AMN /
Noted Kashmiri writer and poet Ghulam Nabi Khayal has joined the authors returning their Sahitya Akademi awards in the wake of Dadri lynching incident. He told media that he decided to return the award as the minorities in the country are feeling unsafe and threatened.
Khayal said the government has failed in fulfilling its duty of protecting the minorities as enshrined in the Constitution of the country.
This is the first time that a Kashmiri writer has decided to return the literary honour in protest.
On Sunday, Gujarat-based writer Ganesh Devy returned his Sahitya Akademi Award to express solidarity with the writers, who have recently given up their awards.
In a letter addressed to the president of Sahitya Akademi Prof Viswanath Pratap Tiwari, Devy said space for free expression is shrinking and there is growing intolerance towards differences of opinion.
He said it is high time that writers take a stand.