Even as renowned writers continue to return the awards conferred on them over rising cases of intolerance and communal atmosphere in the country, Sahitya Akademi President Vishwanath Tiwari said that returning awards is not the correct manner to protest.
"Writers shouldn’t have returned these awards, they should have adopted other ways to register their protest. These awards weren't conferred on writers by government but Akademi on the basis of quality of their literature," he said.
Joining the succession of writers who have returned government-conferred honours as a mark of protest, Sahitya Akademi's 'Yuva Puraskar'-winning author Aman Sethi on Sunday said he is returning his award as he was "shocked" at the literary body's refusal to take "a firm stance" on the killing of Kannada author MM Kalburgi.
"Recent events suggest that the Akademi is neither interested in supporting writers in their fight to push the boundaries of expression and thought, nor in asserting its autonomy at a time when the spirit of critical inquiry is clearly under threat," Sethi said.
Previously, writers like Nayantara Sehgal, Ashok Vajpeyi, Sara Joseph, Rahman Abbas, Uday Prakash, Gurcharan Singh, among others, have announced the return of their Akademi awards.
Comments
0 comment