Acclaimed writer Nayantara Sahgal, the niece of India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, has returned the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award to protest against the "vicious assault" on India's diversity and the government's failure to protect cultural diversity.
Raj Thackeray issued a statement on Monday, admitting that one of his local party workers had opposed Sahgal's presence at the literary meet.
Noted writer Nayantara Sahgal, who recently returned her 'Sahitya Akademi' Award over the Dadri lynching case, has said secularism is under threat like never before and that individual freedom and rights have to be protected even these are guaranteed in the Constitution.
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.
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In a letter to Secretary of Sahitya Akademi on Wednesday, Bhardwaj, also attached a cheque of Rs 50,000 which he got with the award in 2004.
Writers including those who had returned their Sahitya Akademi awards on Sunday wrote to the National Academy of Letters urging it to respond in a "strong, humane and robust" manner to situations.
Eminent Punjabi writer and Padma Shri winner Dalip Kaur Tiwana decided to return her award protesting "recurrent atrocities" on Muslims in the country, as another Kannada writer joined authors giving up their Sahitya Akademi Awards against "growing intolerance".
Facing heat over a long list of writers who have returned Sahitya Akademi awards or resigned from their posts in the literary body, Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday denied that it was being soft on the issue of "intolerance" and said the ideological inclinations of the writers should be looked into.
'The message from those in power is clear. Either agree with us or suffer the consequences'
Palekar was repeatedly interrupted during his speech by some NGMA members.
Leading writers Nayantara Sahgal and Shashi Deshpande on Wednesday sought a strong condemnation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of Dadri lynching incident and opposition to Ghulam Ali's concert.
The noted writer said the space for dissent has vanished and dissenters are now being attacked with sticks, stones, black paint and even murder.
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".
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.
A group of academics and scholars on Friday expressed their outrage and anger against the "assault on academic and constitutional freedom", joining the recent protests by writers, artistes, filmmakers, historians and scientists over "rising intolerance".
The author was flooded with a barrage of hate messages following his tweet in support of writers who returned their Sahitya Akademi awards.
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.
About 3,500 jurists, academics, actors, artistes, writers and people from other walks of life called the registration of the FIR against The Wire's founding editor an attack on press freedom.
'Modi is an uncivilised person who is ruling a fascist regime.' 'This is not a one religion country. We are a country of many religions many cultures. India is not a country it is a civilisation and that is what they are trying to destroy.'
'New Delhi's rulers should be alert to lighting a dangerous tinderbox,' warns Sunil Sethi.
'This term -- "Nehru-Gandhi" family -- is a misnomer. Nehru was not a dynast; he did not even name his successor... The big mistake she made was to push forward Rahul Gandhi who is a dead loss as a leader,' says Nayantara Sahgal, whom Sonia Gandhi calls 'Tara Masi.'
"I have decided to return the award. The minorities in the country are feeling unsafe and threatened. They feel their future is bleak," Khayal said.
Her action comes in the wake of a parade of litterateurs renouncing their coveted prizes.
'I have no problem with people from the right wing who speak with a certain integrity of position.'
Another 24 filmmakers including Kundan Shah of "Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro" fame and Saeed Mirza and writer Arundhati Roy today returned their National Awards over "growing intolerance", voicing fears that the country's robust democracy might be "coming apart" in the current atmosphere.
The historians expressed concern over the silence of the prime minister on the issue. "And when it is hoped that the head of government will make a statement about improving the prevailing conditions, he chooses to speak only about general poverty; and it takes the Head of the State to make the required reassuring statement, not once but twice."
'Hindus are safe only if Modiji is ruling India. If he goes, then Babur will rule us. I want Modiji to rule for another 25 years, then you will see how India will change.'
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has met his match in Kanhaiya Kumar, noted writer Nayantara Sahgal has said as she praised the JNUSU president for his speech at JNU after his release from jail and his subsequent "rational" interviews to the media.
MUST READ: The speech Nayantara Sahgal was not allowed to give.
'We saw how vigorous democracy was when it dislodged authoritarianism under Indira Gandhi. We saw its vigour again when it voted Mr Modi out of humble origins as prime minister. It was Nehru who laid that foundation for India and what is worrying today is Modi's rather imperial style of functioning,' says writer Nayantara Sahgal.
'Dadri was an extension of the cultural fascism that was happening in the country.' 'All the people in the country suffered under the Emergency, but now we see one community trying to crush the other community. Do they know what is brewing in the minds of the other side? What is happening today can lead to a very dangerous situation in the country.' 'We have lost religious tolerance in today's India.' Writer Sarah Joseph on why she returned her Sahitya Akademi Award.
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.
'What will be achieved by the prime minister's condemnation of each and every unfortunate incident? Will just the PM's condemnation bring about closure to these cases,' asks Sudhir Bisht.
Novelists are speaking for millions across India who are alarmed at where this country is headed.
'The dirt in the Indian Ocean must be less than the abuses Narendra Modi got from secular forces.' 'If you are going to put the blame on the central government and the RSS for every wrongdoing, then it is not going to serve any purpose, rather it will complicate the issue instead of resolving it.' 'There are fringe elements in every society, but for an ideal State it is important to finish off the fringe elements.'
'This has absolutely nothing to do with Kalburgi or anybody else, it only has to do with two words: Bihar elections. It's electioneering by other means, let's save the fig leaf of morality,' says Rajeev Srinivasan.
Anupam Kher on why he thinks the prime minister is a genuine person.
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