Where was your dharma then?

It is a common practice during the hunt that some men are used to create noise and push the prey towards a specific direction. The animal is taken towards a spot where it can be hunted be easily. The tamasha of returning awards, which the recipients got during earlier regimes, brings to memory the same practice. The self-styled authors and artists are crying hoarse in unison so that noise is created, government is forced to go in a particular direction and then it would be easier to hunt it down.

Those who are taking out their awards from the cupboards so that they could be returned claim that the freedom of expression is been curtailed in the country and the Fascist ideology is on the rise. Had they any iota of truth in their claim, one would have heed them seriously. However, the truth is otherwise. The questions are being raised on the hypocrisy of those who are shouting from their rooftops and these questions are being raised by none others than the one-time victims of their six-decade long hegemony.

“The same people who are raising voice for freedom of expression today controlled the fields of intellectual discussion and education. They had the monopoly. They made it their mission to trample any other thought than theirs. Where was their concern for the freedom of expression then,” asked noted Kannada writer S. L. Bhayrappa in Pune recently. Do the champions of free speech have any answer to this question?

Bhayrappa is not just another writer. He is among the pinnacles of the modern Kannada literature. His novels have established records in terms of popularity, sale and the appreciation of the critics, not only in Kannada but also in Indian literature. Every type of dirty trick was used to keep any government recognition or award from him.

Patil Puttappa is a noted Kannada writer and journalist. When Bhayrappa was sidelined and Dr. Chandrashekhar Kambar was awarded the Jnanpith Award four years ago, he openly said that a “big lobby was behind the selection of the awardee”.

Another noted writer Girish Karnad had come to Pune three years ago when he was asked a question about Bhayrappa. At that time, he had said, “Bhayrappa writes well, but he was swayed by Hindutva”. Thus, it doesn't matter what or how the author has wRritten, the only important point was that which ideology he followed.

This is why it assumes extra edge when Bhayrappa says that he was the victim of the suppression of free speech by the Leftists and they had no right to speak about of the freedom of expression. No more elaboration is needed about the inherent motives of the pre-planned outrage of the Leftists.

This was not the first sledgehammering on the one-sided love for freedom of expression of the Leftists. One such voice had come forward last month even before this bout of coordinated campaign of returning the awards started.

That was the voice of Prof. Sheshrao More. Prof. More is known for his extraordinary research on contemporary issues and mainly for his books on Veer Sawarkar which seek to change established conventions of the great freedom fighter and thinker. Besides them, he has written books on Kashmir, revolt of 1857 (which he says was a jihad and corroborates it with proofs) and the partition of India. Such is his exquisite detailing and solid writing, that a challenge was put at the time of third book that if anybody comes forward to refute claims in this book, another book on it would be published.

But alas, Prof. More refuses to portray Nehru as hero and Leftists as prophets of progressive thoughts, hence he was almost ostracized by the intellectuals in Maharashtra. However, last month, he was the President of the Vishwa Marathi Sahitya Sammelan held in Andaman and he fired first salvo on the hypocrisy of the seculars.

While attacking the self-styled progressives, he coined a term the Terrorism of Progressives which created a flutter in the progressive camp. Then either Prog. More was overlooked or he was termed a Hinduist. However, Prof. More was saying the same thing what Bhayrappa said recently and that many in the past said - the Leftists' love for freedom of expression was not absolute. It comes to fore only when their voice becomes feeble.

As for Maharashtra, there is another famous example in the form of late P. B. Bhave. Considered one of the four pioneers of the new age short story in Marathi, Bhave never received the acclaim he deserved mainly because he was a Hinduist writer, proud follower of Veer Sawarkar. What is more, when he was the president of the Marathi Sahitya Sammelan in 1977, the literary meet itself was thwarted. None of the artist or author fel free speech having been curtailed then. It was only since last year, when Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister, that they felt country was filled with the atmosphere of hatred.

This is very reminiscient of the Karna, who invoked the Dharma, when the wheel of his chariot got damaged. The question which Krishna and Arjun put before him then can be put today to the Leftists, Socialists and the self-styled intellectuals - Where was your dharma then?