Propaganda invites tyranny, leads to chaos: Pawar at Marathi Litfest

Latur (Maharashtra), April 22 : In a veiled attack on the RSS-BJP ideology on the rise in the country, Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar on Friday said literature should be free and not bound by any ideology as it invites tyranny and compromises the very basis of democracy. In an inaugural function of the three-day 95th All India Marathi Sahitya Sammelan here, Pawar said: “Ideology was born from the literature of social activists and politicians. “From this ideology Gandhianism, Marxism, Ambedkarism, socialism, nationalism etc. were born. “However, at present, certain elements have been emphasizing production of material that nourishes certain ideologies. “It is a wake-up call for the Indian democracy. “This kind of propaganda material invites tyranny and leads to chaos.” He also pointed out that the propaganda of Hitler through his book “Mein Kampf (My Struggle)” and other media have already shown the world “a terrible example of this” in the past. “In our country too, propaganda of such a particular ideology seems to be spreading,” he added. He appealed to the writers and literary lovers to be vigilant. “Literature should be free which means it should not be bound by any ideology. Such a commitment creates a system of opinion,” Pawar said, adding “it could be divisive, polarising, toxic and detrimental to national interest.” He appealed to the writers to stay at equal distance from contradicting ideologies and look at all this as a third party, and not be part of either. On the intervention of the corporate sector, Pawar said: “The corporate umbrella is looking to become a weapon of propaganda. This happened in the corporatization of literature.” “They (Corporate Houses) took over loss-making publishing houses,” Pawar said, adding that it would not take long for the Fourth Column to collapse as well, and warned about how imminent was “this danger and it should be taken by the horns”. Pawar hoped the constitution of the corporation would be amended to provide for election of woman presidents at least once in five years. State PWD minister Ashok Chavan, Industries and Marathi Language Minister Subhas Desai, State Medical Education and district guardian Minister Amit Deshmukh, Minister of Sate Environment Sanjay Bansode, former Home Minister Shivraj Patil-Chakurkar, Sammelan president Bharat Sasne and outgoing president Jayant Narlikar, Nilam Girhe were present among others, including eminent writers, literary personalities. VKB NV ING

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