The GTA today celebrated the 202nd birth anniversary of Nepali poet
Bhanubhakta Acharya, providing a platform to apolitical literary figures
to voice their opposition to the manner in which the state government
had remembered him on his birthday on July 13.
At the July 13 event, President Pranab Mukherjee, Bengal governor
Keshari Nath Tripathi and chief minister Mamata Banerjee delivered
speeches. But GTA chief executive Bimal Gurung was not invited to
address the gathering though he was on the dais.
The next day, Gurung said he was "hurt" that he hadn't been invited to speak at the event.
The GTA decided to hold the birthday celebration today as the state
government had already fixed a programme on July 13 to remember the
poet.
Today's event was held at Gorkha Rangamanch Bhavan. Few had expected
that literary luminaries would target the government on the manner in
which Bhanubhakta's birthday had been celebrated.
Jiwan Namdung, a well-known literary figure and former president of
Nepali Sahitya Sammelan, said: "I watched the July 13 event on TV and I
did feel hurt. This year, the Bhanubhakta birth anniversary was
conducted in English. There is nothing wrong in conducting an event in
English or for that matter, in any other language. Other medium of
language should be used if the general public does not understand
Nepali. It was our poet's birthday and the event was being held in
Darjeeling and yet, Nepali language was lost in oblivion."
A soft-spoken Namdung, who is known to be apolitical, went on: "There
is a limit to humiliation. Don't you feel that the wounds got some
relief today? I felt relieved. Hope we don't have to celebrate our
poet's birth anniversary in English from next year."
It was not just Namdung, another apolitical writer, Jay "Cactus" Gurung, too, spoke on similar lines.
"Although I only use Jai "Cactus" in my writing, I am a Gurung by
caste. Hope, a day does not come when only people from the Gurung
community will start reading my works," Jay said in an oblique reference
to the thought in the hills that the state government was "dividing"
the hill community on caste lines.
"I do not get emotional. But today, I am a bit emotional. There is a
difference in the way the event was celebrated then and today," said
Jay.
People from various walks of life were present and more than 70 per
cent of them were in traditional attire. The GTA's information and
cultural affairs department had ensured that the programme highlighted
the hill culture.
GTA chief Gurung in his address said: "I did not want to speak today
but only hear others. I was glad to hear people speaking about thoughts
that are disappearing from the hills. On that day (July 13), I was alone
and felt humiliated. But I am not a person to remain quiet and spoke my
heart out the very next day."(TT)
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