At lit fest, Prasoon defends his Modi fakir comment

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Modi thinks only about India, so called him ‘fakir’: Prasoon Joshi

Jaipur, January 23

Narendra Modi thinks only about India and not himself and that is the reason I called him a ‘fakir’ (ascetic), poet-lyricist Prasoon Joshi said on the inaugural day of the Jaipur Literature Fesrtival here on Thursday, defending the famous moniker he used for the Prime Minister during an interview.

In a Westminster Townhall in London in 2018, the chairman of Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) famously asked Prime Minister Modi where he got his ‘fakiri’ from, finding himself at the receiving end of both bouquets and brickbats. “There is hardly anyone who will deny that Prime Minister Narendra Modi thinks

only about the nation and not for himself. That is the reason I called him a fakir (detached one),” Joshi said during a conversation with actor Vani Tripathi at the Jaipur Literature Festival which began on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Poet and literary critic Arvind Krishna Mehrotra was awarded the Mahakavi Kanhaiyalal Sethia Award for poetry. Mehrotra, whose literary works include seven collections of poetry, four edited volumes on Indian literature, three translations of Prakrit and Kabir’s poetry, was selected as the winner by a jury consisting of poet Nirupama Dutt and poet-translator AJ Thomas. The award, constituted in the memory of Rajasthani and Hindi poet Kanhaiyalal Sethia, honours one literary icon with a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. Rajasthan Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot gave the award.

Nobel laureate Abhijeet Banerjee, Booker prize winner Howard Jacobson, Pulitzer Prize-winning writers Stephen Greenblatt, Dexter Filkins and Paul Muldoon, Booker International winner Jokha Alharthi, novelists Elizabeth Gilbert, Roshan Ali, and Manoranjan Byapari will be among the speakers to participate at the JLF. The literary extravaganza will come to a close on January 27. — PTI

Nandita Das opposes CAA, NRC

Jaipur: Bollywood actress and director Nandita Das opposed the CAA and the NPR at the literature fest, urging the people to raise their voice against these issues. “It is happening for the first time when the people are being asked to be identified in the name of religion,” she said. IANS