BENGALURU: “Political untouchability has seeped into the literary world. This development is an indication of danger. The government is trying to suppress all voices against it,” said thinker Ramakrishna G. He was speaking at the valedictory of the Jana Sahitya Sammelana organised by a section of writers and intellectuals through crowdfunding as a parallel meet to the 86th Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana (All Indian Kannada Literature Conference) held here on Sunday.
Slamming the government for the alleged sidelining of Muslim and Dalit writers at the state-sponsored Kannada Sahitya Sammelana, Ramakrishna said, “All humans must be treated with equality. They (the government) give lectures about ‘culture’, but have sacrificed it and have not bothered to involve themselves in heinous acts to suppress all voices that go against it. A movement should be taken up against this suppression”.
Noted poet Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy said, “It is poets and artists who are building nations, not politicians or businessmen. Crisis is raging in all sectors of society that was never seen in India ever since Independence.”
Writer Ravikumar recalled how Prof Chandrashekar Patil (known by his pen name Champa) kept politicians at bay from Kannada Sahitya Parishat Sammelans. He lamented that the festival of literature has been restricted to people with a common agenda.
Among the prominent resolutions passed at the sammelana are -- treating all humans equally without any discrimination on the basis of caste, gender or religion and nominating eligible candidates as president of Kannada Sahitya Sammelana. Resolutions were passed to oppose Hindi imposition, the merger of Nandini with North Indian institutions and the communal moves of the government.