Notwithstanding the Supreme Court order stating that the right to free speechand expression is not absolute in the context of attributing obscene language to ‘revered, historical figures’, Jnanpith awardee Bhalchandra Nemade is set to publish the controversial poem Gandhi Mala Bethala (I met Gandhi). Mr. Nemade says he wrote to the poet, Vasant Gurjar, in March and is awaiting a response. His letter dated March 21, a copy of which is with The Hindu, praises Mr. Gurjar’s work and seeks his permission to publish the poem in a proposed volume on Gandhi’s works to be brought out by the Sahitya Akademi, which comes under the Department of Culture.

“The chairman of the Sahitya Akademi has decided to collect selective and important literary works on Mahatma Gandhi from 24 different Indian languages and I am the chief editor for the Marathi literature on Mahatma Gandhi… Please accord your permission for including your poem in the collection to be published by the Sahitya Akademi,” Mr. Nemade wrote.................Read more

Source web page: The Hindu