Kashmiri poet rejects govt award, protests exodus of pandits

[caption id=“attachment_196731” align=“alignleft” width=“380” caption=“Agnishekhar said he was protesting against the exodus and ethnic cleansing of his peace loving community from the valley AFP”]  [/caption] Jammu:  Veteran writer and poet Agnishekhar today turned down award for best book annoucned by the Jammu and Kashmir government’s State Academy of Art, Culture and Languages (SAACL) as a “protest against the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits from the Valley”. “I reject the Best Book Award carrying a cash reward of Rs 51,000, a memento and a shawl to be conferred on my fourth poetry collection Jawahar Tunnel by the Academy as a mark of protest against the exodus and ethnic cleansing of my peace loving community”, Agnishekhar told reporters here. “Though this award is being given by the State Academy and the Chief Minister of the State happens to be its President, I hold all the successive state governments responsible for the continued policy of neglect and apathy towards the victims of terrorism in the Valley”, he said. Dr Agnishekhar, who is also convenor of Panun Kashmir, said that “in the capacity of a conscientious writer, it will be unethical for me to receive this literary award from the hands of Omar Abdullah, the President of the State Academy of Art, culture and languages”. PTI