Guna

Guna is a popular stage name for Durai Guna. He is an Indian Writer who predominantly works in the Tamil Cinema aka Tamil Film Industry. He was brought up in the state Tamil Nadu. He belongs to a small region called Kulanthiranpatti in the Pudukottai district of the state. Durai is originally from a small village in Tamil Nadu, he was thrown out of his village for writing a book which allegedly had false information. Guna has faced a lot of discrimination against him as he is a Dalit. Even in the 21st century, some orthodox citizens of Tamil Nadu believe in the caste system and deny the freedom of speech to the so-called backward classes. Guna is married to a woman named Kokila who belongs to the same caste.

In the year 2014, Guna was subjected to a social boycott. This was due to a book he had written on caste-based discrimination. The book was called Ooorar Varaintha Oviyam. The book talks about the plight of the Scheduled Caste and the atrocities against them in India, especially in Tamil Nadu. Due to his openness about his caste and his fight against discrimination, Guna has often been subjected to racism and false rumors causing unrest. His family was also thrown out of his village. After 2 years, when he returned to celebrate Diwali in his hometown, he was beaten up and assaulted. This was despite the High Court gave protection to the family. Guna caught the attention of the audiences and India’s top notch tabloids when he was arrested by the Tamil Nadu Police on the 10th of June in the year 2016.

He was arrested along with Karthikeyan on the basis of a FIR filed by T Sivanandham. He was accused of assault on the victim over an unpaid loan. However, the case took an interesting turn when the so-called victim claimed that he had never filed a FIR in the first place. He also stated that the allegations against Guna were false and he was innocent. The police were accused of arresting Guna on false claims as Guna raised his voice against another police officer from a dominant caste. The police had filed multiple cases against him and hence even after being guilty, he had to spend 15 days in Judicial Custody. In the book fair of 2017 in the city of Chennai, writers staged a protest against the arrest.