This literary meet became controversial after a group of Marathi litterateurs took exception to the fact that ``someone who does not respect freedom of expression'' (Joshi) was the convenor of the meet. The group has boycotted the meet and has organised a parallel literary meet at Dharavi on February 7. The group has also accused the organisers and participant litterateurs of the Shivaji Park meet, of being partial to the higher castes in their writings and of not voicing the experiences of Dalits,minorities and women.

The parallel group had demanded Joshi's resignation as the convenor of the meet. Bapat was also under pressure from the group, and several others, to speak on the policies of the present government, chiefly, regarding freedom of expression.

Joshi today, however, seemed unaffected. He was at his jovial best as he listed the things his government had done for the literary meet and for the Marathi language. ``Politics has given several litterateurs issues to write on. I sincerely wished to be present at the meet as a lover of literature and not as a chief minister. That is the real reason why I gave up the post.

No one should therefore pester me with the same questions over and over again,'' he said amidst laughter. He refuted the charge that he had insisted on his constituency for the venue of the meet to gain votes. ``I don't have to do anything extra to gain votes. And fame is something that comes to me easily as I am with Balasaheb,'' he said.Bapat in his address stressed on theneglect of the Marathi language by its speakers and the importance of their education in Marathi. ``The government should insist that children whose mother-tongue is Marathi should study in Marathi medium schools,'' he said. He did speak on the issue of the freedom of expression but did not elaborate. ``Freedom of expression is a very important issue in a democracy.

If the censor board has taken a certain decision, it is wrong for any one person to use force to disregard it,'' he said.Noted scientist and the former vice chancellor of the Pune University, Vasant Gowarikar, inaugurated the biggest event on the cultural calendar of Maharashtra, organised by the Dadar Sarvajanik Vachanalay. About 7,500 people, from all over the state and beyond will attend the three-day event.