Apr 13, 5pm. S. Panneerselvan, political commentator and author of Karunanidhi: A Life (Penguin 2021). Q&A session with a long-time observer of Indian politics, and specifically Tamil Politics.
Abstract of book on Karunanidhi: There are two trajectories for nation- building—holding together and coming together. Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, who exemplified the path of coming together. Karunanidhi: A Life, a biography published by Penguin Random House in mid-2021 documents the life of writer-politician Muthuvel Karunanidhi. He is amongst the most important political figures India has ever seen. He was the chief minister of Tamil Nadu for five terms and leader of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) for over five decades. His fruitful career as a regional leader who helped in the formation of various coalition governments at Delhi—from the Janata Experiment in 1977, to the formation of the National Front government in 1989, the United Front government in 1996, the third NDA government led by Vajpayee in 1999, and two full terms of the UPA-led by Man Mohan Singh between 2004 and 2014—and his contribution to Tamil history and culture have been invaluable. The biography explains how Karunanidhi became a sort of metaphor of modern Tamil Nadu, where language, empowerment, self-respect, art and literary forms and films coalesce to lend a unique vibrancy to politics. The discussion and interaction at NYU will touch some of the defining moments that led to the protection of the linguistic plurality of India and its federal core.
A.S. Panneerselvan is an Indian journalist, editor and columnist. He heads the Centre for Study in Public Sphere, Roja Muthiah Research Library in Chennai. His is tasked to create a fellowship programme to study and document various aspects of culture and modernity in Tamil. In March 2021, Penguin Random House published his definitive biography of one of the most popular Indian politician, Karunanidhi. In 2022, the Government of Tamil Nadu has conferred G.U. Pope Award on him for his literary contributions. In his extensive career in the media, he has worked with several prestigious media houses and networks, including as Managing Editor at the Sun Network and as the Chief of Bureau at Outlook magazine, an English language weekly. He was the longest serving Readers’ Editor at the Hindu, a position he held for nine years between 2012 and 2021. He is also Executive Director at Panos South Asia, an organisation that seeks to use media as a tool for fostering public debate and democracy. He is the governing council member of K M Adimoolam Trust for Arts in Chennai. He was a steering committee member of the Global Forum for Media Development, and a Fellow of the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford. He has been working on the question of devolution and federalism for nearly four decades. He is also a journalism teacher and an adjunct faculty member at the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. He has lectured widely on politics and media in Europe, UK and the USA. He has edited anthologies of essays produced by journalist fellows that include “Uncertain Journeys” published by the Speaking Tiger. His next book is “Periodic Table of Tamil Modernity: 1858 to 1968”.