PANAJI: A row has erupted in Goa over the state government’s decision to postpone the DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas, a series of public lectures starting November 16. The government said the decision was taken in view of the school and college exams that led to a poor response but the opposition Congress linked the decision to discomfort within the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the choice of the speakers.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the state’s art and culture department said the festival was being rescheduled due to “the poor response of students participation of the High School, Higher Secondary schools and colleges as exams are scheduled during that tenure.”
The department also said that the venue of the festival was unavailable as renovation and repair work was in “full swing”.
Former Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said the real reason why the festival has been put off was linked to the choice of speakers, claiming that they were against the ideology of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh. “The claim of students not being available is just an excuse,” he said.
Art and culture minister Govind Gaude was unavailable for comment.
Among the speakers invited to the lecture series were Jnanpith and Sahitya academy award winner and Konkan writer Damodar Mauzo, mythologist and popular author Devdutt Pattanaik, Ashoka University professor of English Prof Madhavi Menon, Dr Suresh Yengde who authored the book, ‘Caste Matters’ and is co-editor of the award-winning anthology with Dr Anand Teltumbde ‘The Radical in Ambedkar: Critical Reflections’ and Prof Pranay Lal, a biochemist who was to speak on public health and natural history.
{{/usCountry}}Among the speakers invited to the lecture series were Jnanpith and Sahitya academy award winner and Konkan writer Damodar Mauzo, mythologist and popular author Devdutt Pattanaik, Ashoka University professor of English Prof Madhavi Menon, Dr Suresh Yengde who authored the book, ‘Caste Matters’ and is co-editor of the award-winning anthology with Dr Anand Teltumbde ‘The Radical in Ambedkar: Critical Reflections’ and Prof Pranay Lal, a biochemist who was to speak on public health and natural history.
{{/usCountry}}Damodar Mauzo said he was hugely disappointed by the government’s decision.
“Officially they have said it is being postponed. But I do not understand what ideological compulsions they have. I am deeply disappointed and feel let down by this and even disgusted by this. I was closely involved in the preparation for the festival and was even scheduled to speak at the event for which I had spent considerable time preparing. Most of the speakers who were to speak had done so on my request as I was closely involved in arranging speakers for the event and this represents a loss of face,” Mauzo, who was to speak on November 10, told HT.
“But most of all, the right of freedom of expression is something I strongly believed has not been respected and moreover I had high regard for the minister, he being an artist himself and committed to the cause of the right to freedom of expression which I consider non-negotiable,” Mauzo said.
Responding to the government decision, Devdutt Pattanaik said in a post on Twitter that he will deliver the lecture via Instagram.
The DD Kosambi Festival of Ideas, now in its 14th edition, commemorates the birth centenary of Damodar Dharmanand Kosambi the Indian historian, mathematician, statistician and polymath who contributed to genetics by introducing Kosambi’s map function.
Kosambi is well-known for his work in numismatics and for compiling critical editions of ancient Sanskrit texts.
In the past, the festival has hosted speakers such as former vice president Dr Hamid Ansari, former Reserve Bank of India governor Dr Raghuram Rajan, the Dalai Lama, and former President APJ Abdul Kalam.