Veteran poet N.D. Mahanor on January 9 opened All India Marathi Literature Festival amid tight security in view of threats from right-wing Hindu organizations.

The groups had warned Mahanor, a Padma Shri and Sahitya Academy awardee—not to inaugurate the festival as a Christian priest, Father Francis D’Britto, presided over the festival. The priest is a Marathi writer.

The literature festival was held on January 10-12 in Osmanabad in Maharashtra, some 410 km southeast of Mumbai, the state capital. “I have been getting calls since January 1 asking me not to attend the festival as a Christian man is the president. Akhil Bharatiya Brahman Mahasabha had sent a letter asking me not to inaugurate the event, as they would be protesting at the venue. But there was no question for me not to inaugurate the festival.” Mahanor told News Click.

Anand Dave, secretary of All India Brahman Mahasabha (grand council of Brahman), said his organization did not threaten the 78-year-old litterateur. “We requested him not to inaugurate the festival that is presided by a Christian priest. We did not want him to witness our protests at the venue,” he said.

However, Mahanor’s close aides have said that repeated calls and “requests” in harsh words constitute a threat to a septuagenarian. Mahasabha and other right-wing organizations have been opposing selection of Father D’Britto as the president, even as he has been selected following a democratic process. Members of the Marathi Sahitya Parishad, which holds the festival every year, vote for contestant writers to select the president. Father D’Britto, a recipient of Sahitya Academy Award in 2014, was born and brought up in Vasai near Mumbai.