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By Preeti Sharma
The Bharatiya Janata Party is gleaming with the Nobel Laureate, Sir Vidiya Naipaul and his wife Lady Nadira Naipaul, who visited the BJP office and raised thumbs up for the party.
Invited by the BJP'scultural cell amidst media persons and various Indian litt?rateurs, Sir Naipaul confessed he was quite happy for being ?appropriated? by the BJP. Lady Nadira said that they don'treally mind endorsing for the BJP. ?My husband is in a political domain. Every one should in fact appropriate him. If the BJP has done so, it is fine. If the liberals do their homework properly, they are free to appropriate him, too? she said.
Commenting on the issue of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi'sforeign origin for occupying higher offices, he responded: ?It is worth considering this idea?. He pointed out that the Americans too have their own particular views about it, indicating indirectly to the recent US law barring foreign born citizens contesting for the Presidents? post.
Noticing India is shining, Sir Naipaul reacted to a question whether Indian society is combating the West that ?intellectual awakening is coming to India? and Indians have ?potential for good in the future?.
Asked whether he supports the demolition of the Babri stature, he said, ?I?ve justified it many times before also. By desecrating a shrine, Babur was negating the Indian culture which I think was set right by the demolition; but I m not going to repeat it?. While he felt Ayodhya ?as a passion? and ?any passion is to be encouraged. Passion leads to creativity.?
Naipaul'sviews here matched the Sangh Parivars? right from the beginning as Sir Naipaul considered the BJP manifesto as ?worth considering?.
Sir Naipaul quietly steered clear of the ?provocative questions? from journalists who asked for his views on ?Islam and Jehad? and ?clash of civilisation?.
Apart from politics, Sir Naipaul shared his views on literature with them. On being asked if society can be really changed through literature, he responded, ?Ideal literature is failing very fast. Earlier, it used to have a modifying effect. Today people lead economical life, but not the intellectual one. We need people of broader views. Always social and political stories create upheavals in the society. It is the need of the time?.
On a query by Hindi novelist, Smt Chitra Mudgal whether a writer should write by his political bondage, he considered the idea as ?dangerous?. ?They ruin the literature. In non-fiction things, it is corrupting. One should imagine his writings being read after 30 years,? he said.
The meeting was inaugurated by Union Law Minister, Shri Arun Jaitley, who welcomed the couple and presented them with ?angavastrams?. Among those present were, Rajya Sabha member, L.M. Singhvi, Hindi writers Chitra Mudgal and Himanshu Joshi. The session was presided over by senior BJP leader, Shri J.P. Mathur.
