Appointment of noted author and environment activist Fr Francis Debrito as president of the upcoming Marathi literary meet has triggered a row with at least one top office-bearer claiming to have received threat calls for removal of the Christian priest.
Akhil Bhartiya Sahitya Mahamandal (ABSM) chief Kautikrao Thale Patil on Wednesday said he had received as many as 35 calls, and some of the callers tried to threaten him seeking cancellation of Debrito's appointment.
The 93rd All India Marathi Literary Meet is scheduled to be held at Osmanabad in Maharashtra on January 10, 2020.
Thale Patil said the members of ABSM unanimously selected Debrito as the president of the literary meet at the meeting held in Osmanabad on September 22.
"The meeting was attended by 17 out of 19 members of the AISM. The representative of Chhattisgarh conveyed his vote to Fr Francis Debrito in a written form. It was a democratic decision taken unanimously," Thale Patil told PTI.
Drawing an analogy, he said sometimes people elected through general elections are not liked by everyone, "but that doesn't mean that the elected person should resign or be removed".
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He said he had received around 35 calls against Debrito's appointment. "Some of the callers tried to threaten me. They are demanding removal of Debrito," Thale Patil added.
Thale Patil said he was not aware about the affinity of the callers but is sure that they are "anti-Christians".
"I have not lodged a complaint with police yet but will surely do so if I keep receiving such calls. The present government has appointed Father Debrito as a language expert in a committee in the year 2015. I have heard that state minister Vinod Tawde has also congratulated Fr Debrito," he said.
Fr Debrito (77), a resident of Vasai near Mumbai, was recently conferred prestigious Sahitya Akademi award for "Subodh Bible-Nava Karar", the Marathi translation of Bible-The New testament.
Notably, the 92nd Marathi literary meet too was mired into a controversy after organisers withdrew invitation of noted author Nayantara Sahgal who was supposed to inaugurate the event in Yavatmal, at the last moment.
Sahgal, a critic of Narendra Modi government, was at the forefront of the "award wapsi" campaign.