Writers from Maharashtra join Sahitya Akademi award returners to protest rising intolerance

Mumbai: Even as many Sahitya Akademi writers continues to return their awards, the writers from Maharashtra have now joined them and have started returning the awards given to them by the state government to protest against growing religious intolerance, killing of rationalists and ban on personal freedoms. [caption id=“attachment_2468444” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Image courtesy: Sahitya Akademi website[/caption] Marathi poet and feminist Pradnya Daya Pawar is the first prominent literary figure from Maharashtra who decided to return various awards including cash prize of Rs 1.13 lakh given to her on Tuesday. Pawar has been joined by many writers from Maharashtra which include Harishchandra Thorat, Ganesh Visputay, Sanjay Bhaskar Joshi and Yeshu Patil, editor-publisher of Shabd Publication. Many more are likely to join them. “We are going through an undeclared emergency period. It is more severe than the 1975 emergency. Then, the government used to keep check on general public. But now, it is keeping tab on everything and I have seen people around me leaving under a shadow of fear,” she wrote in the letter written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. “Since it is affecting the core values of our constitution, I am returning all the awards received from governments.” “This is just a beginning. Returning the award will not suffice and we need to take it further to condemn the happenings and all of us must need to come together to stop the rising intolerance and killings of writers,” Pawar, daughter of Marathi writer Daya Pawar known for his contribution to dalit literature, told Firstpost. She further said that she has been waiting for Sahitya Akademi winners from Maharashtra to join the protest. “Since nobody came forward, I decided to it and many followed the suit. It is good that other people are joining me but we need to continue to raise our voice to keep the core values of the Constitution intact,” she said. Harishchandra Thorat, writer and editorial advisor of Mukta Shabd magazine expressed outrage over the murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi and the Dadri killing. “The religious intolerance, growing saffronisation and restriction on personal freedoms are the reasons that I decided to return the awards. Even the rift between the community and individuals is increasing and the government appears to be insensitive towards it. Surprisingly, all these things are getting official support nowadays which is shocking,” said Thorat. He added that he will hold discussions on the current situation in coming days. Visputay said that want to raise a pitch against all these happenings and it is a wake-up call. A strategy will be formulated to deal against the ban on culture and other issues, he said.