At the inaugural of the Kumaon Literary festival (KLF) Goa edition, Goa Governor, PS Sreedharan Pillai, said that there was a need to ensure integrity and unity among the people of the country.
“When it comes to integrity and sovereignty, how can we guarantee that a single language can assure that there will be unity among the people of India? Or, how can a single religion, alone, guarantee that our people will be happy and unity will be guaranteed?” Pillai said.
He suggested that art and literature should be one way through which integrity and unity could be assured.
He also put forth the contributions of the people from different strata of society and religion, who have worked immensely towards promoting the culture and history of our country. "On the constitution of India, it is written 'India that is Bharat' which tells us how it is important to embrace both new India along with its values and culture," Pillai said.
Chairman of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister of India, Bibek Debroy, gave various instances connected to India's history and culture and spoke about how languages have played an important role in shaping our nation's culture.
He spoke about how our culture gives us the soft power which is needed for the development of the country.
KLF, for the first time, made Goa it's venue this year. One of the reasons is that the festival is produced by the India Cinema Heritage Foundation, a public charitable trust, which is now registered in Divar island and will be inaugurated on May 15, 2022 at Divar.
Founder of KLF, Sumant Batra, spoke about the reason for choosing Goa, he said, "Goa is one place that still takes out time to learn about it's culture and people. They are also focused on reading books, which is one of the reasons for choosing Goa as the venue."
Film Director and Writer, Rahul Rawail also graced the occasion with his presence. He said that initiatives like these were valuable and important.
The inaugural was followed by various sessions, including a book launch, among others.