AMN /
Following protest from writers and scholars, Sahitya Akademi finally condemned the killing of Kannad writer M M Kalburgi and passed an unanimous resolution appealing to states and central government to take steps to prevent such incidents.
The resolution was passed in a meeting of Sahitya Akademi, which was held in New Delhi in the wake of the writers’ protest. The Executive Committee Board Member Krishnaswamy Nachimuthu said that the Akademi has also asked authors to take back the awards they had returned to protest against rising intolerance. The meeting was attended by 20 out of 24 Executive Council members of the Akademi.
K Satchidanandan, who had resigned from all positions in the Sahitya Akademi did not attend the meeting. At least 35 writers including Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok Vajpeyi, Uday Prakash, Keki N Daruwallah, K Veerabhadrappa had returned their Akademi awards, and five writers had stepped down from official positions of the literary body.
Earlier in the day, writers and their supporters, held a solidarity march in protest against rising intolerance. Writers from different languages converged for the march carrying huge banners, with black gags and armbands, from Sri Ram Centre at Safdar Hashmi Marg to the Sahitya Akademi building.
Eminent writers Keki N Daruwala, Geeta Hariharan, Anuradha Kapoor (former director National School of Drama), and Shekhar Joshi among others were part of the protest.