DEHRADUN: A book fair scheduled for Feb 15-16 at Uttarakhand’s HNB Garhwal University, the state’s only central university situated in Srinagar (Pauri Garwhal), has been cancelled, with organisers alleging pressure from right-wing groups for the cancellation. The event, titled ‘Kitab Kauthik’, a popular platform for book lovers which is annually organised by the group Creative Uttarakhand, was initially scheduled for Jan at Govt Girls’ Inter College.
“We had received permission from the school, but the management later cancelled it without assigning a reason. Since elections were approaching, we postponed the event to Feb,” said Hem Pant, the fair’s coordinator.
The organisers then approached the central university for permission to hold the event at its premises and initially claimed to have received a go-ahead, which they said was later revoked. “Representatives of the students’ union and ABVP told us that ‘books on Gandhi and Nehru were not fit to be sold’. They convinced the university to revoke the permission,” Pant alleged.
Students sought cancellation of book fair due to exams: University
University spokesperson Ashutosh Bahuguna denied that permission was revoked due to pressure from any group. “Our students’ body suggested that holding a book fair may interfere with the ongoing exams and distract students, which is why the organisers were asked to find an alternate location,” he said.
Ashish Pant, a student union representative from RSS-backed ABVP, claimed there were no ideological reasons for the event’s cancellation. “Initially, approval was given to them for a small setup near the university library, but we later learned they had planned multiple cultural programmes. All of this was happening in the middle of exams. It was students themselves who raised concerns, which led to the university revoking the permission based on our recommendation.” He also rejected claims that ABVP had objected to the nature of the books that were to be sold.
Meanwhile, the organisers tried to shift the fair to Ramlila Ground in Srinagar but met with a roadblock there too. “The Ramlila Ground committee okayed holding the event but later we were told that RSS had already booked the venue for the same dates. We subsequently found that their application was dated Feb 10, while we had applied on Feb 9,” said Hem Pant. He also alleged that the right-wing group covered book fair banners with their own posters.
“When we sought clarification from the administration, we did not get a satisfactory response. This is a simple book fair designed for students and youngsters.. We bring over 50,000 books to small towns and the last edition was held in Tehri. Even CM Pushkar Singh Dhami encouraged us to organise more of them. Against this backdrop, such politically motivated discouragement is disheartening,” he added.
SDM Srinagar, Nupur Verma, when contacted, said, “No application came to me from the book fair organisers, and the RSS event was already scheduled much earlier.”