Nine authors have resigned from the Sharad Pawar Inspire Fellowship due to concerns over the relationship between Sharad Pawar and Gautam Adani. Their decision follows the inauguration of an AI centre by Adani, which they oppose due to political affiliations.
India
-Krishna Kripa
In
a
significant
move,
nine
mentors
have
stepped
down
from
their
roles
at
the
Sharad
Pawar
Inspire
Fellowship
Literature.
Their
resignation
was
communicated
through
a
letter
to
Supriya
Sule,
NCP
working
president,
on
December
29.
The
mentors
expressed
dissatisfaction
with
the
perceived
closeness
between
NCP
SP
chief
Sharad
Pawar
and
Gautam
Adani,
chairman
of
the
Adani
group.
image
Nine
authors
have
resigned
from
the
Sharad
Pawar
Inspire
Fellowship
due
to
concerns
over
the
relationship
between
Sharad
Pawar
and
Gautam
Adani.
Their
decision
follows
the
inauguration
of
an
AI
centre
by
Adani,
which
they
oppose
due
to
political
affiliations.
The
mentors’
decision
followed
the
inauguration
of
the
Sharadchandra
Pawar
Centre
of
Excellence
in
Artificial
Intelligence
in
Baramati,
which
Adani
attended.
The
mentors
who
resigned
include
Dr.
Nitin
Rindhe,
Rajiv
Naik,
Ganesh
Visputye,
Kiran
Yele,
Mukund
Kule,
Randhir
Shinde,
Chandrashekhar
Phansalkar,
Pramid
Munghate,
and
Sharad
Naware.
Proximity
Concerns
and
Ethical
Stance
The
mentors
highlighted
their
discomfort
with
the
language
used
in
the
invitation
for
the
AI
centre’s
inauguration
and
Adani’s
felicitation.
They
described
Adani
as
an
industrialist
linked
with
political
power
and
ideologies
they
oppose.
This
association
conflicted
with
their
values
as
literary
mentors.
For
four
years,
these
mentors
were
involved
in
selecting
and
guiding
fellow
writers
under
the
fellowship.
They
appreciated
the
Yashwantrao
Chavan
Centre’s
initiative
to
promote
Marathi
book
writing
and
acknowledged
the
freedom
they
enjoyed
without
ideological
constraints.
Values
and
Ideological
Differences
The
mentors
were
shocked
by
the
religious
terminology
in
the
invitation
and
the
honour
given
to
Adani.
They
believed
that
Sharad
Pawar
opposed
regressive
values
like
authoritarianism,
monopoly,
crony
capitalism,
and
religious
discrimination.
This
belief
clashed
with
recent
events.
While
recognising
Sharad
Pawar’s
political
challenges
as
a
politician
and
institution
builder,
they
stressed
that
their
role
was
to
engage
with
writers’
ideas
and
values.
The
fellowship
was
seen
as
a
literary
initiative
separate
from
political
influences.
Resignation
with
Regret
The
mentors
stated
that
continuing
their
association
would
be
hypocritical
if
the
organisers
showed
closeness
to
individuals
or
systems
supporting
divisive
values.
They
felt
it
was
ethically
untenable
to
remain
as
mentors
under
such
circumstances.
Despite
their
regretful
decision,
they
formally
announced
their
withdrawal
from
the
fellowship.
“If
the
organisers
of
such
a
literary
programme
SPIF
display
closeness
to
individuals
or
systems
that
support
regressive
and
socially
divisive
values,
it
becomes
ethically
untenable
for
us
to
continue
as
mentors,” they
wrote.
With
inputs
from
PTI
