My salute to great writers and philosophers of the nation...

- Shame on you Hon'ble Mr.PM..

Noted writer Nayantara Sahgal has returned the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in protest against what she called the “vanishing space” for diversity.

The niece of the former Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, also said people were being “killed for not agreeing with the ruling ideology.”

Referring to the recent killings of rationalists and writers M.M. Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare and of Dadri resident Mohammad Akhlaq, who was lynched on suspicion of consuming beef, Ms. Sahgal, speaking to The Hindu from her home in Dehradun, said: “…in this rising tide of hatred, India is being unmade, being destroyed.”

The last straw

Ms. Sahgal said she was concerned at the environment in the country and it seemed to be getting “worse and worse” in the past 15 months. “I guess the death of this poor man in Dadri [Mohammad Akhlaq] was the final…the last straw,” she said.

She criticised the government’s inaction and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence. “In all these cases, justice drags its feet. The Prime Minister remains silent on this reign of terror. We must assume he dare not alienate evil-doers who support his ideology,” she said in a written statement.

Denying that her decision stems from her political beliefs, Ms. Sahgal said: “I am not against any political party. India is a democracy, and in democracies every party has a right to be in power, but what we are seeing in India today is fascism. There is a vanishing space for diversity to the extent people are being killed for not agreeing with the ruling ideology.”

Ms. Sahgal was a member of the Sahitya Akademi’s Advisory Board for English but she resigned during the Emergency.

She also famously criticised her cousin, Indira Gandhi, for actions during the Emergency in 1975.

In her written statement, Ms. Sahgal drew attention to a recent speech by Vice-President Hamid Ansari in which he made a reference to the Constitution that promises all Indians “liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship.”

“The right to dissent is an integral part of this constitutional guarantee. He found it necessary to do so because India’s culture of diversity and debate is now under vicious assault,” she said.

Here is the full text of her statement as was published on the website indianculturalforum.in

The Unmaking of India

In a recent lecture, India’s Vice-President, Dr. Hamid Ansari, found it necessary to remind us that India’s Constitution promises all Indians “liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship.”The right to dissent is an integral part of this Constitutional guarantee. He found it necessary to do so because India’s culture of diversity and debate is now under vicious assault. Rationalists who question superstition, anyone who questions any aspect of the ugly and dangerous distortion of Hinduism known as Hindutva – whether in the intellectual or artistic sphere, or whether in terms of food habits and lifestyle – are being marginalized, persecuted, or murdered. A distinguished Kannada writer and Sahitya Akademi Award winner, M.M. Kalburgi, and two Maharashtrians, Narendra Dhabolkar and Govind Pansare, both anti-superstition activists, have all been killed by gun-toting motor-cyclists. Other dissenters have been warned they are next in line. Most recently, a village blacksmith, Mohammed Akhtaq, was dragged out of his home in Bisara village outside Delhi, and brutally lynched, on the supposed suspicion that beef was cooked in his home.

In all these cases, justice drags its feet. The Prime Minister remains silent about this reign of terror. We must assume he dare not alienate evil-doers who support his ideology. It is a matter of sorrow that the Sahitya Akademi remains silent. The Akademis were set up as guardians of the creative imagination, and promoters of its finest products in art and literature, music and theatre. In protest against Kalburgi’s murder, a Hindi writer, Uday Prakash, has returned his Sahitya Akademi Award. Six Kannada writers have returned their Awards to the Kannada Sahitya Parishat.

In memory of the Indians who have been murdered, in support of all Indians who uphold the right to dissent, and of all dissenters who now live in fear and uncertainty, I am returning my Sahitya Akademi Award.

Signed: Nayantara Sahgal, Dehra Dun, October 6, 2015

A day after writer Nayantara Sahgal returned her Sahitya Akademi award against what she described “unmaking of India, poet Ashok Vajpeyi also handed back the prestigious literary honour to the government, criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for not speaking up against the recent spree of violence.

Mr. Vajpeyi said that “it’s high time that writers take a stand” to mark their protest against the recent murders of writers and minorities. “We have an eloquent Prime Minister, who addresses lakhs of people, but here writers are being murdered, innocent people are being murdered, his Ministers make controversial statements...Still he is quiet. Why doesn’t he shut them up?” Mr. Vajpeyi told a private news channel.

After seeing Ms. Sahgal, the 88-year-old writer, Mr. Vajpeyi said he decided to give up the award and express his solidarity with her.

"Why doesn't he tell the nation and the writing and creating community that the pluralism of this community will be defended at every cost? Although the government makes announcements that this would not be tolerated, that would not be tolerated ...but tolerance is there. How is it that all this has erupted now?"

Note: data collected from The Hindu...8th October 2015.