Gained in Translation: Sahgal saga and sammelans

Whether it is Kashmir or the Marathi Sammelan, you cannot maintain the facade of democracy by trampling upon democratic values.

bal thackeray, shiv sena, marathi sahitya sammelan, sahitya parishad, sharad pawar, indian express news — Uninviting Nayantara Sahgal to the Sahitya Sammelan was an assault on her freedom of expression. (Illustration: Suvajit Dey)

(Written by Pradnya Daya Pawar)

2013. The 86th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan was to be hosted in January at Chiplun (Konkan). Senior author-critic Dr Nagnath Kottapalle presided over the Marathi literature summit. He had been officially elected as the president of the summit. Being a member of the Sahitya Parishad, I had voted for him. As a part of the Sahitya Sammelan, I was bestowed the presidentship of the (invited poets’) poetry summit.

However later, the organising body announced the naming of the main dais of the summit in honour of Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, who had passed away a couple of months ago. He was a person who disparaged the Marathi literature summit calling it a cattle market, who extolled Hitler’s organisational skills, who trampled upon writers’ freedom of expression, who promoted violence. I was hoping that this announcement would create a wave of protests in literary circles. It did not happen. In the words of a senior Marxist thinker and critic D K Bedekar, there was an ‘obscene chill’ in the air. When I spoke to a few people for collective action, I was shocked to know that most writers felt Thackeray had made a significant contribution to Marathi. Some people agreed to register a protest at the venue. But the simple fact is: there was no protest.

I decided that I would not attend the Chiplun Sammelan if the name of the dais wasn’t changed. Meanwhile, news broke that Parashurama’s picture was printed on the programme cards. The Minister of State for Water Resources and the chairman of the summit’s welcoming committee, Sunil Tatkare, ruled out any possibility of reconsidering the decision to name the main dais. Therefore, I boycotted the summit. For this, I was criticised. Apparently, my position upset the organisers so much that then Union Cabinet Minister of Agriculture Sharad Pawar, in his opening remarks at the summit, felt it necessary to say, “Who are you? You have a misconception that the summit will not transpire if you do not attend.” The Chiplun Sahitya Sammelan transpired —in the presence of many politicians.

The point is, literary sammelans transpire whether a writer attends or not. In 2019, the Yavatmal Sahitya Sammelan transpired in the absence of the inaugurator. Nayantara Sahgal, a senior English writer, was invited to inaugurate the Sammelan. As is the norm, she sent her written speech to the organisers four days in advance. The organisers were perturbed when they read the speech. Sahgal’s speech critiqued the present dispensation in power, which supported a full-fledged attack on India’s diversity, tolerance, and impinged on the fundamental freedoms of Indian citizens.

The BJP MLA and the Minister of State for Energy, Madan Yerawar, was the chairman of the summit’s welcoming committee. The organisers did not want to hurt the sentiments of Madan Yerawar and his political conglomeration. The invitation was revoked. As an excuse, they referred to a few vague threats from a local MNS worker, who threatened to disrupt the literature summit if it was inaugurated by a non-Marathi personality. The reality was: after the news of the threat spread across Maharashtra, MNS chief Raj Thackeray made it clear that he didn’t oppose Sahgal’s speech.