Why has B'lore lit fest ignored assault on Manipuri writer?

Bangalore, Dec 8: She is a woman of words and the literary world is holding a

in IT Capital of the country. But the lit fest chose not to highlight the deplorable experience the 32-year-old Manipuri playwright Swar Thounaojam was subjected to.

Is north-east too far away in the mindset of Indians or is it not glamourous enough to attract sound bytes of big names in authors world? Or simply this is a simple case of ignorance.

There was no protest or official note on the way Swar was publicly abused by a group of miscreants on DVG Road in Bangalore on Thursday night. Even the traffic police did not come to her rescue, instead he physically and verbally abused her.

She, in her complaint, narrated the horror faced by her.

The literary universe should not discriminate and should have the courage to at least support people form their world. According to reports they discussed a wide range of issues -- from fine art of crafting a poetic image to the issue of Facebook arrests made by the Mumbai police.

Kannada writer UR Ananthamurthy said at the fest on Friday: "Even when a country is not free, its writers are free." It is, therefore, important for a writer to "speak the truth and keep the conscience".

The incident of Manipuri writer needs attention of the Bangalore festival.

OneIndia News