BJP opposes Tirupur book fair

Tirupur: The state unit of BJP has opposed the book fair organised by the Tirupur district administration, in association with Pinnal Book Trust and Bharathi Puthagalayam, scheduled to begin on January 27.
BJP vice-president Narayanan Thirupathi said that Bharathi Puthagalayam and Pinnal Book Trust were Left-leaning outfits and the book fair was an attempt to propagate ‘anti-Hindu’ and Left ideologies.
In a statement on Sunday, Thirupathi said the fair was a conspiracy to propagate the Left-wing, Marxist, Naxal ideology and anti-national thoughts among students. He said even those who participate in the activities organised on the sidelines of the book fair were politically inclined.
“It is strongly condemnable that the district administration is associating itself with such an event,” the BJP leader said. “Government schoolteachers are being forced to participate in the organisation of the book fair. The district administration should dissociate itself from the event.”
The organisers refuted the allegations and said that a range of books on Hinduism, published by spiritual organisations like Isha Foundation and Ramakrishna Mission, are included in the fair.
Responding to the allegations, a trustee of Pinnal Book Trust said that they have been organising the fair for 20 years. “Every year, a reception committee is formed, comprising renowned people from Tirupur, who have different political inclinations. Since the state government decided to conduct book fairs in all districts, the district administration joined hands with us this year. A coordination committee chaired by the collector supervises allotment of stalls,” he said. “At least 25 % of stalls have spiritual books.” TNN