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Devanur Mahadeva to return Padmashree, National award

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Devanur Mahadeva

Mysuru:Renowned Kannada Dalit writer and scholar Devanur Mahadeva has decided to return his prestigious National Sahitya Akademi award and Padmashree award in protest of the rising intolerance in the country.

After the Dadri incident and rationalists’ murder, over 40 writers, artistes and 10 filmmakers have returned their awards to record their protest over the rising incidents of intolerance in the country.

Now, senior Kannada scholar Devanoora Mahadeva has joined the protest and expressed support for fight against intolerance.

Through a press release, he said, “Those who govern must have the support of writers and artists. But few scholars have stood against the fight against intolerance, this is saddening. So, I have taken this decision”.

The renowned writer also expressed displeasure towards the central government and union law minister Sadananda Gowda.

(Agencies)

Sahitya Akademi condemns killing of writers after activists stage protest

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Sahitya Akademi

New Delhi: The Sahitya Akademi on Friday condemned the killing of writers and urged those writers who had returned their awards in protest against its silence to take them back.

The appeal followed a meeting of the Akademi’s Executive Board, Krishnaswamy Nachimuthu, an Akademi member and a Tamil scholar, told the media here.

Writers march in protest

With black gags and arm bands, writers and their supporters held a solidarity march here ahead of the Sahitya Akademi emergency meeting to discuss the returning of awards by eminent authors in protest against “rising intolerance” in the backdrop MM Kalburgi’s killing.

Writers from different languages converged for the silent march carrying huge banners from Sri Ram Centre at Safdar Hashmi Marg to the Sahitya Akademi building, where they submitted a memorandum to the Akademi demanding that it pass a resolution pledging to take stern steps to safeguard the freedom of speech and right to dissent of the writers.

At least 35 writers from across the country had over the past few weeks announced their decision to return their Sahitya Akademi awards and stepped down from official Akademi positions to protest the “rising intolerance” in the country.

Akademi chairman Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari accepted the memorandum and said “it will be considered” in the meeting.

“The executive council of the Akademi should pass a resolution that it will take stern steps to safeguard the freedom of speech and right to dissent of the writers,” the memorandum said.

The protesters has also criticised Tiwari’s recent statements in which he dubbed as “illogical” the act of several writers returning their awards. They also called for a written apology from Tiwari against statements he had made about Akademi award winning writers having made gains from their award royalties.

“A delegation of 13 Hindi-Urdu writers had met the representatives of the Akademi on September 16 to demand for a ‘shok sabha’ but the Akademi denied to do so,” the memorandum said. The writers said if the Akademi does not conduct a condolence meet for Kalburgi in Delhi, they will demand Tiwari’s resignation.

The protest march was convened by five groups – Janvadi Lekhak Sangh, Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh, Jansanskriti Manch, Dalit Lekhak Sangh and Sahitya Sanvad.

Eminent writers Keki N Daruwala, Geeta Hariharan, Anuradha Kapoor (former director National School of Drama), Shekhar Joshi and Javed Ali among others were part of the protest.

Called the getting together of writers as historic step in the literary history of the country, the protesters called for the Akademi to condemn in strong terms the killings of Kannada writer Kalburgi and other writers and rationalists and assure the writers that the Akademi would in these times of distress ensure the right to freedom of speech and expression.

“Tiwari has lost the trust of the writers. If Tiwari does not apologise and conduct a condolence meet for Kalburgi in Delhi, we will demand his resignation,” a statement by the writers said.

(Agencies)

Urdu poet Munawwar Rana to meet Modi soon over writers returning awards

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Munawwar Rana

Lucknow: Urdu poet Munawwar Rana, who has returned his Sahitya Akademi award would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon.

“I got a call from PMO on Tuesday with a request to meet him the next day. As I was in Gwalior I said that it was not possible and the date and time should be fixed for some other day…On this I was told that it will take some time,” Mr. Rana said on Thursday.

Mr. Rana, a big name in contemporary Urdu poetry said that whenever Prime Minister would call him he would meet him and narrate his grief over the present scenario and would explain the reason behind his decision of returning award.

“I will meet the PM as a poet with reference to Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb of the country. My intention is to live the life which I was born with,” he said.

On being asked if he will meet PM along with other litterateurs, he said, “Somebody goes with me or not is his or her personal choice, but if Modi calls me I will definitely meet him.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Rana evaded the question of accepting his award again if Prime Minister would request.

