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Freedom of speech has become a phrase one uses at cocktail parties, says adman Bharat Dabholkar

While India continues to debate over the non-attendance of Salman Rushdie at the Jaipur Literature Festival, adman Bharat Dabholkar feels that too much is being made out of issue when far more serious concerns are being overlooked. Those non-attendance of an author has become the talking point of an event that would have had other interesting discussion issues too.

Says Dabholkar, “India is truly missing out on prioritizing the right issues. We are a bit too overwhelmed by films, cricket, celebrities and glamour in general. Even serious issues only get notice if some Page 3 people mouth mostly ignorant stuff in good English. Issues such as hunger, corruption and apathy are not talked about with as much seriousness as they merit.” Dabholkar, who has been following JLF coverage in the media, feels it’s unfair that the Rushdie issue has overshadowed so many other concerns.

“Apart from the Salman Rushdie issue, which suddenly seems to be a major national shame scoring over farmers’ suicides, khap killings and girl child murders, JLF threw up some surprises. The Rushdie issue has overshadowed the entire fest. That is unfair. I thought literary festivals, by definition, are about writers sharing their thoughts. But, here I saw many Bollywood actors and other sundry socialites waxing eloquent on stage. Thank god, the cricketers are touring. Doesn’t each field have its own stars? Or do we need general good-for -all-issues celebrities for every event? Or is tweeting, blogging and talking on TV considered literature now?”

As a parting shot, he says, “India has overdone the Rushdie issue. In fact, it’s been way overdone. Most people I talked to don’t even know what the “The Satanic Verses” are. Freedom of speech has become a phrase one uses at cocktail parties.”