Obliquely referring to the determined attempts of right wing forces to impose cultural uniformity in India, Kannada writer, literary critic and reader at Kannada University, Hampi, Rahamat Tarikere on Sunday held that such attempts would eventually lead to the destruction of the Indian pluralistic social fabric.
He was addressing the Bandaya Sahithi Jambanna Amarachintha Abhinandana event organised by the Raichur district unit of Kannada Sahitya Parishat at Pandit Siddarama Jambaladinni auditorium here.
‘Life of Indian society’
“Cultural pluralism is the life of Indian society where different communities and religious groups with divergent cultural practices coexist peacefully. It is, however, unfortunate that efforts to violently impose a singular culture on a multi-culture society have been recently intensified. The proponents of cultural singularism have gone to the extent of killing those who hold different views. This intolerance would, unless resisted and checked, undermine the pluralistic foundation of Indian society and eventually end in its destruction,” he said.
“It is now time for all of us to decide which side we are on: whether on the side of violence and aggression for creating a monolithic society or on the side of resistance to these efforts, only to sustain the pluralistic one,” he added.
Resistance
Referring to the resistance from outspoken writers, scholars and intellectuals by way of returning their awards, quitting their positions and by other forms of protest, Mr. Tarikere said that protesting only against attacks on freedom of speech would fail to serve their purpose.
“The attack on freedom of speech would relatively be insignificant compared to the continuous attack on the people’s right to live. It is improper to resent only when your freedom of speech is under threat and remain silent when the common man’s very right to live is under attack.
“Both these attacks originate from the same source and hence, a collective action is required to deal with them,” he said.
Quoting from a literary text, Mr. Tarikere said that the silence of the good people is like an act of the bad people itself, and it [silence] is equally responsible for exploitation, oppression and violence in society.
People’s writer
Mr. Tarikere commended the Kannada Sahitya Parishat for having published the Abhinandana Grantha of Jambanna Amarachintha, who, he said, had revolted against the parishat 36 years ago, blaming the parishat for being insensitive to the issues of Dalits and other marginalised sections. “Both the parishat and Amarachintha have undergone a lot of changes in these long years,” he said.
Mr. Tarikere termed Amarachintha’s literature as a reflection of a blend of different progressive cultural traditions, including Sufi, Dasa and Sharana traditions.
“Amarachintha's literature is a beautiful combination of content of revolutionary conscience and the form of artistic language. He has been a people’s writer in whose writings the common man is the hero. He has a local focus with a global vision. He is among those writers and scholars who maintained a clean image with no black spot,” Mr. Tarikere said.