Mr. Rana had recently announced to give up his Sahitya Akademi award dramatically during a live TV debate over the killing of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and lynching of a man in Dadri for allegedly consuming beef.

The Rae Bareli-born writer conferred the Sahitya Akademi award by the Modi government in 2014 for his book Shahdaba.

(PTI)

I do not recognise India of the present time, says writer Anita Desai

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Image by Ramin Talaie/Corbis

Image by Ramin Talaie/Corbis

London: Noted novelist Anita Desai has said she will return her Sahitya Award if the Akademi does not make it clear that it is not a government body but an independent one that exists to defend free speech and the right to question and dissent.

Her comments came after at least 34 writers, over the past weeks, handed over their Sahitya Akademi awards in the aftermath of the killing of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and Dadri lynching incident, among other issues.

“If it is not able to declare and pursue such a policy, I will be obliged, in solidarity with my fellow writers, to renounce my membership of the Akademi and the award it gave me when I was a young writer in more hopeful times,” Desai said in a statement distributed by PEN International here.

The 78-year-old author who received a Sahitya Award in 1978 for her novel “Fire on the Mountain” said she was born in an India that enshrined democracy, pluralism and the freedom of speech in its constitution.

“I do not recognise India of the present time where, under the banner of ‘Hindutva,’ intimidation and bigotry seek to silence writers, scholars and all who believe in secular and rational thought,” she said.

The author said in an atmosphere where there is no security or support for those who voice dissent, criticism or rational thought, there can be no intellectual or artistic work of any worth.

“It saddens me that the august body of the Sahitya Akademi has not been able to support and protect writers from the intimidation and violence, verbal and physical, watched publishers withdraw books, universities delete texts from syllabi, distort and manipulate history, and silently witnessed institutions like the National Book Trust, the Nehru Museum and Library, and the University of Nalanda replace distinguished scholars,” Desai said.

“At this crucial moment I appeal to the Sahitya Akademi to make clear that it does not represent any government or its policies, but is an independent body that exists to defend free speech and the right to question and dissent, in short what the constitution of the country promised us,” she said.

Desai, who was shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize was in 2007, was elected as a Sahitya Akademi Fellow, one of the highest honour conferred by the literary body on a writer.

Recently, writers from 150 countries expressed solidarity with Indian authors and artistes who returned their prestigious awards in protest against “rising intolerance” in the country and have asked the BJP government to provide better protection and safeguard free speech.

The president of 1921 founded body PEN International had earlier in a letter to the President, the Prime Minister and the Sahitya Akedemi, urged them to take “immediate steps” to protect the rights of everyone, including writers and artists.

Desai is among many writers including noted writers Nayantar Seghal, Ashok Vajpeyi, Shashi Deshpande and Ganesh Devy who have spoken out against the rising intolerance in the country.

(PTI)

Punjabi writer Dalip Kaur Tiwana returns Padma Shri

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Dalip Kaur Tiwana

New Delhi: Punjabi writer Dalip Kaur Tiwana on Tuesday announced that she will return her Padma Shri in protest against the ‘rising communal tension’ in the country.

“In this land of Gautama Buddha and Guru Nanak Dev, the atrocities committed on the Sikhs in 1984 and on the Muslims recurrently because of communalism are an utter disgrace to our state and society.

“And to kill those who stand for truth and justice put us to shame in the eyes of the world and God. In protest, therefore, I return the Padma Shri award,” she wrote in a letter to the Central government.

“I condemn the rising communal tension in the country and what is happening with minorities,” she said.

Ms. Tiwana was conferred with the Padma Shri in 2004. She was also awarded the Sahitya Akademi in 1971.

(Agencies)

6 more authors return Sahitya Akademi awards

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Noted Kashmiri writer and poet Ghulam Nabi Khayal. Photo: Facebook

Noted Kashmiri writer and poet Ghulam Nabi Khayal. Photo: Facebook

New Delhi: Six more authors including Kashmiri writer Ghulam Nabi Khayal, Kannada writer-translator Srinath D N and Rajesh Joshi have decided to return their Sahitya Akademi awards under the spiralling protest by litterateurs against “communal” atmosphere and “rising intolerance” following rationalist M M Kalburgi’s killing.

