THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Legislature International Book Festival (KLIBF) attracted a huge crowd on Sunday, with talks by writers Aakar Patel and Sandhya Mary among the highlights of the fifth day.
Patel interacted with Sudheer Devadas on the topic ‘India after 91: post-Babri, post-liberalisation era’. He criticised the Congress party in Karnataka for being soft on the threat posed by communalism. The party is afraid of annulling the anti-conversion law introduced by the previous BJP government, he alleged.
“The Congress party claims to be a secular party. Still, it is hesitant to annul the ‘love jihad’ legislation introduced by the BJP. The party fears that people would not like it,” Patel said.
He also slammed the BJP, accusing it of riding on communal sentiments. “With the Ram Rath Yatra led by Advani, BJP realised that communalism can be used to mobilise people. They will not stop it because it helped them to assume power,” he said.
South India, relatively small in size, cannot counter the communalisation in the country, he said. Power is centred in north India. Patel also warned against the delimitation of Lok Sabha seats. South India will be punished for its achievements in population control, he said.
‘Indian epics examples of magical realism’
Indian epics are great examples of magical realism, opined writer Sandhya Mary. “Where else would you find such gods, their vahanas, and other curious and amusing things,” she asked.
Sandhya was addressing a session titled ‘My world of reading and writing’. The first creative work she read was Amar Chithra Katha, Sandhya said. She elaborated on the reason for her preference to select women-related topics in writing. “Women entered the mainstream society late. Still, they made thrilling achievements. This inspires me to write more on women-related topics. When compared to them, men are stagnant,” she said.
Sandhya said her first work was at the age of 15. So far she has written 15 stories and a novel.
Book festival a success, says Speaker Shamseer
Speaker A N Shamseer shared his experiences in an interaction with N E Sudheer. He said it was a painful experience to begin his career as a speaker by reading the obit reference of his political guru Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
“I’m very proud to chair the house which has eminent seniors like the chief minister (Pinarayi Vijayan). They became legislators even before my birth,” he said.
Shamseer said KLIBF has been a success. “The idea was of my predecessor, M B Rajesh. I take pride in making it a huge success,” he said. The presentation of theyyam and other art forms have made the current edition more attractive, he added.