Kannada Sahitya Parishat's meat ban at Mandya event sparks heated debate

The much anticipated three-day Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana (All India Kannada Literary Convention) has run into rough weather over the decision of the Kannada Sahitya Parishat (KSP) to prohibit the serving of meat at the event.

The convention is set to take place in Mandya, the ‘sugar bowl’ of Karnataka, from December 20 to 22.

The decision of the KSP, the umbrella body of Kannadigas in Karnataka, has sparked a debate between vegetarians and non-vegetarians on social media.“It is conditions laid down by KSP for those who booked stalls to exhibit materials related to literature at the Sammelana venue against use of liquor, tobacco and meat, which triggered this controversy. Though, many don’t have any disagreement with the banning of liquor and tobacco, it is serving and consumption of meat, at the venue, that irked many and created furore,” said Guruprasad DN of Akruti Books.

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Furore over decision

Litterateurs and the culturally conscious section of Kannada society are quick to flay KSP for being judgemental and insensitive towards those who prefer non-vegetarian food.

While a handful of people supported KSP’s decision, attributing their own reasons such as ‘possible clash during serving of food at the event’, most users on social media disagreed with the perspective of KSP. Many of them pointed out that no one has the right to decide what others should eat.

Plan to serve ‘Chicken Biryani’

‘Badoota Balaga of Mandya’, a Mandya-based group that serves non-vegetarian food, on December 8 announced its move to collect chicken from every house in Mandya and serve ‘Chicken Biryani’ to the delegates who will converge to participate in Kannada Sahitya Sammelana.

“If district administration and government machinery fail to serve non-vegetarian food to delegates, this is the only alternative left,” said TL Krishne Gowda. Another volunteer MB Naganna Gowda sought to know the reason behind not serving non-vegetarian food, a part of food culture of Vokkaliga heartland, even as food culture of other parts of Karnataka is being celebrated. However, authorities have not responded to the demand of ‘Badoota Balaga of Mandya’ so far.

Lit fest of Kannada diaspora

Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana is a festival that witnesses participation of the Kannada diaspora spread across the world to celebrate land, language and culture and pass resolutions to preserve and protect, interest of Kannada language, literature, art, culture and music.

Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana is being conducted for the past 109 years. However, this is for the first time that the event is facing controversy over ‘contentious’ issue of food culture.

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Biased approach

It can be recalled here that the 86th Sammelana held at Haveri last year, courted controversy over alleged sidelining of Muslim writers and litterateurs. The selection of achievers for felicitation had run into controversy as social media users flayed the “biased approach”. However, KSP went ahead without making any changes last year.

Citing a statement by Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Mahesh Joshi that the 87th edition of Kannada Sahitya Sammelana in Mandya will set a new record of sorts, a prominent writer scoffed at him saying, “Joshi did not disappoint Kannadigas, as promised, he is setting records of sorts by triggering controversy after controversy.”

Bid to saffronise KSP

Speaking to The Federal, Guruprasad, a film and cultural critic slammed KSP for banning meat at the Kannada Sahitya Sammelana and dubbed it as an “attempt to saffronise” century-old secular representative body of Kannadigas.

“KSP is claimed to be the largest literary institution in South Asia in terms of its membership. Its membership has skyrocketed to over 4 lakh from just 40,000 in 2004,” said writer and cultural critic Sridharamurthy, who is associated with KSP. However, pleading anonymity, some of those associated with KSP for long, told The Federal, “Over the years it has got embroiled in caste and religion based politics. Kannada lost its way in KSP, as caste rifts hijacked the language. After 100 years of its formation, KSP has plunged into a crisis. It has moved away from its core agenda of promoting Kannada language and culture.”

RSS-BJP support for Joshi

These allegations against Joshi gained ground with the way he got elected to the coveted post in KSP with both tacit and explicit support of BJP in the 2021 polls.

Prior to Joshi, the post of KSP president was held by writers and intellectuals. BJP activists worked akin to general elections by making a list of voters and bringing them to the polling booths three years ago. Many people flayed the saffron party’s “interference” in the KSP polls.

“Apparently, Joshi contacted senior RSS leaders, seeking support in the elections. It is said that RSS leaders exerted pressure on BJP leaders to ensure the party to stand by Joshi. Instructions were issued within the party to campaign for Joshi and a strategy was devised to bring voters to the polling centre. As a result, the voting percentage was more than 70 per cent in several districts,” admitted an RSS leader.

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Another controversy

The 87th edition of Sammelana landed in controversy a month ago after the idea of appointing non-literary personality to preside over the event was floated.

Interestingly, KSP proposed to consider the names of non-literary personalities including former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, former Chief Minister SM Krishna, former cricketer GR Vishwanath and seers of various religious ‘muths’.

However, after drawing flak for its bid to please the political leaders, KSP finally decided to drop the idea of choosing a non-literary personality for the coveted position and opted for noted writer, folklore scholar Go. Ru. Channabasappa.

‘Untouchability intelligently’

Most of the litterateurs and thinkers The Federal spoke to said any attempt to separate venues to serve vegetarian and non-vegetarian food at the venue will be an insult to the native food culture in the diversified cultural ecosystem of the society.

“It is a kind of practicing untouchability intelligently. People should be cautious of this escapist plans, if any in the saffronised condition of Kannada Sahitya Parishat,” observes Guruprasad in a post he shared on social media.