MT Vasudevan Nair’s Daughters Issue Joint Statement on Defamatory Book
The daughters of M.T. Vasudevan Nair – Sithara Girme and Aswathy Nair – have issued a strong joint statement on the recently published book “Empty Space: Bashpeekrithayude Aaram Viral” accusing the authors of defamation and deliberate character assassination. The book was published by Bookworm and written by Didi Damodaran and Ecchumukutty. The statement of MT’s daughters pointed out that the book contains unverified and false claims based on heresy.
The joint statement of the daughters posted on social media has also pointed out that the authors have written this book twenty-six years after Sithara’s mother Pramila Nair’s death and a year after the death of MT Vasudevan Nair, their father. They added that the book “is part of a foul attempt to achieve the defamation and character assassination of our father and of our families, and to create a controversy and help with book sales.”
The statement goes on to add that “many discussions in the book as well as the allegations levelled against MT are completely baseless.”
“We wish to remind you that the character assassination of a deceased writer and a public figure is not a route to seek fame and financial profit. Along with this, we want our beloved readers to know that the matters discussed in this book are half-truths and or distortions. We are firmly convinced that the literary and cultural world will reject this book. We also wish to inform all those involved in this book that it should be withdrawn immediately and that if they do not do so, appropriate measures will be taken.” the statement said.
Beyond the statement of the daughters, the controversial book has raised serious questions about consent, accountability, and the ethics of posthumous narration. In the absence of those directly concerned, the daughters argue, the authors have taken liberties that cross the boundary between interpretation and injury.
Many reactions to the statement have described the book as an exercise in sensationalism rather than scholarship and have pointed out that the publication causes reputational harm and violates basic standards of responsible writing.
The controversy has also reopened a wider debate on the limits of biographical writing, the rights of families over posthumous representation, and the legal liabilities that arise when conjecture is presented as fact—especially when the subject is no longer alive to respond.
