MUMBAI: The Shinde government has come under fire from writers and opposition leaders after it withdrew an award given to Anagha Lele for her translation of Kobad Ghandy's prison memoir, "Fractured Freedom."
The protests and condemnation from writers and opposition leaders was sparked by the withdrawal of Yashwantrao Chavan Literature Award 2021 given to Anagha Lele for her translation of Ghandy's memoir, days after its announcement on December 6.
The Marathi Language Department of the state government had announced the award for Anagha Lele.
On Wednesday, writer and chairman of the government's Language Advisory Committee, Laxmikant Deshmukh, announced that he was stepping down from his post in protest against the government's "one-sided" decision to withdraw the award.
In his letter to Deepak Kesarkar, minister for Marathi Language, Deshmukh said, "Maharashtra had never witnessed political interference in literary awards, except in 1981 when Vinay Hardikar's book was similarly rejected by the then state government.
"Ghandy's book does not sympathise with Maoist violence, but the state government took a "one-sided decision," said the former IAS officer.
Three members of the award selection committee -- Dr Pradnya Daya Pawar, Neeraja and Heramb Kulkarni - had on Tuesday resigned from the state Literature and Culture Board in protest.
The selection panel itself has been scrapped by the government.
Another member of the board, Vinod Shirsath, resigned on Wednesday.
Deepak Kesarkar defended the government's action stating that the award would have meant the "government's stamp of approval for Naxalism."
Kesarkar said the state government has decided to constitute a committee to inquire about the reasons behind the selections and cancellations of awards given to the Marathi translations of the book authored by Kobad Ghandy.
“Naxalism is banned in India, so why should we promote it and encourage such acts also? We give opportunities to people who want to come into the mainstream by leaving their Naxalite activities behind. But on the other hand, we are giving awards to the book that allegedly promotes Naxalism. The committee will find out all facts,” the minister said.
In 2021, out of a total of 35 entries, the Maharashtra government announced 33 literary awards for various genres of literature such as novels, poems, translations, etc.
The opposition criticized the Shinde-Fadnavis government for political inference in the selections and cancellations of annual literary awards. Oppositions termed the present situation as an undeclared emergency in the state.
Famous Marathi writer Sharad Baviskar who teaches at JNU in the French department decided to return his award in protest against the state government's decision to cancel the award for Kobad Ghandy's book.
Baviskar's autobiographical book, "Bhura" also received an award this year.
Leader of Opposition, Ajit Pawar said they condemn the political interference in the selections and cancellations of state government awards.
“Since the inception of Maharashtra, various awards have been given every year to the culture, literature, music field experts and writers, etc to honor their work. This year also, several awards were announced and one of them was Kobad Ghandy’s Fractured Freedom’s Marathi translations book done by Anagha Lele. Then, the government immediately dissolved the selection committee and even cancelled the given awards as well. We want to know why such a thing happened and who is behind it,” Ajit Pawar asked.
Ajit Pawar said that he has worked as minister for the last several years, but never ever interfered in the selection committee’s work.
“The selection committee members are experts of their own field so we should respect their decisions. During the emergency, we had heard of cancellations of awards, so today’s conditions are not different in Maharashtra. There is an undeclared emergency in Maharashtra. We can have ideological differences, but that does not mean you should misuse the power and cancel the declared award,” NCP leader said.
Translator Anagha Lele claimed that the government did not seem to have looked at the book's content.
"Those who have not read the book but only expressed their views on social media like Twitter have influenced the decision," she said in a Facebook post.
Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar in his reaction said that the government was trying to "control the fields of literature and culture" and impose an "undeclared emergency".
Writers Sharad Baviskar and Anand Karandikar, whose books have received awards this year, also protested the decision. Karandikar on Tuesday told PTI that he would return his award.
A Government Resolution (order) issued on Monday stated that the decision of the selection committee had been reversed for "administrative reasons", and the award, which included a cash prize of Rs one lakh, has been withdrawn.
The committee too has been scrapped, the GR added.
The state government every year distributes awards to writers and translators covering a range of topics.
These awards are distributed under the umbrella name Late Yashwantrao Chavan Literature Award.
An award in each category is named after some eminent personality for their contribution to society and literature.
(With inputs from Sudhir Suryawanshi & PTI)