State can have no truck with book that promotes naxalism: Kesarkar

Mumbai: A day after a controversy erupted over the withdrawal of a government award to Anagha Lele for her Marathi translation of alleged Maoist ideologue Kobad Ghandy’s memoir, the state government justified its decision, saying it could not endorse glorification of ‘Naxal’ literature.

“We are strongly against it,” said Deepak Kesarkar, minister overseeing the Marathi language department. “Our department was not aware that a book by a person facing charges of being involved in Naxalite activities was given an award. I spoke to Sadanand More, president of the Sahitya Sanskruti Mandal, after the controversy broke out and asked him why they did not reveal this to the government. More told me that they did not intervene in the decision by the selection committee to avoid disappointing them.”

Speaking in Pune on Wednesday, More said the government took a decision to take back the award after a member of the scrutiny committee raised an objection. The task of the scrutiny committee is to shortlist books by verifying the credentials of the authors and then recommend them to the selection committee.

More explained that it was the duty of the scrutiny committee to look at the content of the book. “We have thousands of books, out of which this committee reads, sifts and puts up the best ones to the award committee,” he said. “For translations, we have Ganesh Vispute, who is reputed and known for his choices. He further recommends the books to the government for the prize, which the Sahitya Sanskruti Mandal then announces.”

In this case, the three-member scrutiny committee comprised Narendra Pathak, Arvind Daude and Aarya Apte, who shortlisted Lele’s translation and later recommended it to the award committee. Pathak was the person who, despite being part of the committee, later objected to the award, said More.

HT has a copy of the letter written by Pathak, which objects to the award on the grounds that “such an award will bring recognition to a person who believes in Maoist ideology”. When questioned, Pathak defended his letter and stance. “We don’t recommend books; we merely send them to the next committee, which is the award committee,” he said. “All I did was showcase my displeasure with a book which speaks about someone’s years in prison for alleged Maoist affiliations. Why give this platform to such a person and why should the government recognise such a person’s writing in the form of a literary award? I have nothing against Anagha Lele or her translation.”

When HT asked Sadanand More if he would resign from the Sahitya Sanskruti Mandal, he replied saying, “The Mandal has done nothing wrong and there is no reason for me to resign. The government has taken the decision and I followed it.”

Meanwhile, veteran author and chairman of the Language Advisory Committee, Laxmikant Deshmukh, resigned from his post on Wednesday. “Withdrawal of an award to Anagha Lele for her translation of a book, just because it is written by an alleged Maoist ideologue, Kobad Gandhy, is baseless,” he said. “I have read this book, and as an author, I am of the opinion that there is nothing objectionable in it. The author has not glorified Naxalism and advocated violence as you say in the original English book,” said Deshmukh in his resignation letter sent to the minister of the Marathi language department Deepak Kesarkar.

Another author, Pradnya Daya Pawar, also resigned from the membership of the Sahitya Sanskruti Mandal. “You unilaterally dismissed the review committee that recommended the book for the award. I am of the opinion that this has defied the selection committee of experts and, more importantly, the democratic process. I am submitting my resignation in protest,” she said in her resignation letter.

Another member of the committee, author Avdhoot Parelkar, also submitted his resignation saying “the cancellation of the award… due to government intervention is a blatant mockery of democratic values”. He further added, “The government’s stance regarding the withdrawal of the award is regrettable, outrageous and humiliating.” Another member of Sahitya Sanskruti Mandal, Vinod Shirsat, also resigned in protest.

Marathi writers have announced that they will protest the government’s decision of withdrawing the award to Anagha Lele. Kesarkar said the state government would speak to writers to convince them to not return their awards. When asked why the state government did not ban Kobad Ghandy’s book, Kesarkar said the state government was not in favour of banning any book. “However, we are not in favour of giving a government award to a book supporting Naxalism,” he said while speaking to the media on Wednesday.