Rejecting allegations made against his Government that Goa’s State literary awards were scrapped, after a book of poems which criticised the influential Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community in Goa was shortlisted for the same, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar on Friday clarified that the awards were declared “null and void” because of procedural discrepancies and that the BJP-led coalition Government had no truck with the FIR filed against the book’s author Vishnu Wagh.
Parrikar addressed a Press conference in Panaji, where he also alleged that there were sections in the media which were trying to rake a controversy, where none actually existed.
“In this case we found that there was substantial conflict of interest. Therefore, full process has been declared null and void,” Parrikar clarified on Friday, even as his decision to scrap the award has been criticised by the State’s intelligensia.
The Chief Minister said that those writers whose books had been shortlisted for some of the literary awards were also on the jury selected to choose award winning books.
“Now let me be clear, even one person has cross interest, full process is null and void,” Parrikar said.
The controversial book, which was incidentally released at the hands of Manohar Parrikar, during his earlier stint as Chief Minister in 2013, is critical of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin community, which is influential in the sphere of business, administration as well as politics in the State.
The book did not stir controversy after it was released in 2013, but the controversy started after 'Sudhir Sukta' was shortlisted for an annual literary award by the State-funded Goa Konkani Academy this year.
The selection of 'Sudhir Sukta' was objected to by one of the jury members, tasked with short-listing books for the award, who claimed that the contents in the book were inflammatory and unfairly critical of the GSB community and derogatory to women.
The awards where however scrapped by the State Government last week, ostensibly because of "irregularities" in the award short-listing process.
“We were not even aware who has been selected. What ‘sukt’ has been selected or not selected.
We have not opened the envelope also. The minutes of the selection which have been sealed have been kept just like that by me. When I checked up on the procedure, I found this conflict of interest,” Parrikar said.
“Therefore I told the department to cancel the full proceedings.
So it is proceeding which has been cancelled. if the proceedings is cancelled, obviously recommendations are cancelled, but recommendation has not been opened also,” he also said.
Parrikar also lambasted sections of the media which alleged that the Government was involved in the filing of a First Information Report against the author Vishnu Wagh, who is also a former Bharatiya Janata Party MlA and the publisher of the book Hema Naik.
“Some people are trying to give it a different colour. As far as an FIR again, which has nothing to do with Government, though some media at national level tried to hint that as if Government has done something. We have to be very clear. I believe in freedom of expression, one can write anything, but everything is subject to decisions by apex court and law,” Parrikar said.
The FIR was filed by a women’s rights activist Auda Viegas, who has alleged that the book is derogatory to women.
“An FIR cannot be avoided.
You go into the details, find out if law has been broken and take appropriate action. Based on that opolice on thier own, took a decison.
In fact I do not interfere with investigating officials,” Parrikar said.
“Personally, some people think that the use of words is derogatory to women. I am not an expert on that.
Expert will have to give opinion to the police first, whether they are derogatory or not,” the Chief Minister said, adding that “oversensitivity” has been created about the issue, because there is an award at stake.