In a clear clamp down on freedom of speech and expression, the leftist-liberal cabal has made a desperate attempt to stifle dissent and has threatened to disrupt the opening day of the Pondy Lit Fest (PLF) 2018. The first edition of Pondy Lit Fest is going to be held on August 17. It is an intellectual exercise that aims to invite outstanding thinkers, writers, and artists to propose new, creative, solutions to the many issues that confront India today. The leftist parties have even demanded that the festival be cancelled merely because it allegedly provides a forum for the promotion of right wing ideology. An alliance of the left parties, the Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) and the Dravida Kazhagam (DK) will stage a protest at Alliance Francaise on August 17, the opening day of the festival. This clearly shows desperation among the leftist parties and so-called intellectuals to not allow the people from different political ideologies to voice their opinions in a blatant violation of the democratic and constitutional principles.
State secretary for the CPI, A.M. Salim said five political parties would write to the French Consulate here and to the Embassy in New Delhi whereby they will complain against Alliance Francaise for allowing the institution to be used for such an event. This is an outlandish and over the top attempt by the communist alliance to suppress the venue partner for this festival and somehow ensure that the festival is cancelled. Salim also urged the chief minister not to attend this event. CPI (M) secretary, R. Rajangam alleged that the Pondy Lit Fest is “an event promoted by the RSS” and the RSS was using the literary festival to promote its ideology.
The communists are not alone in making this hideous attempt to get the Pondy Lit Fest cancelled but the entire leftist-liberal cabal which believes that it enjoys a monopoly over freedom of speech and expression has been guilty of attempting to disrupt this event. The Wire, an anti-BJP media outlet known for shoddy hitjobs many of which have been exposed by writers at tfipost.com, tried to malign this festival by alleging that there is “lack of diverse opinions” which makes the event “dubious”. Similarly, Deccan Chronicle and The Asian Age opined that the event has acquired a saffron hue due to which it is facing flak from critics. However, one does not understand why these media outlets has a problem with the guest speakers in the first place. The organisers are free to invite anyone that they want to and need not take any kind of permissions from the Lutyens’ run/inspired outlets. These self-acclaimed proponents of free speech who claim that the current dispensation is stifling free speech are themselves involved in curbing free speech and further abetting the communist parties into disrupting the festival. This cabal consisting of so called intellectuals, media outlets and leftist parties must be made to understand that free speech cannot be one-way traffic. They cannot take the shield of free speech when spelling out anti-national and anti-Hindu propaganda and deny it when someone having a different ideology voices its opinion.
One fails to understand why the communists have an issue even if the RSS is promoting an event and is trying to convey its ideology. India is a democratic country and every organisation is entitled to spread its ideology except for reasons expressly stated in any law for the time being in force. The Communist and leftist parties must remember that they are not living in the erstwhile USSR or the People’s Republic of China where they can go after anyone for purely political or ideological reasons. For decades, they have exercised complete control over the media outlets and even national institutions whereby they controlled the public opinion. Now when other ideologies have found a voice, they are crying hoarse. They have no right, legal or moral, to violently suppress the opinions expressed by people they don’t agree with!