ShaneraDeF at 16:53, 9 October 2025

2025-10-09T16:53:45Z

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{{Short description|Indian writer (1944–2016)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2018}}
{{Infobox writer 
| name = Inkulab
| image =
| caption =
| birth_name = Shahul Hameed
| birth_date = {{circa|1944}}
| birth_place = [[Madras]], [[Madras Province]], [[British Raj|British India]]<br/>(now [[Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]], [[India]])
| death_date = {{death date and given age|2016|12|1|72|df=y}}
| death_place = [[Urappakkam]], [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| occupation = [[Author]], [[poet]], [[Playwright|dramatist]], [[columnist]]
| genre =
| movement =
| notableworks = Avvai, Kaandhal Naatkal
| website =
| honorific_prefix = Makkal Pavalar
}}

'''Makkal Pavalar Inkulab''' (also spelt '''Inquilab''', '''Inkulab''' or '''Ingulab''') (c. 1944 – 1 December 2016) was an Indian rationalist [[Tamil people|Tamil]] [[poet]]/[[writer]], [[activist]], and [[Communist]] with [[Marxism-Leninism|Marxist Leninist]] inclination.<ref name="Padma">{{cite journal | last = Padma | first = V. | title = Re-presenting protest and resistance on stage: Avvai | journal = [[Indian Journal of Gender Studies]] | volume = 7 | issue = 2 | pages = 217–230 | doi = 10.1177/097152150000700205 | date = September 2000 | s2cid = 145735247 }}</ref> He retired as a [[professor]] of [[Tamil language|Tamil]] at [[The New College, Chennai]], [[Tamil Nadu]]. His birth name is Shahul Hameed<ref name=Padma /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ingulab.blogspot.com/|title=மக்கள் பாவலர் இன்குலாப்|work=ingulab.blogspot.com|access-date=5 December 2016}}</ref> and a known follower of [[E. V. Ramasami Naicker|Periyar]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2016/dec/01/makkal-kavignar-inquilab-passes-away-1544651.html|title='Makkal Kavignar' Inquilab passes away|work=newindianexpress.com|access-date=5 December 2016}}</ref>

== Career ==
His poems espousing rationality have been critically acclaimed.<ref name=Padma /> ''Kanmani Rajam'', his most famous poem, criticizes the [[moral bankruptcy]] of [[politician]]s.

His song/poem ''Naanga Manushangada (We are human beings)'' is a famous [[dalit (outcaste)|Dalit]]-freedom song that is still played in many Dalit gatherings. ''Avvai'', his [[drama]] is considered to be the first modern Tamil drama,<ref name=Padma /> and a prescribed textbook for many colleges. In this revisionist account, the historical/mythic [[Avvaiyar (Sangam poet)|Avvai]], contrary to the prevalent image of her as an old, wise, celibate woman, is rendered as a young, sensuous, creative, 'free' person, a wandering bard.<ref name=Padma /> The play also challenges the patriarchal view which has marginalized the female voice.<ref>[http://www.mssrf.org/iec/603/vc.htm MSSRF | Voicing Silence | Video Catalogue] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814011707/http://mssrf.org/iec/603/vc.htm |date=2007-08-14 }}</ref>

His other famous literary works include modern versions of ''[[Manimekalai]]''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2002/02/03/stories/2002020300470800.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20031110011643/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mag/2002/02/03/stories/2002020300470800.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=10 November 2003|title=For, of and by women|first=Giving traditional performers a platform while highlighting women's issues and concerns is not easy But, writes Kausalya Santhanam, `Mouna Kural' (Voicing Silence), a Chennai-based group, shows how the two can be combined effectively Theatre from a woman's perspective a scene from|last=Manimegalai|date=30 January 2002|pages=08|access-date=5 December 2016|work=[[The Hindu]]|via=The Hindu (old)}}</ref> and ''[[Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2005/12/30/stories/2005123002630400.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115134931/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/fr/2005/12/30/stories/2005123002630400.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=15 November 2006|title=Ode to the Parambu hills|first=Kausalya|last=Santhanam|date=29 December 2005|pages=04|access-date=5 December 2016|work=[[The Hindu]]|via=The Hindu (old)}}</ref>

He was also involved in vocal expression of discontent of removal of statue of a Tamil legendary icon [[Kannagi]] in 2002 by the then [[All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam|AIADMK]]-led [[Government of Tamil Nadu]].<ref>{{usurped|[https://web.archive.org/web/20050326190916/http://www.hinduonnet.com/fline/fl1901/19010320.htm Controversy over a statue]}}</ref> He died at the age of 72 on 1 December 2016.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/Poet-Inquilab-is-no-more/article16741502.ece|title=Poet Inquilab is no more|first=B.|last=Kolappan|date=2 December 2016|work=The Hindu}}</ref>
He has been selected posthumously for the [[List of Sahitya Akademi Award winners for Tamil|Sahitya Akademi Award]] for his book ''Kaandhal Naatkal'' in 2017. However, his family declined the award, saying he did not write expecting awards and felicitations.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/inquilab-gets-sahitya-akademi-award/article22201557.ece|title=Inquilab gets Sahitya Akademi award|first=B.|last=Kolappan|date=22 December 2017|work=The Hindu}}</ref>

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Sahitya Akademi Award For Tamil}}

[[Category:1940s births]]
[[Category:2016 deaths]]
[[Category:Tamil-language writers]]
[[Category:Indian atheism activists]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Writers from Chennai]]
[[Category:Tamil Muslims]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian poets]]
[[Category:Poets from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Tamil]]

{{India-poet-stub}}

Inkulab - Revision history

ShaneraDeF at 16:53, 9 October 2025