Vikram Sampath steps down as Bengaluru LitFest director over stance on Award Wapsi, Tipu

A group of writers withdrew from LitFest over Sampath's opinions; Festival director says 'distressing scenario where his freedom of expression had become a hurdle for the festival'

The Bangalore Literature Festival’s founder director Vikram Sampath on Sunday took to Facebook to express his views on what he has termed as a “personalised campaign” against him. 

The Indian Express reported that Sampath announced his decision to step down as the festival’s director on Saturday after some writers pulled out of the festival citing Sampath’s views on the ‘Award Wapsi’ campaign and other issues. 

“Took a painful decision 2 step down from @BlrLitFest that i started cos of tolerance mafia,’’ Sampath had tweeted on Saturday. 

According to a Firstpost report, the four writers who objected over Sampath's comments and views are Dayanand TK, Arif Raja, OL Nagabhushana Swamy and Satchidanandan. 

Describing the reasons behind his alleged targeting, Sampath wrote on Facebook: “First, my personal view point on why I do not subscribe to the ‘Award Wapsi’ campaign. In an article I wrote in October 2015, I enumerated why I do not wish to give up my Sahitya Akademi award - one that has been given to me for my work by the people of India, judged by an independent jury of fellow writers and scholars and not a political party or Government… Second, was my stance on the recent Tipu Sultan controversy and a subsequent petition signed by me along with a group of very eminent historians, archaeologists, epigraphists and artists on the need for recognizing multiple view points and narratives in Indian historiography.” 

Sampath had expressed his views on Tipu Sultan and his historical treatment in the past too. In an interview to Business Standard last year, Sampath had said that the sharp reactions evoked by Tipu Sultan baffled him. Responding to a question regarding why Tipu was such a divisive figure in Karnataka, Sampath had said, “After all, Tipu was not a religious figure but a politician and hence inevitably had to make compromises. Tipu has been made divisive by people who want to use his name to milk their ends on either side of the debate, as there are ample examples to suit both arguments….” 

In the same article, Sampath had cautioned, “Acknowledgement of the past and some bitter realities of it, a sense of closure is necessary if India has to step into a truly modern and liberal society where history and its assessment is not held captive to modern day exigencies.” 

The Indian Express article quoted Nagabhushana saying, “I am reluctant to participate in an event organised by those who are not willing even to pause and examine the anguish of writers who have decided to return their awards.’’ 

According to the same article, T K Dayananda cited the critical view taken by the organisers of the festival against writers returning their awards as the reason behind his decision to pull out of the festival. Dayananda did concede that the organisers enjoyed the right to level such criticism, just as he enjoyed the right to look at their criticism “through the prism of right and wrong”.  

Sampath’s Facebook post described the situation as a distressing scenario where his freedom of expression had become a hurdle for the festival. “Without getting into the finer details of nuance or metaphorical descriptions, my articles have been torn out of context and conclusions reached hastily,” he wrote.

Sampath, who has written two books called ‘Splendours of Royal Mysore: The Untold Story of the Wodeyars’ and ‘My Name is Gauhar Jaan – The Life and Times of a Musician’, struck a defiant note in his post and said, “I stand by my article(s) written in the past. I am not apologetic about them in any manner and will continue to cherish the freedom that my country gives me to air my opinion fearlessly.”