Satchidanandan quits Sahitya Akademi posts, Sarah Joseph to return award

New Delhi/Thiruvananthapuram: Eminent poet and writer K Satchidanandan resigned from all committees of the Sahitya Akademi on Saturday, saying the literary body had "failed" in its duty to stand with writers and uphold freedom of expression.

Satchidanandan was serving in the General Council, Executive Board and Financial Committee of the Akademi. "I am sorry to observe that the Akademi has failed in its duty to stand with the writers and to uphold the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution that seems to be getting violated everyday in the country," the writer said.

A pioneer of modern poetry in Malayalam, Satchidanandan has always upheld secular views and supported causes like environment and human rights. "I had written to the Akademi when MM Kalburgi was killed earlier. They had held condolences in Bangalore but they should have done something nationally. There was no response to my request to pass a resolution," Satchidanandan said.

The cold blooded killing of rationalist Kalburgi's had rattled Karnataka's literary community. Satchidanandan, the poet who writes in English and Malayalam feels, that the Akademi showed hardly any response towards the loss. "Holding a ritual condolence meeting in a regional office, as the Akademi seems to have done, is hardly an adequate response to the recent attacks on the freedom of expression followed by a series of murders of independent thinkers in different parts of the country," Satchidanandan said.

He said the Akademi had passed a resolution against the then government when it had banned Sulman Rushdie's work. In a letter to the Akademi, the playwright and translator said that "annihilation should never be allowed to replace argument that is the very essence of democracy."

Observing that the Sahitya Akademi was the "conscience keeper of the writing community", he said the literary body should actively condemn the killing of Kalburgi. "In the present time it's a question of life and freedom of writers. Our agenda is resistance and to speak to as many platforms as possible and as loudly as possible. Lot of people are supporting us," Satchidanandan said.

Earlier this week, eminent writer Nayantara Sahgal and former Lalit Kala Akademi chairman Ashok Vajpeyi had returned their Sahitya Akademi Awards to protest the "assault on right to freedom of both life and expression".

Noted Hindi writer Uday Prakash was the first to return his Sahitya Akademi award to protest Kalburgi's murder.

Malayalam novelist and AAP leader Sarah Joseph today said she would return the Sahitya Akademi award in protest against what she called the "growing communalism" and "life threat faced by writers" in the country after Narendra Modi government assumed office.

Joseph, who won the prestigious honour for her novel 'Aalahayude Penmakkal' (Daughters of God the Father), said she would soon send the cash prize and plaque to the Akademi via courier.

This is the first time that a Malayalam writer has decided to return the Akademi honours to protest against the "communal policies" of the BJP-led NDA government. "An alarming situation is being created in the country in all spheres of life after Modi government came into power. The religious harmony and secularism of the country is unprecedentedly under threat," she said from Thrissur.

She said three writers had already been killed and K S Bhagwan was facing life threat from communal forces. But, the Centre had done nothing to alleviate the growing fear among writers and activists and people in other sections of the society, she said.

Sixty-eight-year-old Joseph, who spearheaded feminist writing in Malayalam, also felt what Jnanpith laureate U R Ananthamurthy had said years ago about the life of writers under the Modi government was "absolutely true". "The visionary writer had actually predicted about the suppressed life which writers would have to live under Modi's rule. His words have become a reality now," she said.

Criticising Prime Minster Narendra Modi for his "delayed reaction" over the Dadri lynching, Joseph said the BJP government was even taking away the fundamental rights of people to choose their food.

"Our Prime Minister took nine days to react to the Dadri incident. His silence was scary and highly condemnable. In the backdrop of the recent hue and cry over beef consumption, I fear that even our right to choose food would be taken away from us," she said, adding that she hoped that other writers would also come out protesting against these policies through their creative works.

A recipient of Kerala Sahithya Akademi Award, Vayalar Award and Muttathu Varkey Award, Joseph is known for strong characterisation and socially relevant themes in her novels and short stories.

Though she was a strong supporter of Left ideologies, Joseph later joined AAP and contested unsuccessfully from Thrissur constituency in 2014 Lok Sabha polls.