Chomsky and Prashad planned to use this session to make a statement about how they feel about corporations like Tatas.
Key points
- ‘This decision was necessary to protect the integrity of the festival’
- They were planning to make a statement about how they feel about corporations like Tatas.
- Noam Chomsky and Vijay Prashad had called QUAD’s security dialogue ‘highly destabilizing’
New Delhi: Tata Lit Fest founder Anil Dharker defended the cancellation of Noam Chomsky-Vijay Prashad’s talk saying the duo was going to use the platform to express adverse opinions about the title sponsor.
Tata Lit Fest owes its success to the free expression of ideas, not the free expression of someone’s specific agenda, Dharker said in his statement.
The diversity of thoughts and themes presented each year is another reason for the festival’s success, the founder said, adding that he came to know that Chomsky and Prashad planned to use this session to make a statement about how they feel about corporations like Tatas, That was never the purpose of the session.
‘It was necessary to protect the integrity of the festival’
“The festival that I founded and run with a dedicated team owes its success to the free expression of ideas, not the free expression of someone’s specific agenda. The expression of such an agenda, whether it is against a specific organization, a corporation or an individual, is therefore out of place in our festival discussions, ”said Dharker.
He also said that the cancellation of the session is a considered decision made in his capacity as Director of the Festival.
“As much as I respect and deeply admire the work of Professor Noam Chomsky, this decision was necessary to protect the integrity of the festival,” he added.
On Twitter, Prashad claimed that his panel was abruptly canceled just hours before it was posted.
‘Highly destabilizing QUAD security dialogue’
“Interestingly, a few hours before this session between Chomsky and myself, @tatalitlive canceled our appearance ‘due to unforeseen circumstances.’ More on this to come (sic), ”he tweeted.
The two were also planning to talk about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
In the joint statement, they said the issue of the erosion of democracy is a serious matter and called the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, Japan and the United States “highly destabilizing.”
