PANJIM: Gomantak Bhandari Samaj (GBS), defending Vishnu Surya Wagh over his controversial book ‘Sudhir Sukta’, demanded that an expert committee inquire into the contents and after a thorough inquiry the FIR against him be withdrawn.
Speaking to the media, GBS President Anil Hoble, who is also a vice president of BJP Goa unit, said the association is also of the opinion that if the awards of Goa Konkani Academy are sealed then they may be declared keeping Wagh’s in abeyance.
GBS Vice-President Upendra Gonakar said that the awards would not have been held back by the government if they were for some upper caste writers, stating it is an injustice to the Bahujan samaj.
Another GBS leader said that, in the past, abusive language has been found in many books, but never had an FIR been lodged against the writer. Vishnu’s book was released four years ago.
After the controversy over the language used, the GKA awards were called off this year, an FIR was filed against the critically ill-author on charges of using derogatory language against women at Ponda Police Station.
Sudhir Sukta has courted controversy for three reasons – the description of the Gaud Saraswat Brahmin (GSB) community as exploiters, use of “abusive” words to describe caste elite women and the usage of a local language throughout the book.
GBS questioned why a book published four years ago, and released by Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, is now in controversy when its author is critically ill?
