There should be no opposition or animosity between languages: Jnanpith Awardee Damodar Mauzo

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: “Every writer is an activist. For a writer, activism doesn't just mean taking to the streets and protesting. Our words possess so much power that we can oppose anyone or revolt through them. A true writer is one who keeps their conscience awake and writes only what their discerning intellect approves of. So, a writer is a fighter, said Damodar Mauzo, Jnanpith Award winner and renowned author.

He was interacting with writers, authors, editors and journalists from the city in a literary discussion organised at the MGM Trustee's office on Saturday as part of Mahatma Gandhi Mission's 43rd anniversary,

MGM President Kamalkishore Kadam, Secretary Ankushrao Kadam, trustee Dr Sudhir Kadam, director Jayprad Desai, MGM University Vice-Chancellor Dr Vilas Sapkal and others were present. Damodar Mauzo said that the younger generation is moving away from literature today, but he does not find any truth in that.

“This generation is not moving away from reading; rather, their reading mediums have changed. Reading is reaching this generation through new media,” he said.

Renowned author said that the diversity that exists in our country also exists in terms of languages, and it is through this diversity that our unity is preserved.

“There should be no opposition or animosity between languages. This animosity exists among the language chauvinists. Gujarati, Marathi, Konkani, and Hindi form a unique cluster of languages. The politics surrounding languages is unfortunate,” Mauzo said.

He said that the conflict exists in the minds of some people because political leaders need such language disputes.

“It is wrong to say that Hindi is the national language; it should be viewed as a language of communication. If other people love their languages as much as I love mine, there is nothing wrong with that. There is no opposition to the language itself, but there is opposition to the imposition of a language. The politics of language that is going on in other languages is an unfortunate thing,” he added.