamed history's most celebrated and scathing open letter, penned by a famed writer to an authoritarian state. The writer was Emile Zola, the illustrious French novelist and public figure, and the year, 1898. The letter, published on the front page of a newspaper, was addressed to Félix Faure, President of France, accusing his government and the French army leadership of authoritarianism and antisemitism. It spoke against the wrongful life imprisonment and exile of Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish officer in the French army accused of espionage by an army court blinded by antisemitism. Zola's letter created a stir in and out of France.

Prosecuted and convicted for libel against the President, Zola fled to England to escape imprisonment. In 1906, a reinvestigation exonerated Dreyfus of all charges, but Zola, who died three years earlier, could not see himself vindicated. The incident went down in history as the"Dreyfus Affair," and Zola's letter- "J' accuse..!- became a reference to the conscientious intellectual's resistance against a prejudiced, sectarian, and authoritarian state and its agencies.

Malayalam's most celebrated living author, MT Vasudevan Nair, whose explosive speech in Kozhikode in the presence of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will go down as our own "I Accuse" moment in history. The nonagenarian, arguably Kerala's only voice today commanding respect cutting across all divides, ignored his advanced age and ailments to speak like a prophet against the growing intolerance, concentration of power, and the increasing personality cult around the leader. As a man of few words who has largely kept away from Kerala's highly politicized cultural sphere, MT's candid speech created a huge uproar in the state. His words also filled the vacuum created by the passing away of icons like VR Krishna Iyer and Sukumar Azhikode, who represented Malayali’s collective conscience. MT's words of wisdom and warning are to enter history like Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon's anguished poem -Minduka Mahamune!- (Speak up, silent sage) calling Chief Minister C Achutha Menon to break his silence on the custodial death of P Rajan during the dark days of the Emergency.

Just as........

© Mathrubhumi English