Backlash in Gujarat against describing Parul Khakkar a ‘Literary Naxal’

Stung to the quick by her 14-line poem ‘Shav Vahini Ganga’ in which poet Parul Khakkar had expressed her anguish at the hundreds of bodies of Covid victims found floating in the river Ganga, the Gujarat government backed Sahitya Academy has launched a vilification campaign against her.

Earlier, after her ‘Shav Vahini Ganga’ went viral and the original Gujarati poem translated into Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali, Malayalam, English and even German, Right Wing trolls had hounded her by posting obscene personal comments on the social media, forcing her to block her Facebook profile.

While nobody was surprised at trolls following Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah launching the campaign, Gujarati litterateurs are surprised at the use of Gujarat Sahitya Academy’s journal, ‘Shabd Shrusti’ by the BJP government to describe Parul Khakkar as a ‘literary Naxal’. The June issue of ‘Shabd Shrusti’ described the poem as anarchist aimed at disturbing the social fabric of the country.

“Parul Khakkar is a literary Naxalite. Her poem cannot be considered literature. It is just a nonsensical rhyme,” the article in the journal of Gujarat Sahitya Acadmy commented.

The unsigned article, suspect followers of Gujarati literature, has been written by the Academy chairman Vishnu Pandya, a known Hindu right wing journalist who was awarded the Padma Shree along with another journalist Rajat Sharma after Modi became the Prime Minister for the first time in 2014.

The Gujarat Sahitya Acadmy, set up and funded by the state government, has objected to two words-‘Ranga-Billa' and the phrase 'Raja Mera Nanga' which the journal said were deliberately used by the poet to run down democratically elected central leaders. While the poet had not named anyone when she used the words ‘Ranga-Billa’ in the poem, Sahitya Academy’s reference to “Democratically elected central leaders” made it obvious. Such words, the article said, were misused by “leftists, liberals against nationalist ideology to spread chaos and anarchy in India. This is literary naxalism”

In what amounts to confession of espousing the ideology of the RSS, the article said, “The purpose of the Academy is cultural nationalism; Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Poetry cannot be harmful to society. The Academy does not and will not agree with such poems.”

Journalist and poet Manishi Jani equated the BJP government’s vilification campaign against Parul Khakkar with Adolph Hitler’s campaign against modern art. “In 1936, Hitler used to say that modern art was against the 'German spirit and an insult to German cultural nationalism. These modern painters are leftist ideologists or Jewish.’ Jani recalled that Hitler had come out with a long list of such anti-German painters. The list included the name of even Van Gogh, who had died in 1890 a year after Hitler was born.

Hitler, who claimed to be a painter himself, was afraid of the art works of even dead painters. While Hitler died by suicide, Van Gogh is still alive in the hearts of art aficionados.

Literary critic Ramesh Savani, former Inspector General of Police asked Gujarat Sahitya Academy chairman Vishnu Pandya if the poem ‘Shav Vahini Ganga’ had been written during the time of the Manmohan Singh government, how would the Academy have viewed the poem, a nonsensical rhyme or a work of literature?

Reminding the Sahitya Academy chairman of the utter filthy comments made by Narendra Modi and Amit Shah while referring to Congress leaders, the former police officer said, “Only Ranga-Billa can speak such language.”

He said the poem 'Shab Vahini Ganga' represented public opinion about the present state of affairs and revealed the true face of the rulers and awakened people against their criminal apathy towards the poor and the hapless masses.

He wondered why the government was worried about the poem when it describes it as ‘nonsensical rhyme’?

“There is this mighty ‘nationalist’ government with its IT cell, corporate media, paid journalists and writers and a huge budget for publicity and advertisement. How can a 14-line poem create anarchy?” the former IGP asked.

Ramesh Savani pointed out that after journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered, a 'cultural nationalist' followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi called her a 'bitch' on social media. Did the Sahitya Academy chairman forget that it was Narendra Modi who had called the wife of a senior Congress leader as a Rs 50 Crore girlfriend?

How can the Sahitya Academy find fault with a poem that exposes the character of a leader? “Gandhiji had said that calling a thief a thief is not defamation.

If a poet becomes a 'Literary Naxal' by criticizing the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi would by that token be called 'Maha Naxal' because he used to vehemently criticise and vilify the then PM Manmohan Singh in abusive language. “How can you call someone who doesn't agree with your narrow ideology an opponent of national ideology?” the former police officer asked.