Bapat's outrage was a reaction to Thackeray's statement today that litterateurs should first return the Rs 25 lakh his government had sanctioned for the meet before criticising him. ``Since when did the Shiv Sena pramukh become someone who gives money? I thought he takes money. I will not sell my soul even if he offers Rs 25 crore,'' roared Bapat.

``Dhairyadhar (the courageous) and not the Lakshmidhar (the wealthy) have been Maharashtra's heroes. I don't care a damn for his (Thackeray's) threats,'' he said. ``How do people tolerate thisdictatorship? But it won't go on for long; the feeble have the courage to pull down the strongest of autocrats,'' he said.

Bapat had given the some-thousand strong gathering at Shivaji Park a hint of his evening outburst in the afternoon itself when he said at a symposium: ``I have not received a single paisa of the Rs 25 lakh. But I'll talk about it later.'' Also a sign of things to come was the quite disappearance of former Chief Minister Manohar Joshi ahead of the concluding address, despite being the convener of the meet. And people could barely wait for it all to unfold.

Bapat kept getting back at Thackeray and his mention of Rs 25 lakh throughout his address. ``Thackeray says that he doesn't care for litterateurs, that litterateurs do not do anything. I want to tell him that the French revolution was possible only because litterateurs wrote, that the British could be ousted because of the writers of the time. Litterateurs give the society a dream for which it strives,'' he said.

The mood in thesammelan pandal too was that of intense anger over the Thackeray statement. Noted writer and the president of the Marathi Sahitya Mahamandal, Vasundhara Pendse-Naik, gave voice to the strong sentiments of participants. ``First, the amount of Rs 25 lakh is given to the organisers of the meet, the Dadar Sarvajanik Vachanalay in this case, and not to the Mahamandal. The Mahamandal only accepts Rs 25 per head by way of registration fees to the meet. Secondly, and most importantly, the amount is sanctioned from the money the people pay as tax. It is not anybody's `wish','' she said. Bapat agreed. And his advice to Thackeray was: ``Give with humility, with grace and faith so that the taker does not feel like a beggar.'' Both, Bapat and Pendse-Naik, suggested the formation of a ``Marathi Mahakosh (account)'' to which lovers and readers of Marathi literature could contribute so that organisers of literary meets need not depend on the state government's help. ``If litterateurs are humiliated over grants,people will spit on them,'' Bapat said. Earlier in the day, the speakers of the seminar on `The growing intolerance in the society is marring creative productivity' thrashed the Congress and the Shiv Sena for disturbing the performances/shows of Mee Nathuram Godse Boltoy and Fire respectively.

Bharatiya Janata Party's MP, Sumitra Mahajan, former spokesperson of Congress (I) V N Gadgil, Cultural Affairs Minister Pramod Navalkar and Manohar Joshi spoke on `Marathi Literature and I'.

Other speakers of the session, Defence Minister George Fernandes and former vice chancellor of University of Mumbai Ram Joshi could not keep their appointments because of bad health.

But Mahajan's spectacular speech, fiery comments made by Dr Mangala Athlekar on the Sena's and Congress' attitude to freedom of expression and all that happened in the three-day meet were clearly and totally masked by its president's Thackeray bashing.