Hindi writers Mangalesh Dabral and Rajesh Joshi along with Srinath today said they will return their prestigious Sahitya Akademi awards while Waryam Sandhu and G N Ranganatha Rao intimated the Akademi of their decision. Khayal also joined the bandwagon of authors, saying the minorities in the country today feel “unsafe and threatened”.

“In the place of the pen, there are now bullets being fired. Author Kalburgi was murdered and both the Centre and the state should quickly act against the offenders so that such an incident is not repeated in the future,” Srinath said.

Srinath had won the 2009 Sahitya Akademi for translating short stories in Hindi written by Bheesham Sahani into Kannada.

In their joint statement protesting the “silence” of the Akademi over the Kalburgi murder, writers Dabral and Joshi said, “For the past one year or so basic values of democracy freeedom of expression, freedom to live our lives according to our wishes are under attack by the forces of Hindutva, which is not acceptable.

“The Sahitya Akademi remains silent about the Kalburgi murder so many dangers our democracy is facing, the very fabric of democracy is under threat.”

They said the Akademi should have opposed the killing of Kalburgi openly. “It was the duty of the Akademi to condemn the atmosphere in the country,” he said.

When contacted Akademi officials said they were yet to recieve intimations of the writers returning the awards.

“Apart from writers Uday Prakash, GN Devy, Aman Sethi, Waryam Sandhu and translator G N Ranganatha Rao, we have not got any intimations about the writers returning their awards,” an official said.

Joshi told PTI over phone from Mumbai, “Manglesh Dabral and I made the decision last night and have written to the Akademi chair our decision to return the award.”

Joshi said they had sent a joint statement to the Akademi President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari and will soon be returning their prize money too.

“We thought that it is high time that we returned the award. The climate in the country is such that writers are being killed, the freedom of expression is under threat…,” Joshi said.

“Besides, the way country’s atmosphere is being communalised is not good for the tradition of tolerance for which the nation is known and also for its democracy,” he said.

The writer, poet and playwright who recieved the Akademi award in 2002 for his ‘Do Panktiyon Ke Beech’ (Between Two Lines) said it was unprecedented to have so many writers return their awards.

“Right now the Akademi’s executive council has to deliberate on the issue to come up with a provision on what to do with the award money,” Joshi said.

Six authors, including Gujarat-based writer Ganesh Devy, announced they were returning their awards, joining ranks with authors Uday Prakash, Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok Vajpayei who had earlier given up the honour to protest against the Kalburgi killing and Dadri lynching incident wher a man was kileld by a mob over rumour of beef eating

At least 16 authors have announced their decision to return their Sahitya Akademi awards.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, Urdu novelist Rahman Abbas today returned the Maharashtra State Urdu Sahitya Academy Award as a mark of protest against the Dadri lynching incident.

“I was to return the award on Saturday. However, officials of the Academy informed me that the office was closed that day. Therefore, I returned the award today,” Abbas told PTI, after returning the award at the Academy office in south Mumbai.

“After the Dadri lynching, the Urdu writing community has been quite unhappy. Therefore, I decided to return the award. There are some other Urdu writers who also want to join the protest. It is high time we stood up to the injustice surrounding us,” he said.

Abbas had in 2011 won the award for his third novel ‘Khuda Ke Saaye Mein Aankh Micholi’ (Hide and Seek in the Shadow of God).

Earlier, noted writers Nayantara Sahgal and poet Ashok Vajpeyi had returned their literary honours to protest what they termed as an “assault on right to freedom of both life and expression”.

A 50-year-old man was on September 28 lynched by a mob in Dadri’s Bishada village near Delhi over rumours of eating beef, triggering a nationwide outrage.

 

Writer Shashi Deshpande quits Sahitya Akademi governing body

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Shashi Deshpande

Bengaluru: The institution, she said, ‘should speak for the large community of Indian writers, and must stand up and protest the murder of Professor Kalburgi and all such acts of violent intolerance’.

“Deeply distressed by the silence” of the Sahitya Akademi on the murder of Professor MM Kalburgi, award-winning novelist Shashi Deshpande has offered her resignation from the premier literary body’s General Council.

“I do this with regret, and with the hope that the Akademi will go beyond organising programmes, and giving prizes, to being involved with crucial issues that affect Indian writers’ freedom to speak and write,” Deshpande, a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for the novel That Long Silence in 1990 and the Padma Shri award in 2009, wrote in her letter of resignation, addressed to the Akademi President Dr Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.

