Two Assamese writers to return Akademi awards to express disapproval of 'growing intolerance'

Guwahati: Joining the growing band of protesting writers, noted Assamese authors Nirupama Borgohain and Homen Borgohain on Tuesday announced that they were going to return their Sahitya Akademi awards to express disapproval of the “growing intolerance” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “silence” in this connection. [caption id=“attachment_2467448” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] The Sahitya Akademi logo. Image courtesy: Official website[/caption] “Religious intolerance has reached extreme level. But the leader of the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has not assured us to stop it and he is remaining silent. It is as if he is encouraging fascism to grow,” Nirupama Borgohain told PTI in Guwahati. She said that as Modi was not doing anything to curb the “religious fanaticism”, she is returning her Akademi award to lodge her “symbolic protest” against the current state of affairs in the country. Nirupama Borgohain won the prestigious award in 1996 for her novel ‘Abhijatri’. Another eminent writer Homen Borgohain also announced return of his award. “I have decided to return the award,” he said. Homen Borgohain made his decision public through a column in an Assamese newspaper today and said a silent protest was going on inside him since the Dadri killing took place. The eminent author, who won the award in 1978 for his novel ‘Pita Putra’, said he wanted to express his protest and seeing the other awardees returning their awards, he also decided to return the same. The veteran journalist said in the article that he was returning the award not only in protest against Dadri killing but also for expressing his anguish over the growing fascist tendency in the country. PTI