With just a week left for the 85th Akhil Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelana to be held in Kalaburagi, the former zilla panchayat member Gurushant Pattedar urged the Kannada Sahitya Parishat to postpone the literary event as there is not enough time available to organise the sammelan and make it a grand success.
Addressing a press conference here on Monday, Mr. Pattedar said that all the preparations for the sammelan started just a fortnight ago. The organising of the sammelan was limited to the government officials and the pubic representatives, neglecting the various organisations, literary figures, and people from different fraternities.
He was also irked over the alleged negligence of the parishat, the district administration, and the elected representatives towards the leaders who were the key figures in the movements seeking justice for Kalyana Karnataka.
The parishat has failed to mention the names of leaders such as Vaijnath Patil, Vishwanath Reddy Mudnal, Hanumanthrao Desai, freedom fighter Vidyadhar Guruji, and Jagannath Chandraki, he said.
The parishat also neglected the former Minister M. Mallikarjun Kharge, the man behind the region getting Article 371(J) of the Constitution providing special status.
Mr. Pattedar said that it was owing to the efforts of Mr. Kharge that the sammelan was being held in Kalaburagi district.
Mr. Pattedar has also threatened to boycott the sammelan on the inaugural day and stage a black flag demonstration against the Chief Minister for neglecting the leaders and literary figures of the region.
