Two novelists return awards; Satchidanandan quits Sahitya Akademi

Thiruvananthapuram/Mumbai, October 10

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Eminent Malayalam writer Sarah Joseph and Urdu novelist Rahman Abbas announced on Saturday that they would return the Sahitya Akademi award and the Maharashtra State Urdu Sahitya Academy award, respectively, joining a growing protest against 'rising intolerance' in the country.

The announcement came on a day when Malayalam poet K Satchidanandan, Malayalam short story writer PK Parakkadavu and KS Ravikumar decided to quit all posts in the Akademi in protest against the murder of Kannada writer and rationalist MM Kalburgi in Dharwad.

English author Keki N Daruwalla wrote a letter of protest to Akademi chairperson Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari over the literary body's "soporific stance" to Kalburgi's killing.

Joseph, who won the literary award for her novel 'Aalahayude Penmakkal' (Daughters of God the Father), said she would soon send the cash prize and plaque to the Akademi by courier.

"An alarming situation is being created in the country in all spheres of life after the Modi government came to power. The religious harmony and secularism of the country is unprecedentedly under threat," she said by phone from Thrissur.

The Central Government has done nothing to counter the increasing threat that authors and society as a whole now face, she said.

Abbas, who won the Maharashtra State Urdu Sahitya Academy award in 2011 for his third novel Khuda Ke Saaye Mein Aankh Micholi (Hide-and Seek in the Shadow of God), said recent incident on a man being beaten to death in has upset several Urdu authors.

“Therefore, I decided to return the award. There are some other Urdu writers who also want to join the protest. It is time we stood up to the injustice surrounding us," Abbas said in Mumbai.

"I was to return the award today. However, officials of the Academy informed me that the office is closed today. I will be returning the award on Monday," he said.

Satchidanandan resigned from all committees of the Sahitya Akademi saying the literary body had "failed" in its duty to stand up for writers and uphold freedom of expression. Satchidanandan was serving in the General Council, Executive Board and Financial Committee of the Akademi.

"I am sorry to see that the Akademi has failed in its duty to stand with the writers and to uphold the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution that seems to be getting violated everyday in the country," the writer said.

"I had written to the Akademi when MM Kalburgi was killed earlier. They had held condolences in Bangalore but they should have done something nationally. There was no response to my request to pass a resolution," Satchidanandan said.  

As the "conscience keeper of the writing community" Sahitya Akademi should actively condemn the killing of Kalburgi, he said.

Parakkadavu also said he would also resign from his Akademi membership.

Writers, meanwhile, have begun to take sides in the ongoing protest, with some refusing to return their awards.

Jnanpith laureate MT Vasudevan Nair said that while he was not against any protests, he wouldn’t return the Akademi honours he was given in 1968.  Eminent poet Sugathakumari also said there is no point in returning the award to mark the writers' protest.

In remarks that could fuel further controversy, novelist P Valsala said: "Some people were selected for awards and some others had bought it. Those who had bought the awards are now returning it".

Another well known writer UA Khader said: "The returning of a recognition is akin to letting himself or herself down' and said he does not believe in returning awards to appease any political sections."

Writer Subhash Chandran, received a Sahitya Akademi last year, said he was considering returning the honour.

In his letter addressed to Tiwari, Daruwallah, a former IPS officer, said he was perturbed at the inexplicable silence of the Akademi regarding crimes against authors.

"Writers returning their awards, or resigning from positions in the Akademi, is something which has never been witnessed in the long history of the Akademi," he said.

"A man has been murdered and the least we can do is to gather and first condole and second condemn the act," Daruwala said..

"The Akademi should question the motive behind the murder. Is it an attempt to silence the rational voices," he asked.

Addressing Tiwari he wrote: "The letters from well-known writers and their dismay at the Akademi's apathy to murder of writers is indeed something extremely alarming. It is astonishing that you are not sensitive to this issue."

"Late Prof MM Kalburgi was a Sahitya Akademi award winner. He was murdered first thing in the morning on August 30. According to all the reports in papers that I have read, this was a murder of ideas that he held. Over a month has passed and the Akademi has not even held a Shok Sabha, condolence meeting in his honour. What does it say of the Akademi as an institution and of office bearers of this institution as upholders of our literary and cultural values?

"The Akademi must hold a meeting and condole with the family. What is even more important, writers should feel free to express their anger and views at this dastardly crime. It is not just the crime that is condemnable, but also the distorted and warped thought process behind the act that needs to be vilified by our fellow writers.

"I and other writers sincerely hope that you will stir the Akademi from its soporific stance and act. We need to fear no one in this matter," he wrote.

Several rationalist writers have been facing threats for their writings. MM Kalburgi was killed last month by suspected Hindu groups, triggering widespread condemnation from literary circles. 

Another author, KS Bhagwan, has claimed he has been threatened by right-wing Hindu groups.

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 Kalburgi's murder.

A man was beaten to death in Bishada village Uttar Pradesh’s Dadri last week after rumours that he ate beef spread throughout the village. The man’s son was also assaulted by the mob.

The incident was widely condemned and triggered a massive outcry against the growing communal intolerance in the country. — PTI