(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Acclaimed writer Nayantara Sahgal was presented a Lifetime Achievement Award at a literature festival here. A member of the Nehru-Gandhi family and a constant face in the protest against alleged intolerance in the country, she fired a series of salvos at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, even saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government was 'a fascist regime practising an undeclared dictatorship.
'It is the duty of any leadership to bring the best out of its people. But the present leadership has made sure to bring the worst out of its people. They are deliberately taking no action against the mob, Sahgal said on the opening day of the Times Litfest.
The writer of the immensely popular novel Rich Like Us, which won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1986, added that for thousands of years, the Indian civilization has stood for dissent and argument.
'I would like to point out that dissent is no longer the right word. It is not intolerance to threaten and kill those you disagree with. It is murder. We rejected a religious identity at the time of independence despite being very religious people. We chose to be secular because every religion could have its pride of place in India. I am afraid it is no longer so.
'We are under an undeclared dictatorship. Because people who disagree with the ideology of the establishment are threatened and murdered. There is a huge population out there living in constant fear. They are Muslims and Dalits. I want you to remember that we are living in times when Indians are killing Indians. And since they have ordered us not to speak, we are ensuring that we speak out loud at every chance that we get, Sahgal said.
In the context of the ongoing controversy around Sanjay Leela Bhansali's film Padmavati, whose release has been postponed due raging protests, Sahgal said it would be 'the defeat for Indian democracy if the movie wasn't allowed to release.
'I don't think banning of books or movies should have a place in our society. If we were worried about hurting people's sentiments then we would still be burning widows. Sati would have never been abolished if we cared for what the sentiments of people were. If a sentiment is wrong then it must be hurt.
'Art and literature are not bound by sentiments. We have 1.5bn people and we have that many sentiments, she said.
She also said not all political parties in India are anti-democratic in principle. In fact, she said, apart from the 'ruling dispensation, all other political parties are democratic in their belief although all of them may have their own shortcomings.
'Indira Gandhi was a democrat gone wrong. The present dispensation is a fascist regime. Do not forget that even (Adolf) Hitler was elected by the people.
Her session was briefly interrupted by a handful of individuals who demanded she respond to killings by cow vigilantes. Bollywood actress Shabana Azmi and novelist Kiran Nagarkar were seen expressing their anger at the hecklers.
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