Indian writers protest against government silence on violence

The Indian leftwing writers protest against government silence on violence was a famous protest in India. Starting from the beginning of September 2015, some disgruntled writers and poets in India had started returning the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award to protest the incidents of so-called communal violence in India.[1] They believed that there was rising intolerance in the country under the present central government (NDA Alliance). Some well-known writers and poets had also resigned their posts in the General Council of the country's top literary body, saying that they were shocked at the level of intolerance on freedom of speech and expression. This incident is also referred to as Award Wapsi and the individuals returning the awards are widely referred as Award Wapsi Gang.

Writer Uday Prakash was the first to return the prestigious award on September 4, 2015, protesting against the murder of MM Kalburgi. Writer Nayantara Sahgal[2] and poet Ashok Vajpeyi followed Prakash in protesting the murders of activists like MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar.[3][4] They also came out against the shocking Dadri incident, in which a mob lynched a Muslim man in Greater Noida over rumours of eating and storing beef.[4][5]

Sahitya akademi

List of writers who have returned their awards

As of 15 October 2015, more than 40 individuals returned their awards:[1]

S NoAward winner nameTitle
1Uday PrakashHindi writer
2Nayantara SahgalIndian English writer
3Ashok VajpeyiHindi poet
4Sarah JosephMalayalam novelist
5Ghulam Nabi KhayalKashmiri writer
6Rahman AbbasUrdu novelist
7Waryam SandhuPunjabi writer
8Gurbachan Singh BhullarPunjabi writer
9Ajmer Singh AulakhPunjabi writer
10Atamjit SinghPunjabi writer
11GN Ranganatha RaoKannada translator
12Manglesh DabralHindi writer
13Rajesh JoshiHindi writer
14Ganesh DevyGujarati writer
15Srinath DNKannada translator
16Kumbar VeerabhadrappaKannada novelist
17Rahmat TarikereKannada writer
18Baldev Singh SadaknamaPunjabi novelist
19JaswinderPunjabi poet
20Darshan BattarPunjabi poet
21Surjit PatarPunjabi poet
22Chaman LalPunjabi translator
23Homen BorgohainAssamese journalist
24Mandakranta SenBengali poet
25Keki N DaruwallaIndian English poet
26Nand BhardwajRajasthani Hindi writer

Statements made by writers

The PM keeps quiet. Writers are being murdered, Innocents being killed and his ministers making objectionable statements

— Ashok vajpeyi[6]

The country is now passing through very though times. It's worse than Emergency

— Sarah Joseph[6]

We are going backwards. There is rising intolerance

— Nayantara Sahgal[6]

List of writers who resigned from Sahitya Akademi posts[1]
NoWriter nameLanguage
1Shashi DeshpandeKannada author
2K SatchidanandanMalayalam poet
3PK ParakkadvuMalayalam writer
4Aravind MalagattiKannada poet

Protests by Tamil writers

Sixteen Sahitya Akademi award-winning Tamil writers have condemned the Akademi for not adequately condemning the killing of Kannada writer M.K. Kalburgi and its failure to bring pressure on the Centre to protect freedom of expression.[7]

The situation has come to such pass that there was no security for the life of a writer not to mention the threat to freedom of expression. The Akademi has not condemned the act in no uncertain terms. On the contrary it has just issued a general statement. It is not adequate and we demand that the Akademi take a stronger stand,

the writers said.

The signatories are, as of October 12, 2015: Indira Parthasarathy, K. Rajanarayanan, Ponneelan, Prabanchan, Ashokamitran, Thoppil Mohamed Meeran, 'Kavikko' Abdul Rahman, Vairamuthu, Erode Tamilanban, Mu. Metha, Melanmai Ponnusamy, Puviarasu, Nanjil Nadan, Su. Venkatesan, D. Selvaraj and Poomani.

Reaction from Academy

The academy's president, Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, countered the writers' claims by saying that they are mistaken in believing that the academy was not responding to intolerance and violence, pointing out that the vice president of the academy presided over a tribute for Mr. Kalburgi in September, where his murder was strongly condemned.[8]

Other award winners
  • Six Kannada writers returned the State literary award on 3 October.
  • Theater artist Maya Krishna Rao has also returned her Sangeet Natak Akademi award on 12 October.
  • Shiromani Lekhak award winner Megh Raj Mitter has also announced to return his award.

Controversy

Former Sahitya Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari has claimed that he has evidence to prove that the so-called “award wapsi” movement in 2015, when more than 50 writers returned their awards to protest alleged growth in intolerance under the Narendra Modi regime, were part of a politically motivated campaign organised by Marxist writers and Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi to defame the government in the run-up to the Bihar assembly election.[9]

References
  1. IBTimes (13 October 2015). "Sahitya Akademi protest: Complete list of writers who returned their awards". International Business Times, India Edition.
  2. "Why Nayantara Sahgal Is Returning Her Sahitya Akademi Award After 29 Years". HuffPost India. 7 October 2015.
  3. "Writer Nayantara Sahgal Hits Back at Sahitya Akademi Chief's 'Goodwill' Barb". NDTV.com.
  4. "After Nayantara Sahgal, Poet Ashok Vajpeyi Returns Award, Takes on PM". NDTV.com.
  5. "Dadri incident: Urdu writer to return award in protest - Times of India ►". The Times of India.
  6. "Culture Shock". The New Indian Express.
  7. Kolappan, B. (12 October 2015). "Tamil Sahitya Akademi winners condemn the Akademi" – via www.thehindu.com.
  8. Barstow, David; Raj, Suhasini (17 October 2015). "Indian Writers Return Awards to Protest Government Silence on Violence" – via NYTimes.com.
  9. "Have evidence to show Award Wapsi was politically motivated, not spontaneous: Former Sahitya Akademi chief - Economic Times ►". economictimes.indiatimes.com.
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