Tamil writer S Balasubramanian and Marathi playwright Mahesh Elkunchwar are also among the 22 litterateurs selected.
Playwright and novelist Cyrus Mistry's English novel Chronicle of a Corpse Bearer and K R Meera's Aarachar in Malayalam are among the works that have won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award for this year.
'If they oppose the government on different issues, what has the Sahitya Akademi got to do with it?'
Eminent poet and writer K Satchidanandan on Saturday resigned from all committees of the Sahitya Akademi, saying the literary body had "failed" in its duty to stand with writers and uphold freedom of expression.
Booker Prize winning author Salman Rushdie joined the growing chorus of protests by leading writers against spread of "communal poison" and "rising intolerance" in the country even as seven more authors decided to return their Sahitya Akademi awards.
Strongly condemning the killing of writer MM Kalburgi, Sahitya Akademi today passed a unanimous resolution appealing to state and central governments to take steps to prevent such incidents and asked authors to take back the awards they had returned to protest against "rising intolerance".
Three eminent writers from Punjab announced that they were returning their Sahitya Akademi awards, while Kannada writer Aravind Malagatti resigned from the body's general council, joining the growing protest by litterateurs over "rising intolerance" and "communal" atmosphere.
After eminent writers Nayantara Sahgal and Ashok Vajpeyi, Malayalam novelist and Aam Aadmi Party leader Sarah Joseph today said she would return the Sahitya Akademi award in protest against what she called the "growing communalism" and "life threat faced by writers" in the country after Narendra Modi government assumed office.
'If someone were to ask you if you want to die tomorrow, no matter what problems you are grappling with, you would be hesitant, right?'
Mahesh Sharma also said that the writers should channel their anger towards a platform where their cause will actually be heard and suggested them to write to the state government or chief minister.
The prevailing communal situation in the country does not indicate existence of alleged intolerance in the country, the government said on Tuesday.
U R Ananthamurthy was one among the most creative triumvirate of Modernist Kannada literature of the late sixties and seventies (the other two being the late P Lankesh and K Poornachandra Tejaswi). He will be missed by all who care to step out and fight for justice and human rights of ordinary people in India despite being surrounded by the consumerist fog, says Shivanand Kanavi.
'Hinduism is not a religion, but a way of life, a philosophy.'
'With his stature as a playwright and actor, Girish Karnad was one of the voices of modernity for not just Karnataka but the entire country.'
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