Those who are condemning or ridiculing authors who have been returning their awards in protest against what they consider rising intolerance in the country, should realise that giving up awards is not a matter to be joked about
Dozens of writers have followed Nayantara Sahgal and continue to return their Sahitya Akademi awards. Some are even quitting their posts, opening a plethora of perspectives, political discourses and, as usual, blame-games.
The irony is that the politicians and some quarters of the media feel they have all the rights to censor the conscience of these public intellectuals and question them over their returning of awards and brand it as political. A politician even said that this event of returning awards calls for an investigation. Others castigated these writers as worthless or Congress puppets etc.
The writers are returning their awards or quitting their posts as a mark of protest. Instead of condemning the increasing communal atmosphere, unaccounted killing of writers like MM Kalburgi etc, people are blindly castigating these writers on their decision as a selective conscience. They have been giving vague examples of past violent instances and have been questioning the conscience of these writers.
If some writers fall in line with Ms Sahgal and have been returning their award or giving up their post, why is this being treated less as a significant protest and more as a political agendaIJ Why is it that this has been taken as a sheer disappointment of an intellectual class of the countryIJ
As a mark of protest, the writers can either write against the communal frenzy and later get killed, or return their cherished and hard-earned award, which remains their only choice, given the scenario prevailing in the country today.
Instead of seriously pondering over the disturbing communal trend, the people and the media are discussing about the writers and politics of their returning the award. Both should in fact have respect for the protest and remorse over the dwindling idea of a plural India.
Our television anchors have horribly found a new investigative mechanism in everything and blind relationism for everything. We, the citizens of this country, have become habitual to politicising everything, be it the brutal lynching in Dadri, backwardness and poverty of a community, terrorism, growing radicalism and fanaticism etc. Thus, after discussing any issue for a few days, we forget about it and get ready for another one, to harp on in television debates.
Rather than find faults with the writers, we must respect their conscience, as they feel for the fading pluralistic ethos of this country. Before we manipulate or start our coloured commentaries on their protest, we need to realise that giving up or returning the honour is a serious mark of protest by any individual or intellectual.
Today, when fanatic voices against free speech are increasing, a public intellectual, poet, writer or any other public figure feels disgusted and wants to protest in his/her own way.
We can expect such figures to protest the way the mob acts or call for a band or go for a hunger strike or fight it out in the streets, the fellow countrymen or our media need not dig holes in their choice of protest and label it as political or unwise, etc.
Is this award returning trend a political oneIJ Are these writers really not well grounded with the vexed issues of socio-political discrimination of people at different levelsIJ
The Kalburgi incident took place long back and the lynching in Dadri happened recently; both are different in context and locale. However, the political agenda is the same for all.
Many believe that the writers are also not beyond political agenda and also feel why they have not reacted at the time of first incidentIJ Their silence in terms of not using their power of pen also mattersIJ Why this method adopted and why nowIJ Just to be in limelight or this seems a reactionary exercise that is a limited one though represents a critical view of the prevailing situation of growing intolerance in society besides insecurity of writers or intellectual community.
Instead of discovering conspiracy theories and political agendas of writers, let the state return the power to each community to live with their identity with all pride and honour. let the issues of identity, freedom and dignified life be actualized in our country, only then a writer or an artist will feel pride in receiving an award.
The prime focus at this critical juncture must be on why this method and who will get benefitted out of such a protest, though writers claim that this is their only way of registering their protestIJ Is it going to change the attitude/mindset of hard core fundamentalists or will be reinforcing more hardliner fanaticism in the country, only the time will tellIJ
As Prime Minister Narendra Modi rightly said it his Mann ki Baat, India is a diverse country and “this diversity is the pride of India... peace, harmony and unity... these are the key to development.” let us make diversity, the real pride of India.
(The writer is a New Delhi-based sociologist and associate editor at Eurasia Review)