Delhi’s Marathi Sahitya Sammelan more about politics than literature: Patrons

New Delhi: Marathi literature lovers had eagerly made their way to the 98th edition of the Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in Delhi for enriching literary discussions and exchange of thoughts. Much to their disappointment, they said the three-day conference was more about politics than academic participation.
A political controversy had erupted even before the conference started. Shiv Sena (UBT) had questioned the organisers' decision to give the Mahadji Shinde award to deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde. Uddhav Thackeray's party members squarely blame Shinde for the split in Sena. Rajya Sabha member of UBT Sanjay Raut went to the extent of terming Sammelan organisers as ‘dalals' (touts).
This dampened the excitement of Marathi literature lovers regarding the Delhi meet, since it was the first after the language was conferred classical status. It was also the first Marathi literary meet to be held in Delhi after the formation of Maharashtra state in 1960 — with the earlier one being held in 1954.
Meanwhile, during the concluding session of the conference on Sunday, Shinde replied to Raut's statement. "Some people felt uneasy after I received the recognition. I consider their hatred as one more award to me."
The other deputy chief minister, Ajit Pawar, also did not refrain from making political comments. He alluded to Shinde's recent comment that no one should take him lightly and said, "I wonder against whom he made the statement. Is it for the ‘mashal' (torch — which is the UBT party symbol) or someone else?"
A patron, NK Kulkarni, said, "The literary fest is not a platform to win political brownie points. At the opening ceremony, PM Narendra Modi, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis shared the dais. None of them spoke about politics in their speeches. A similar conduct was expected from the others."
Meanwhile, on the concluding day of the conference, deputy chairperson of the state legislative council and Shiv Sena member Neelam Gorhe targeted UBT for corruption. She alleged that "two Mercedes would fetch a post in undivided Sena." Patrons found the remark unpalatable.
Many people in attendance felt the sessions were focused more on politics and political personalities, than scholars. Out of all the sessions over three days, nearly half saw participation of politicians like Sushilkumar Shinde, Vishwajeet Kadam, Prithviraj Chavan, Neelam Gorhe, Suresh Prabhu, Eknath Shinde and Ajit Pawar.
Audience member Sandeep Joshi said, "The literary festival is named Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan and should have focussed on Marathi writers and poets. It was disappointing to see politicians being the centre of attention. I am not against politicians joining the conference, but they should not have been given preference over scholars."
Founder of Sarhad NGO, which was the main organiser of the meet, Sanjay Nahar said "Politics cannot be separated from art and culture. I agree the conference's platform should not be used to make political statements, but I do not think people should take objection over politicians joining the conference. I feel the Sammelan was a huge success, since people of all religions and castes from Maharashtra came together to celebrate Marathi."