JOIN USAfter his attack on Salman Rushdie, Jnanpith winner Bhalachandra Nemade has now hit out at V S Naipaul, questioning whether a writer has to visit a country thrice to understand a subject.
"Naipaul had to visit India thrice on fellowship to understand the country," the Marathi litterateur claimed here. He again raised questions about the literary merits of Salman Rushdie and accused him of pandering to the West.
"Rushdie's works have criticised Eastern and Asian people and presented a negative picture about them. He has tried to please the West," Nemade said.
The 2014 Jnanpith Award recipient had questioned the works of Rushdie and Naipaul at an event organised by Matrubhasha Samvardhan Sabha in February. After the event, Rushdie had tweeted that Nemade should accept the award and be thankful for it. He also doubted if Nemade has read the literature he was attacking. When asked about Rushdie's tweet, Nemade said that he had commented only after reading the works of Rushdie and Naipaul. He said that children should be taught in their mother-tongue in order to enable their comprehensive development.
Nemade has influenced the works of three generations with his writings. His major works include novel 'Kosala' and 'Hindu'. He has also been conferred the Padma Shri and has won the Sahitya Akademi Award besides many other accolades.