Published Mar 19, 2026 | 6:15 PM ⚊ Updated Mar 19, 2026 | 6:15 PM
Meena Kandasamy. Credit: x.com/meenakandasamy
Synopsis: Award-winning Tamil poet and Dalit feminist Dr Meena Kandasamy has written a raw open letter to Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin, detailing years of relentless misogynistic abuse from DMK-affiliated social media handles. After translating his father Karunanidhi’s biography, she faced vicious slurs — including “prostitute” — affecting her children.
In a searing open letter posted on X, award-winning Tamil poet, author and Dalit feminist activist Dr Meena Kandasamy has directly confronted Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, detailing years of “unspeakable and relentless abuse” from DMK-affiliated social media handles.
Kandasamy, a Sahitya Akademi-commissioned translator and winner of the PEN Hermann Kesten Prize, revealed she was targeted after a single post supporting YouTuber Savukku Shankar, who has faced repeated action from the state government.
Despite the harassment, she completed the English translation of the literary biography of Stalin’s father — former five-time Chief Minister M Karunanidhi — authored by Prof Dr Ma Rajendran, solely at her own father’s request.
“I’m writing this to you with great pain in my heart… You may perhaps be aware (but dozens of abusive handles that claim to be DMK are not aware)… that the last book which I translated… was the literary biography of your father,” she wrote.
The activist, who returned from London and is now the sole breadwinner raising two primary-school children in India, described the personal devastation: her children read Tamil and are exposed to vile slurs calling her a “prostitute” or “RSS sleeper cell.”
Respected @mkstalin avl
I’m writing this to you with great pain in my heart and at the same time finding enormous relief at putting into words a grief that I have carried for a very long time.
You may perhaps be aware (but dozens of abusive handles that claim to be DMK are not…
— Dr Meena Kandasamy மீனா கந்தசாமி (@meenakandasamy) March 19, 2026
She recounted crying herself to sleep after character assassination, wondering why she has “no father big enough to fight for me.”
Kandasamy questioned the contradiction in DMK’s politics: “If one of the biggest dangers from far-right is rampant misogyny, then I’m already inhabiting & suffering under it… If this is a monster you cannot control it exposes your powerlessness. If it is a monster that you do not want to control — then you are no different than the fascists you warn us about.”
She pointed out the irony that she can criticise Israeli actions in Palestine, US imperialism or Home Minister Amit Shah without backlash, yet mild criticism of Tamil Nadu police excesses, crimes against women or Dalit atrocities triggers a torrent of abuse.
The letter, addressed respectfully as “Respected @mkstalin avl”, has drawn thousands of views and mixed reactions — some praising her courage, others dismissing it as attention-seeking.
Kandasamy signed off by declaring: “Here I am fighting.”
