Senior literati Ashok Vajpayee has accused of ‘censorship’ at the ‘Earth Culture Festival’ being held in Delhi.

He said on Friday that he will not participate in the ‘Earth Culture Festival’ to be held in Delhi because censorship is being imposed on poems.

Ashok Vajpayee alleges that the organizers of the program have asked questions about poems containing political criticism, while the organizers say that no questions have been asked on his part.

A three-day ‘Land Culture Festival’ is being organized from February 24-26 at Sundar Nursery Ground in Delhi.

In this, Ashok Vajpayee had to recite poetry in ‘Hindi Kavita Sandhya’. Other poets and writers would also be included, such as poet Anamika, actor and writer Manav Kaul, poet and writer Badri Narayan, and poet Dinesh Kushwaha.

But, one day before the show, Ashok Vajpayee refused to attend. He also reported this on a Facebook page called ‘Kabhi Kabhar’.

Ashok Vaypayee is a household name in the literary world. He is a high level poet as well as a former bureaucrat. He is currently the Managing Trustee of ‘Fundación Raza’. He often participates in literary programs.

Ashok Vaypayee I spoke to BBC Hindi about this development. He said: “A few weeks ago, Earth Foundation officials came to me. He said that a poetry reading has to be organized at Sundar Nursery and he has come to call me about it. At the time I thought it was from Rekhta. He must have mentioned the Arth and Zee Foundation as well, but I didn’t pay attention.

Then I left the country. Then on the 23rd I got a call from a gentleman. I thought it would be from the Rekhta Foundation. He said what poems you would read and what his theme would be. I mentioned that I have written seven choruses that are from the Greek dramatic tradition. I will read two or three of them.

Vaypayee said, He asked me if there is any criticism of politics or the government in your poem. I said that it is not directly but based on the current situation. But it occurred to me that this is some kind of very subtle censorship. So I immediately called the Rekhta Foundation and refused to come. I cannot tolerate any censorship.

But, about announcing it on Facebook, he says: “On the morning of the 24th, I saw a poster on Facebook about the poetry recital that my photo was in. That is why it seemed appropriate to say that I am not coming and why I am not coming.

‘Earth – A Culture Fest’ is a cultural event organized by Zee Group. Writers, filmmakers and politicians have been participating in this. It deals with many literary, cultural and social issues.

In this event, a program ‘Hindi Kavita Sandhya’ was to be held on February 24 starting at eight o’clock. Zee Group partnered with Rekhta Foundation, Hindawi for this program only.

The responsibility of the Rekhta Foundation was to prepare it and they were in contact with poets and writers. According to Rekhta’s Hindi publisher, he had to invite five poets on this show.

Anuradha Sharma, Hindi editor at Rekhta He had come to invite Ashok Vajpayee. He says that earlier, Vajpayee had said yes to the show, but later declined due to some other commitment. But, he was not asked any questions related to criticism of politics.

Anuradha Sharma said, “About a month ago when the show was being prepared, I first went to Ashok Vajpayee’s house with one of my colleagues to invite him. He said yes and he knew that the show is from Zee.

“So two days before the show, he said he couldn’t make it. He has to attend some other program. I told him that this is wrong because you had talked to Rekhta before. He then he said yes to take a break.

“But, a day before, he received a call asking him about political comments that he did not like, so he will not attend the program. I didn’t say anything because she had already asked a lot of him. Still, we respect his refusal.

Anuradha Sharma said: “They only asked us if you have a theme. She then said that she has written choruses of Greek plays that she will speak on the programme. There are seven poems of which three will be recited. We also ask other poets and writers to be convenient in the preparation of the program.

She says, “Rekhta is the world of language and literature and we stay away from political and religious things because we have to do literary work. So Ashok Vajpayee is a platform in itself, which can suppress your voice, so why which Rekhta would do this? ?” .”

Sati, Head of Communication, Rekhta Foundationsh gupta Like Anuradha Sharma, he also refuses to ask questions related to politics.

He said: “Rekhta organizes so many events and we never asked anyone what they had to say. Here the speakers come and speak. Some even make political comments. We don’t stop anyone. He is a senior poet, so how can a junior from my office ask him like that?

Some people on social media talk about the pressure on the Rekhta Foundation. On this, Satish Gupta says, “If there had been pressure from Zee on us, Prakash Raj would have attended that show too. He is known for his anti-government stance.

Film producer and actor Prakash Raj also took part in another show at ‘Earth- The Culture Fest’ on the 24th. In this show, there was a discussion about the Boycott of movies and the controversy over the song ‘Besharam Rang’ from the film ‘Pathan’.

Similarly, in ‘Hindi Kavita Sandhya’, a poet had made a satire on power. However, it is unclear what other poets and writers were asked before the show.

On this, Ashok Bajpai says: “I know that he repeatedly says that he also called Javed Akhtar and others and there were no restrictions for them. But then tell me why they asked me this.

This never happened in Rekhta’s shows. I have been and still am a fan of Rekhta’s activities. But applying such fine censorship also goes against Rekhta’s own tradition.

Denying any misunderstanding, Ashok Vajpayee says, “There is no misunderstanding in this. If I had only asked the topic, why would I have said all these things? Either out of fear or caution, but I was asked this.

Ashok Vajpayee also participated in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ of the Congress. On this question of whether the recent incident has anything to do with it, Vajpayee says, “I don’t think so. But, as the politics of this time conspire and keep looking for conspiracies, then any relationship can be made.

Some people say that Ashok Vajpayee, being a strong official in Madhya Pradesh, had organized some of those events, where no questions about the government were raised, like the literary event held during the emergency or the literary event after the tragedy of the bhopal gas. .

During that period, there were Congress governments in the Center and also in Madhya Pradesh. However, so far no poet, writer or artist has spoken out directly about imposing any kind of ban on Ashok Vajpayee’s behalf.

But Ashok Vajpayee denies these allegations, saying, “I have never banned anyone for political leanings. Somebody give proof of this. I have tried to create an inclusive liberal campus, which is unique in Hindi.

Zee Group has issued a statement on this matter. Zee has said, “The directors of the Arth Festival have learned of Ashok Vajpayee ji’s statement and say that they are welcome to the festival so that they can present their valuable views. Neither the directors nor the organizers of the festival have asked them to limit their views. We welcome divergent points of view and welcome speakers from all sectors of society.