Earlier this week, eminent writer Nayantara Sahgal and former Lalit Kala Akademi chairman Ashok Vajpeyi had returned their Sahitya Akademi Awards to protest the “assault on right to freedom of both life and expression”.

Noted Hindi writer Uday Prakash was the first to return his Sahitya Akademi award to protest the murder of Professor Kalburgi.

Dr Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari,
President,
Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi

Cc: Professor Chandrashekhar Kambar, Vice-President Sahitya Akademi, Dr K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary Sahitya Akademi

Dear Sir,

When I heard in November 2012 from the Sahitya Akademi that I had been nominated to the General Council of the Akademi in the individual category of writers, I felt honoured. I have always respected the Sahitya Akademi’s role as the single institution in India that brings together all the Indian languages under one umbrella, at the same time giving each language its rightful place and dignity.

Today, I am deeply distressed by the silence of the Akademi on the murder of Professor MM Kalburgi. Professor Kalburgi was a noted scholar, and a good and honest human being; he was also a Sahitya Akademi awardee and a member of its General Council until recently.

If the Akademi, the premier literary organisation in the country, cannot stand up against such an act of violence against a writer, if the Akademi remains silent about this attack on one of its own, what hope do we have of fighting the growing intolerance in our country? A few tame condolence meetings here and there for a member of our community cannot serve the purpose.

Sadly, it has become increasingly important to reaffirm that difference of opinion cannot be ended with a bullet; that discussion and debate are the only way a civilised society resolves issues. It has also become clear that writers, who are supposed to be the conscience-keepers of society, are no longer considered intellectual leaders; their voices no longer matter. Perhaps this is the right time for writers to reclaim their voices. But we need a community of voices, and this is where the Akademi could serve its purpose and play an important role. It could initiate and provide space for discussion and debate in public life. It could stand up for the rights of writers to speak and write without fear; this is a truth all political parties in a democracy are supposed to believe in. Silence is a form of abetment, and the Sahitya Akademi, which should speak for the large community of Indian writers, must stand up and protest the murder of Professor Kalburgi and all such acts of violent intolerance.

In view of the Akademi’s failure to stand up for its community of writers and scholars, I am, out of a sense of strong disappointment, offering my resignation from the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi. I do this with regret, and with the hope that the Akademi will go beyond organising programmes, and giving prizes, to being involved with crucial issues that affect Indian writers’ freedom to speak and write.

Shashi Deshpande
Bangalore
October 9, 2015

Sarah Joseph returns Sahitya Akademi award, K Satchidanandan quits all posts

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Sarah Joseph

Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalam writer Sarah Joseph has announced that she will return the Sahitya Akademi award, while noted poet K Satchidanandan resigned from all Akademi posts on Saturday.

Joseph, who won the prestigious honour for her novel ‘Aalahayude Penmakkal’ (Daughters of God the Father), said she would soon send the cash prize and plaque to the Akademi via courier.

This is the first time that a Malayalam writer has decided to return the Akademi honours to protest against the “communal policies” of the BJP-led NDA government.

“An alarming situation is being created in the country in all spheres of life after Modi government came into power. The religious harmony and secularism of the country is unprecedentedly under threat,” she told PTI from Thrissur.

She said three writers had already been killed and K S Bhagwan was facing life threat from communal forces. But, the Centre had done nothing to alleviate the growing fear among writers and activists and people in other sections of the society, she said.

Sixty-eight-year-old Joseph, who spearheaded feminist writing in Malayalam, also felt what Jnanpith laureate U R Ananthamurthy had said years ago about the life of writers under the Modi government was “absolutely true”.

“The visionary writer had actually predicted about the suppressed life which writers would have to live under Modi’s rule. His words have become a reality now,” she said.

Criticising Prime Minster Narendra Modi for his “delayed reaction” over the Dadri lynching, Joseph said the BJP government was even taking away the fundamental rights of people to choose their food.

“Our Prime Minister took nine days to react to the Dadri incident. His silence was scary and highly condemnable. In the backdrop of the recent hue and cry over beef consumption, I fear that even our right to choose food would be taken away from us,” she said, adding that she hoped that other writers would also come out protesting against these policies through their creative works.

