Akademi award storm has nothing to do with Govt, says Culture Minister

Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma is trying to distance himself from the growing discontent among writers returning their Sahitya Akademi awards, saying that if the writers are unable to write, “let them first stop writing.” He told The Indian Express that the Akademi award is given “by writers to writers” and that it’s none of the government’s business. Kashmiri writer Ghulam Nabi Khayal, noted Gujarati poet Anil Joshi, Kannada writer Rahamath Tarikere and five writers from Punjab — Surjit Patar, Chaman Lal, Baldev Singh Sadaknama, Jaswinder and Darshan Buttar — on Monday joined the list of writers who have decided to return their Akademi awards, taking the total number to 23. [caption id=“attachment_2453186” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Mahesh Sharma / PTI[/caption] 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. “I support Nayantara Sahgal and the many other writers protesting to the Sahitya Akademi. Alarming times for free expression in India,” he tweeted. Read Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma’s comments here.