NEW DELHI: The Sahitya Akademi, on the occasion of Independence Day organised a symposium on the theme of ‘India - Independence and After’ in the national capital.
Former diplomat Dnyaneshwar Mulay, one of the speakers at the symposium remarked that patriotism does not mean that there should be homogeneity in thoughts but rather there should be differences for which people should respect one another.
Mulay, urged on the need for the intelligentsia to reach the grassroots for overall holistic development.
At the event, veteran writer K Satchidanandan spoke against the ‘othering’ of some communities in the current times, the denial of freedom to dissent, ‘distortion of history’ and development by disadvantaging the marginalised.
On democracy, Ved Pratap Vaidik who describes himself as a journalist and political analyst said that he was not of the view that the nation’s democracy was in danger in the current times.
Drawing from the government’s scrapping of Article 370 and calling it a ‘bold step’, he said there should similarly be a step to grant intellectual and cultural freedom to the country. Citing that he was not against foreign languages, he said he was against the hegemony of English as a language.
Famed Kathak artist Shovana Narayan said there was an intermingling of cultures due to globalisation and that people from different parts of the country were also acquainted with literature in the other parts.