Defend freedom of speech: Organisers

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Author William Dalrymple speaks at the Jaipur Literature Festival on Monday. — PTI

With the Jaipur Literature Festival 2013 coming to an end on Monday, directors of the event Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple appealed to the people to defend the freedom of speech and expression while vowing to keep the festival going.

“I really hope people will rally around to defend the festival,” said Dalrymple. “We will fight to keep it open. We will fight to make sure this forum remains…we are terribly proud of what we have done,” he added.
Meanwhile, Gokhale appealed to the media to go beyond controversies. “We need to go beyond controversies and find a place where we can hear each other,” she said. “Every controversy some time later leads to an understanding…there is a position in the middle and to understand that people should have an opportunity to speak. We hope they get it at JLF,” Gokhale added.
The five-day literary extravaganza faced opposition from some groups over the inclusion of author Jeet Thayil who in 2012 had read from Salman Rushdie’s banned book Satanic Verses. It also faced protests from right wing groups over invitation to writers from Pakistan after the killing of two Indian soldiers at the LOC.
Pointing out that over 260 authors and approximately 2,00,000 people were part of JLF 2013, Dalrymple said that by focusing on the controversies, the media had been missing out on the main focus of the festival which is to bring together acclaimed authors and readers at the same platform.
The high point of the literary carnival was the presence of the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, who addressed a jam-packed session on the very first day, setting the ball rolling. The keynote speaker Mahashweta Devi led the list of literary luminaries including Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, Howard Jacobson, Timothy Garton Ash and Linda Grant among others.
Bollywood and cricket, the two major obsessions in India also made their presence marked here with names like Rahul Dravid, Javed Akhtar, Prasoon Joshi, Shabana Azmi and Jaideep Sahni attracting major crowds.
Highlighting India’s long tradition of debate and argument, Dalrymple said, “The point is not that JLF subscribes to what authors say. It is a forum where people can express themselves freely. They may say things I do not agree with and that is fine,” adding that “India has a long tradition of argument and debate”.
Gokhale said it was the endeavour of the festival to cover as many themes as possible.