Over 90 writers and intellectuals from West Bengal have written to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking his intervention in Dadri lynching incident and recent attacks on rationalists even as a Rajasthan writer returned his Sahitya Akademi award joining a list of over 30 authors protesting “growing intolerance”.
In a related development, 17-year-old schoolgirl Ria Vithasa from Shimoga, Karnataka on Thursday said she is handing over her Bal Sahitya award as she was pained by the killing of noted writer M M Kalburgi from the State.
In their letter to the President, the writers said, “We are horrified at the callous lack of support and apathy of the state in finding and bringing the culprits to justice. The stifling atmosphere of fear and uncertainty is fatal to the freedom of expression that is at the heart of our shared lives, and it is for the restoration of this common fabric that we urge you to intervene.”