The lynching of Uttar Pradesh’s Bisara village resident, Muhammad Akhlaq and the killing of Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi have sparked a round of resignations in the premiere literary council of nation, the Sahitya Akademi. In past few day many writers have also returned back their awards given by government and other academies.
Following is the list of authors who have either resigned from their positions in the Sahitya Akademi or have given up their awards.
Hindi writer, Uday Prakash was the first to announce that he would return his Sahitya Akademi award. In the first week of September, he wrote, “This is not the moment to be silent and find a safe corner to hide in. Otherwise, these dangers will continue to rise.”
Nayantara Sahgal: Former PM Jawaharlal Nehru’s neice was the first one to give away her award, stating the government’s silence after the Dadri lynching incident as the reason. She attacked the current central government for keeping silent over the matter and the lack of “right to dissent”.
Kannada poet Professor Chandrashekhar Patil returned the Pampa Prashasti Award, the highest literary award in Karnataka.
Ashok Vajpeyi: After Sahgal returned back her award, the noted poet said that “It’s high time that writers take a stand.”
Shashi Deshpande: The Padma Shri awardee also gave up her position in the council stating her disappointment with the institution’s failure to protest against the violence its patrons were subjected to.
Sarah Joseph: The noted feminist and author Sarah Joseph announced that she would return the Sahitya Akademi award. She cited ‘the rising tide of intolerance in the country’ as the reason.
K Satchidanandan also gave up his position, stating the literary body had ‘failed’ in its duty to stand with writers and uphold freedom of expression.
Eight writers from Ballari, Belagavi, Dharwad, Bagalkot, Mandya and other places returned the Aralu Prashasti given by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat in scholar MM Kalburgi’s presence in 2011.