Face of Marathi literary meet executive president blackened, one arrested

Kolhapur: The three-day 99th Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, currently on in Satara, saw high drama on its first two days, with a man arrested on Saturday for throwing black-coloured liquid on the face of the sammelan's executive president, and a renowned author and Sahitya Akademi Award winner claiming he was stopped from entering the venue on Friday for wearing a black shirt.On Saturday afternoon, a man blackened the face of Vinod Kulkarni, the executive president of the 99th Akhil Bhartiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan, after Kulkarni stepped down from the podium set for book publishing. The man who threw the liquid shouted slogans of "Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan" and also recited the National Anthem. He was apprehended by the police.The man was later identified as Sandip Jadhav, a resident of Tandulwadi village in Satara's Koregaon tehsil. He was arrested, and the process of filing the FIR was on on Saturday evening. The organisers of the literary meet claimed Jadhav was carrying a weapon."Kulkarni was taken to hospital immediately for a check-up, as the liquid was poured on his face and could have damaged his eyes. We filed the complaint with the Shahupuri police station. The police assured protection to the executive president and others associated with the event," said Chandrakant Beble, the organiser of Maharashtra Sahitya Parishad.Minister Shivendraraje Bhosale, who is also the host of the literary meet, condemned the incident. He said Kulkarni helped organise the event, taking care of everything.The literary meet was inaugurated by chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday. Pradeep Kokare, a renowned author and Sahitya Akademi Award winner, claimed the police stopped him from entering the venue of the literary meet on Friday for wearing black."Police personnel deployed at the gate stopped me as I was wearing a black shirt. They told me black clothing was not allowed as CM Fadnavis was attending the event," said Kokare, whose book ‘Khol Khol Dushkal Dole' received the Sahitya Akademi award for 2025."When I argued, the police reiterated that no one wearing black clothes would be permitted entry as the chief minister was present at the venue," said Kokare, adding he was representing a publishing house that set up two stalls at the event, and wanted to interact with readers.If black colour is considered a symbol of protest, then the organisers should have clearly mentioned this in bold letters on the invitation card, so that people would be aware of it, Kokare added."I never imagined such a diktat would be enforced at a literary meet. This is nonsensical. If black colour is equated with rebellion at a literary meet, and if people are judged based on the colour of their clothes, then such an incident is not good for democracy," Kokare said.When contacted, Satara superintendent of police Tushar Joshi said the force received memorandums and inputs from some outfits that black flags would be shown to the CM during the event. "As a precautionary measure, black shirts etc. were not allowed at the event," the SP said. (With PTI inputs)