Our Correspondent / New Delhi
Malayalam writer K.P.Ramanunni on Monday gave away the Sahitya Akademi Awards prize money to mother Junaid Khan, who was killed in a train last June while returning home in Haryana after Eid shopping,
He gave prize money to his mother after taking Rs 3 from the total prize money of Rs 1 lakh.
Ramanunni said that the book for which he won the award is about communal harmony and said that Junaid was killed for no reason.
The Sahitya Akademi Awards 2017 were given away to writers from 23 languages here on Monday .
The family of Tamil poet Inquilab, awarded posthumously, who had earlier announced their refusal to accept the award also didn’t attend the award ceremony.
Earlier Ramanunni, who has won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Daivathinte Pusthakam, said his stand against communalism has been vindicated with the honour.
“I wrote this novel because communalism is something I strongly feel about,” Mr. Ramanunni told The Hindu here on Thursday. “I am glad that the award has come not too long after I received threats from religious extremists against an article of mine.”
He said he had to work harder on the novel, as it ran into 700 pages. “Yes, it should be one of the longest novels in Malayalam, especially after Vilasini’s Avakashikal and Thakazhi’s Kayar,” said the Kozhikode-based writer, whose major works include Sufi Paranja Katha and Jeevithathinte Pusthakam.
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