The spree of returning of Sahitya Akademi awards and giving up of positions continued on Sunday with six more eminent writers returning honours to the Government, protesting over the killing of writer MM Kalburi and ‘rising communalism’ in the country.
Gujarat-based writer Ganesh Devy returned the award on Sunday along with Delhi-based Aman Sethi and noted Kannada writer Kum Veerabhadrappa while three authors from Punjab- Gurbachan Bhullar, Ajmer Singh Aulakh and Atamjit Singh too have announced that they were returning their Akademi honours over the issue.
Several authors including Nayantara Sehgal, Sara Joseph, Uday Prakash and Ashok Vajpeyi have already returned their Sahitya Akademi awards and others like poet Satchidanan and Keki Daruwalla have protested the Akademi’s “silence” over the killing of writer Kalburi and against the “rising intolerance”.
In response, Sahitya Akademi chairperson Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari on Sunday said that the matter will be taken soon to the executive board of the institution.
Stating that he was pained at reports in the media that Sahitya Akademi is “silent” on many recent events, he said, “I as the President can express my official views on any matter only after placing the same before and getting the requisite approval form the Executive Board of Sahitya Akademi in the next meeting.”
Appealing to the writers’ community, Tiwari in a statement said since the Akademi, India’s National Academy of letters, is also run by writers, they should come forward and protect the dignity of the autonomous body.
He said that the institution stands for freedom of expression and condemns attack on any writer or artist anywhere and asserted its commitment to the “core secular values” enshrined in the Constitution.
“We wish to emphasise that the Akademi stands for freedom of expression of all writers, irrespective of caste, colour, creed or nationality. Sahitya Akademi condemns the attack on and murder of any writer or artist anywhere,” the chairperson of the country’s highest literary institution said.