With power equations changing completely, ripples and after effects are being felt across institutions. Justice Leila Seth, the first woman to become the Chief Justice of a High Court ? who was the chairman of the Advisory Board to the National Library in Kolkata ? resigned from the position last week.
While Seth has cited health issues and age related factors, the timing of her resignation is a giveaway. Sources confirmed that Leila Seth sent her resignation to the Union Ministry of Culture within hours of the election results being declared on May 16 announcing the shift from a Congress-led regime to a BJP led one. Leila Seth ? who is the mother of author Vikram Seth ? was in news recently for speaking out against Section 377 which criminalises homosexuality. She could not be reached for a response.
Seth will not be the only one sending in papers to the Culture ministry. Anil Nauriya ? a member of the Gandhi Samiti and Darshan Samiti had resigned on May 15. In a communication to outgoing PM Manmohan Singh, Nauriya had said ?forces associated with the assassination of Mahtama Gandhi, the demolition of historic places of worship and instigation of communal conflict and of pogroms in which a state government has been seriously implicated, now appears to be on the rise?.
Sources in Culture ministry said many more resignations are expected over the next few days. A number of advisory boards and bodies comprising cultural and intellectual exponents are expected to be dissolved once the Narendra Modi-led BJP government takes charge.