The 51st Adhiveshan of the 119-year-old Gujarati Sahitya Parishad is underway in Bhopal from January 5 to 7.The leading Gujarati daily, Divya Bhaskar, is the main sponsor of the event. However, confusion arose among many in Gujarat due to their advertisement in the January 5 print edition of the Divya Bhaskar.In the advertisement, Savarkar’s picture was displayed, followed by ‘Vaishnav Jan To’ poet Narsinh Mehta and Gandhi’s pictures. Savarkar’s picture raised debate among literary circles as he was neither a Gujarati writer nor a Gujarati.The three-day event of the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad is taking place at Narayan Desai Hall in Bhopal.“Its a strange and paradoxical situation,” said eminent poet Saroop Dhruv.Mahatma Gandhi was elected as the Gujarati Sahitya Parishad’s president in 1936.She added, “This is a centenary year of Narayan Desai, who served as the president of Sahitya Parishad and always stood for the autonomy of literary organisations. Outgoing president Prakash N. Shah himself is a staunch Gandhian.”The Gujarati Parishad recently faced controversy when a religious ceremony was held at its Ahmedabad premises. Outgoing president Prakash N. Shah publicly distanced himself from the event afterward.At the Bhopal event, outgoing president Prakash N. Shah is set to hand over the charge to the newly elected president Harshad Trivedi. It’s worth noting that the Parishad has been advocating for the autonomy of the state-run Sahitya Akademi for over a decade. The Gujarat government has been directly appointing the chairman of Gujarat Sahitya Akademi. The incoming president of the Parishad is believed not to be very keen on continuing the pro-autonomy fight.Mehul Devkala is a poet and an award-winning filmmaker.
