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The Sahitya Akademi’s golden jubilee celebration beginning on November 1 is marred by controversies. Akademi President Gopi Chand Narang, who was removed as vice-chairman of the National Council for promotion of Urdu language, answers a range of searching questions. Excerpts from an interview with Nirupama Dutt With the formal inauguration of the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the Sahitya Akademi on November 1, do you feel that there is cause to rejoice? Certainly, there is cause to rejoice. The Sahitya Akademi is a unique body for the promotion of Urdu literature. The hallmark of the Akademi is autonomy and plurality of thought. It is our good fortune that it was nurtured by the first Prime Minister of the country, Jawahar Lal Nehru, who also headed the Akademi. Nehru had said that he would not allow the ‘Prime Minister’ to interfere with its functioning. Such is the spirit that the Akademi has upheld. The Akademi has often been surrounded in controversies. The awards given to writers have often been disputed in the literary circles. How do you feel about it? All awards are subjective and debatable, the same is the case with the Sahitya Akademi awards. The jury makes an all-out effort to ensure that the awards are given for merit and excellence. Sometime there are works more or less of equal merit and that is why controversies arise. However, all the procedures of the Akademi are transparent and the decision is taken by the writers who are on various committees. Various charges are levelled against you such as promotion of the RSS ideology and the CPM leader Harkrishan Singh Surjit has demanded your removal from the post. Can you comment. I categorically deny all these charges being made against me. It is sad that a senior leader like Surjit has fallen prey to misinformation being fed to him. I have never subscribed to the narrow agenda of any political outfit. Literature goes far beyond sectarian politics. The 60 books that I have penned in Urdu, English and Hindi bear testimony to my commitment to secularism and cultural plurality. I do not like boasting but it was not without reason that celebrated Urdu poet, Faiz Ahmed Faiz, known for his Leftist ideology, had gone on record saying that I was the foremost critic of Urdu in India. Tell, me if I had been from the RSS, would I have been tolerated as Dean of Languages and acting Vice Chancellor in the Jamia Milia Islamia University? All this is malicious propaganda. I was elected to this post and not nominated by anyone so these charges make little sense. If I won the election, it was by sheer dint of my work and merit. Vested interests tried to give political colour to the campaign but writers resisted it. It is said that you used the term Mujahid-e-Urdu for Murli Manohar Joshi and this came in for a lot of censure. What do you have to say about it? I never used this term and I think those who are indulging in such vicious gossip should check the note I wrote for the book on Joshi. My original two-page note is in Urdu and can be checked. What I said and what I feel is that Urdu must be protected as a product of composite culture and not as the language of a minority community. My approach is that of a lover of Urdu. I want Urdu to be saved as part of India’s plural heritage. My belief is that if Urdu is lost, India will lose its secular image. Besides, it is a beautiful language and great literature has been written in it. My thesis has been that Urdu, in spite of having been marginalized, is still a source of strength for the larger language Hindi. Therefore, Hindi has to come forward to protect Urdu. Be it Left or Right, all configurations must have a consensus that Urdu, a bridge of understanding between communities, must be saved and promoted. Is it all fun and jaunts in the Golden Jubilee year that is closing with a conference in London or is some work also being done? The London meet is not a jaunt. It is aimed at discussing diaspora literature in different Indian languages and this is a very important and new area in literature. Something new is that a Lal Ded poetry festival is being held in Kashmir. We are also promoting literature by young writers, women writers and Dalit literature. A women writers meet is being held in Hyderabad and a three-day tribal writers meet is being held in Chhatisgarh. Many publications are being brought out. We have also started a scheme to publish the first work of young writers. A new translation centre is being set up and there is an effort to improve quality and content of our publications so that they can compete with the publications of leading private publishers. |
