National seminar on law and literature

HYDERABAD: Exploring the complex relationship, a two-day national seminar on law and literature was organised by the Council for Social Development and Chithyala Ailamma Centre for Interdisciplinary Research at Rajendra Nagar here on Sunday. A one-of-its-kind conference, the inaugural day saw discussions on the ancient form of law governing scriptures and the protest literature in the light of tribal rights. “When Tasleema Nasreen was attacked on her visit to Hyderabad, Asmita Resource Centre for Women had filed a petition in the AP High Court.We have engaged in a large amount of work based on the legal system and its impact on literature through censorship. The idea for a similar conference was thought of two years ago but there were few takers.It is the first time that we are engaging in a discussion which addresses translation, representation, social justice, law and literature,” Kalpana Kannabiran, founder member of Asmita collective and director of CSD, said.The two-day seminar in honour of civil rights activist and lawyer, K.G Kannabiran is more in keeping with the spirit of her late father, observes Kalpana Kannabiran. “He loved literature and his was a prospective ideology.Memorial meetings are retrospective in nature and this conference is an ideal way to pay tribute to him,” she said.The idea of Constitution not in sense of the constitutional law but as a derivative of commons which adapts itself to the demands for justice forms the core of the discussion. Though tribal rights activist CK Janu was missing, the presence of noted poet and writer Saroop Dhruv, filmmaker Deepa Dhanraj as well as those associated with Asmita, Urdu writer Jeelani Bano and feminist writer Vasanth Kannabiran were present.