On Saturday, November 26, a controversy erupted after prominent Hindi poet Anamika Jain Amber was stopped by the Bihar administration from reciting her poetry at the All India Kavi Sammelan at the Sonpur Mela. Jain was allegedly stopped by the Bihar administration officials at the directions of the Nitish Kumar-led government.
Anamika Jain Amber alleged that the district administration told her that she would not be allowed to perform on stage, and she then was left with no option but to return to Delhi.
Speaking about the incident Anamika Jain said, “I am disappointed at having been deprived of the opportunity to perform in the land of Ramdhari Singh Dinkar.”
Jain also claimed that even the officials looked embarrassed when they informed her about the “orders from above” to stop her from performing.
Reacting to the controversy, BJP spokesperson Nikhil Anand demanded an apology from CM Nitish Kumar. He accused the Bihar government of ‘cultural policing’ and suppressing the voices of those opposed to their political ideology.
While speaking to ETV Bharat, Nikhil Anand said, “Renowned poets from across the country were invited to perform at the event. However, Anamika Jain was stopped from performing at the eleventh hour, after the officials received orders from the top level.”
Senior BJP leader Shahnawaz Hussain, when questioned by media about the controversy, said, “It is indeed sad that Anamika Jain was stopped from performing just because she read a poem in praise of Modi Ji and Yogi Ji. Other poets had to boycott the Kavi Sammelan in solidarity with Anamika Amber. Will the events like Kavi Sammelan be now seen through a political lens? I appeal to CM Nitish Kumar to punish those behind this insult of the poet, and stop defaming Bihar.”
Although the Bihar government and administration are now denying that Anamika Jain was invited to the event, the program schedule clearly states that Anamika Jain was invited and was scheduled to perform on November 25 at the Sonpur fair.
Taking to Twitter, Anamika Jain slammed the Bihar government and wrote, “The Bihar government was so scared that I was not even allowed to enter Sonpur, I was stopped in Patna itself since morning. The entire team of poets went to Sonpur and returned after boycotting the program.”
Anamika Jain’s ‘UP Mein Baba Ba’ song in Bundelkhandi dialect, in which she praised Yogi Adityanath during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election, had gone viral on social media and was used extensively during the election campaign by BJP.