Noted Marathi writer and journalist Ibrahim Afghan on Wednesday announced that he would return his Sahitya Akademi award for translation "as a demonstration against intolerance".
Afghan had received the Sahitya Akademi award in 2002 for his Marathi translation of Nida Fazli's Urdu book 'Deewaron Ke Beech'.
Talking to PTI, Afghan said he would return the award as well as the prize money tomorrow. "I believe the voice of reason is the essence of the Secular Democratic Republic we are in.
And I stand by my writer brethren to raise the pitch for the same," Afghan said in a statement here.