Monday, Feb 17, 2003
Monday, Feb 17, 2003 |
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By Anita Joshua
As one insider put it: "For the first time, the elections are being fought to a certain extent along the lines of national politics. Earlier, the contest used to be very low-key; but this time it has been made out to be a Left versus non-Left fight". More so, with the BJP president, Venkaiah Naidu, dashing off a letter to the Union Culture Minister, Jagmohan, asking him to "cleanse" the three national cultural academies of Leftist elements. However, both candidates — the Bharatiya Jnanpith award-winning writer, Mahasweta Devi, and the outgoing vice-president of the Akademi, Gopi Chand Narang — have "officially" maintained a distance from the political divisions, with the latter claiming to be a socialist while the former's political convictions are no secret. Mahasweta Devi refuses to say much about the contest or her opponent, while Mr. Narang waxes eloquent about his credentials. Given his opponent's stature, he chooses his words carefully. His contention is that being an Urdu writer with an understanding of several languages, he represents Indian literature and not just one language. Another question that he and his supporters pose is whether Mahasweta Devi — who has also won the Magsaysay award for her work with tribals — has the time or the experience for the job. While Mr. Narang has been campaigning for the election for several months now, Mahasweta Devi entered the fray late and has confined herself to writing a brief "no-nonsense" letter to all members of the council, seeking their support and explaining her decision to contest in the twilight years of her life. For the most part, her campaign is being spearheaded by fellow-writers, Namwar Singh, Ashok Vajpayei and Krishna Sobti. Also, the eminent theatre-activist, Habib Tanvir, has written on her behalf to all the council members. Mahasweta Devi's stature being what it is her detractors, therefore, have chosen to train their guns on her supporters. They claim that since she is too preoccupied with her work among the tribals, she will be an absentee president and that the Akademi would be run by proxy. On Saturday, several writers — a couple of them members of the general council — issued a statement arguing for protecting the "apolitical character'' of the Akademi and freeing it from "such elements who are determined to ruin its basic character". Though the statement did not mention either candidate's name, it was clearly the pro-Narang lobby articulating the "remote control" theory. Since the "principal executive officer'' of the Akademi is the secretary, the contention of Mr. Narang's supporters is being challenged by Mahasweta Devi's campaigners. They have alleged Mr. Narang to be of "pliable" nature, and, therefore, putty in the hands of the Government should it want to interfere with the functioning of the Akademi.
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