A recipient of Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award, Vayalar Award and Muttathu Varkey Award, Joseph is known for strong characterisation and socially relevant themes in her novels and short stories.

Though she was a strong supporter of Left ideologies, Joseph later joined AAP and contested unsuccessfully from Thrissur constituency in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

In a statement Satchidanandan said the Akademi had failed in its duty to stand with the writers and to uphold the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution of India.

He also stated that he was exiting from the General Council, Executive Board and the membership of its several committees.

(Agencies)

After Nayantara Sahgal, poet Ashok Vajpeyi returns Sahitya Akademi award

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Ashok Vajpeyi

New Delhi: After eminent writer Nayantara Sahgal, former Lalit Kala Akademi chairman Ashok Vajpeyi has returned the Sahitya Akademi Award to protest the “assault on right to freedom of both life and expression”.

Voicing displeasure over the Dadri lynching incident and a string of killings of rationalists, he also questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s continued silence on these.

“Sehgal was right. He is a very loquacious Prime Minister. Why doesn’t he tell the nation that the pluralism of this country will be defended at every cost?” Vajpeyi told PTI today.

The 74-year-old Hindi poet, essayist and literary-cultural critic disapproved of statements by senior leaders, including Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma which, he said, “belittled the “multi-cultural and multi-religious” fabric of the country.

“There are the comments made by the Culture Minister about renaming Aurangzeb road to APJ Abdul Kalam road. He says Kalam was a great nationalist despite being a Muslim.

“These kinds of statements belittle the multi-cultural and multi-religious fabric of the country….What can writers do but protest,” he said.

Yesterday, Nayantara Sahgal, the 88-year-old niece of Jawaharlal Nehru, had announced her decision to return her Sahitya Akademi award. In an open letter titled “Unmaking of India” she had referred to the Dadri lynching of a Muslim man by a mob over suspicion of eating beef, and also the killings of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

Sehgal had also questioned the silence of PM Narendra Modi on these incidents.

“This is in solidarity with writers and intellectuals being murdered in broad daylight…,” Vajpeyi said.

He also expressed disappointment over the failure of the Sahitya Akademi to “rise to the occasion” to protect the autonomy of writers.

“The Sahitya Akademi has failed to rise to the occasion. They have not protested against what has been happening to the writers’ autonomy. The writers’ community should rise in protest,” Vajpeyi said.

(Agencies)

Nayantara Sahgal: The Unmaking of India: Why I am Returning My Sahitya Akademi Award

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File photo Nayantara Sahgal. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

File photo Nayantara Sahgal. Credit: Wikimedia Commons

by Nayantara Sahgal

In a recent lecture, India’s Vice-President, Dr. Hamid Ansari, found it necessary to remind us that India’s Constitution promises all Indians “liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship.”

The right to dissent is an integral part of this Constitutional guarantee. He found it necessary to do so because India’s culture of diversity and debate is now under vicious assault.

Rationalists who question superstition, anyone who questions any aspect of the ugly and dangerous distortion of Hinduism known as Hindutva – whether in the intellectual or artistic sphere, or whether in terms of food habits and lifestyle – are being marginalised, persecuted, or murdered.

A distinguished Kannada writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner, M.M. Kalburgi, and two Maharashtrians, Narendra Dhabolkar and Govind Pansare, both anti-superstition activists, have all been killed by gun-toting motor-cyclists. Other dissenters have been warned they are next in line. Most recently, a village blacksmith, Mohammed Akhlaq, was dragged out of his home in Bisara village outside Delhi, and brutally lynched, on the supposed suspicionthat beef was cooked in his home.

In all these cases, justice drags its feet. The Prime Minister remains silent about this reign of terror. We must assume he dare not alienate evil-doers who support his ideology.

It is a matter of sorrow that the Sahitya Akademi remains silent. The Akademis were set up as guardians of the creative imagination, and promoters of its finest products in art and literature, music and theatre.

In protest against Kalburgi’s murder, a Hindi writer, Uday Prakash, has returned his Sahitya Akademi Award. Six Kannada writers have returned their Awards to the Kannada Sahitya Parishat.

In memory of the Indians who have been murdered, in support of all Indians who uphold the right to dissent, and of all dissenters who now live in fear and uncertainty, I am returning my Sahitya Akademi Award.

Nayantara Sahgal,
Dehra Dun, October 6, 2015

This account was first published on The Wire.

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