BHOPAL: The Bharat Bhavan Trust may be dissolved soon. Sources in the know say that the state government has taken the decision as part of its endeavour to rid the state culture department of the saffron tinge.
The Kamal Nath Government, within a short time after coming to power, had removed Manoj Shrivastava from the post of additional chief secretary of the culture department. According to sources government held that Shrivastava RSS agenda was the mainstay of RSS working.
Sources claimed the government may pick IAS officers Pankaj Rag – presently serving in Delhi on deputation to the Central government, as Shrivastava’s replacement.
Presently, Padma Subramanyam is the chairperson of the Bharat Bhavan trust and its members include Manoj Joshi, Adnan Sami, Kapil Tiwari, Kiran Deshpande, KJ Yesudas, Umakant Gundecha, Prahalad Tipaniya, Rajeshwar Acharya, Sachchidanand Joshi, Shriram Parihar and Vasudev Kamath. Renu Tiwari, secretary, Culture is the member-secretary of the trust.
Sachchidanand Joshi is also the member-secretary of the Indira Gandhi National Centre of Arts (IGNCA). IGNCA has been under fire in the intellectual circles for being turned into a centre for running SS activities in Delhi.
Shriram Parihar, a writer from the state, is also known for his uncritical admiration for the ancient Indian history and culture and the ‘Sanatan dharma’.
Sources say that after initiating changes at the top, the government may go in for a thorough overhaul of the various academies under the culture department.
The department controls almost a dozen academies including Urdu, Sindhi, Marathi and Bhojpuri Sahitya Academies, Kalidas Sanskrit Academy and Ustad Allauddin Khan Sangeet Evum Kala Academy among others.
Sources claimed that the government feels that the culture department was blatantly misused during the 15-year BJP rule in the state to peddle the Sangh’s ideology.
