Bharat Bhavan inquiry is a farce, say cultural bodies

NK SINGH

With the Vibhakar-Karanth affair taking a back seat with the passage of time, the focus of attention is now shifting towards Bharat Bhavan, the sprawling lakeside cultural complex that employed both the principal characters of the highly emotional drama enacted in Bhopal last month.

When the Bharat Bhavan management yesterday formally announced an inquiry into the functioning of the “house of arts” by its trustees, Ms. Pupul Jayakar, a number of cultural organisations in the city reacted strongly to the announcement, saying that it was like asking a thief to catch a thief.

A press note issued on behalf of the Bharat Bhavan Trust said that any person or organisation wishing to lodge a complaint against Bharat Bhavan may send complaints or allegations “directly in a sealed cover” to Ms. Jayakar by June 15. The handout said that Ms. Jayakar, the Government of India nominee on the trust, had been appointed to inquire into complaints against the trust.

About two dozen cultural and literary organisations of the town have reacted sharply to the announcement. They have been pressing for a judicial inquiry into the various acts of “irregularities, favouritism, and autocracy” by the management of Bharat Bhavan, which is headed by AICC(I) Vice-President Mr. Arjun Singh and the culture secretary of the Madhya Pradesh government, Mr. Ashok Vajpeyi.

Describing it as an eye-wash, these organisations pointed out that Ms. Jayakar was a party to the earlier statement after an emergency meeting of the trust, deploring the press and public criticism of Bharat Bhavan.

Condemning the “vicious propaganda” by some “vested interests” against Bharat Bhavan, “one of the most prestigious cultural institutions,” she had already described these allegations as a “highly motivated campaign of calumny.” Can such a prejudiced person be expected to hold an impartial inquiry? The critics of Bharat Bhavan ask.

The organisations pointed out that although there were several complaints of a serious nature against Mr. Ashok Vajpeyi, “the cultural king” of Madhya Pradesh, Ms. Jayakar was reported to have sought his services as director-general of the Festival of India, which she heads. She could hardly be called an impartial person as far as the Bharat Bhavan affair and Mr. Vajpeyi were concerned, they said.

A statement issued by the two dozen organisations, including the Janwadi Lekhak Sangh and several theatre groups, said that Ms. Jayakar should, in all fairness, refuse to associate herself with this “farce” of an inquiry.

They reiterated their demand that the Bharat Bhavan Trust, which had been appointed by the government, should be disbanded and a high-level judicial inquiry ordered into its affairs. The state unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the main opposition group in Madhya Pradesh, has also ridiculed the decision to have Ms. Jayakar hold an inquiry. “How can one trustee hold an inquiry against another trustee?” the state BJP treasurer, Mr. Kailash Sarang, asked in a statement. Mr. Sarang demanded that Mr. Arjun Singh should resign from the chairmanship of Bharat Bhavan to pave the way for a judicial inquiry into the cultural institution’s affairs.

Meanwhile, the noted painter and life-trustee of Bharat Bhavan, Mr. J. Swaminathan, denied here yesterday that the Bharat Bhavan artists were planning to revolt against the trust leadership over its attitude towards B.V. Karanth.

A report circulated by a news agency had claimed that the Bharat Bhavan artists, including Mr. Swaminathan, were planning to launch an agitation against the trust management and leadership for “abandoning” Karanth in his hour of crisis.

The report said that the artists found merit in the complaint that the Bharat Bhavan trust played dirty with B. V. Karanth by accepting his resignation from the trust and directorship of Rangmandal, the repertory, after his arrest “without verifying his guilt.”

In his statement contradicting the report, Mr. Swaminathan said that, to the best of his knowledge, there was no resentment among the artists against the trust. “As far as I am concerned, I stand myself fully by the decisions of the trust and its leadership,” he said.

The bearded painter said, “In this hour of trial, we in Bharat Bhavan stand united.” Mr. Swaminathan also denied that he had gone to Delhi accompanying Ms. Vibha Mishra, the Rangmandal actress who was flown by a state plane to Delhi for the treatment of her burns last week. “I had accompanied her only to Bhopal airport to see her off,” he told ENS.

Ms. Mishra, 27, received 78 per cent burns when her guru, B.V. Karanth, 57, allegedly tried to burn her to death. The noted drama director and recipient of the Padma Shri is in jail on the charge of attempted murder.

Indian Express

June 8, 1986