Panaji: The BJP on Tuesday said that the FIR against former party MLA and ailing poet Vishnu Wagh over his book Sudhir Sukta will be withdrawn.
Mr. Wagh was booked last week after a women’s organisation filed an FIR against him and the publisher, Hema Naik, alleging that the poems use derogatory language against women.
Addressing a press conference, Anil Hoble, party vice-president, said the book contains no objectionable references, contrary to the allegations that the book targets the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community in Goa.
“Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar has assured us that the case will be closed after seeking an expert opinion on the subject. The language used by Mr. Wagh in the book is the language of masses. It is wrong to file an FIR against him,” said Mr. Hoble.
“Mr. Wagh is bedridden and, therefore, should not be targetted,” Mr. Hoble said, adding that the BJP supports the contents of the book, because the compilation of poems was released in 2013 by Mr. Parrikar.
The FIR has attracted criticism from some sections of Marathi literary circles. Poets like Ramdas Phutane have expressed shock.
Mr. Hoble’s intervention is interpreted in the political circles as the government’s damage control exercise as the party is apprehensive over possible backlash from the politically-influential Goan Bhandari community, which is almost 50% of the Hindu population. Mr. Wagh belongs to the community.