New Delhi,Oct 10,2015: Professor K Sachidanandan,eminent poet and writer has resigned from different positions he has held in the sahitya academy including the membership of
the general council,executive board,and convenorship of the English advisory board.In his letter to the central sahitya academy sachidanandan criticized the way academy is responding to the issues of the times.
"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 of India that seems to be getting violated every day
in the country." Annihilation should never be allowed to
replace argument that is the very essence of democracy,he said.
Meanwhile in Kerala noted writer and novelist Sarah Joseph announced her decision to return the central sahitya academy award.She is also returning the cash component of the award too
This is to to protest the communal agenda being fostered by the government.
Satchidanadan`s letter is an indictment of the organization and how it is being run:
The letter is reproduced below:
Dear Sri V P Tiwari,
It is with intense pain that I am writing this letter to you. As you
are aware I have had a close association with the Sahitya Akademi for
almost four decades as a member of the Malayalam Advisory Board,
Editor of its journal, Indian Literature , as its chief executive for
a decade and later as a member of its General Council and Executive
Board and the Convener of the English Advisory Board.
I was always proud of this unique institution conceived by great
liberal minds like Jawaharlal Nehru and nurtured by several dreaming
minds in the country. I did everything possible to uphold and
safeguard its autonomy and to develop it as a national platform of
dialogue for writers of all ideological persuasions from every part of
India. I was happy that during my tenure as Secretary I could launch
several platforms for women writers, dalit writers, tribal writers and
young writers and extend the Akademi’s activities to languages not
recognised by the Government of India and the Akademi, thus enlarging
the scope and reach of the institution beyond its conventional
beneficiaries and participants. I was supported in my transformative
endeavours by the many Presidents with whom I worked including the
great writer and thinker U R Ananthamurthy and had several moments of
pride when the Akademi dared stand up against the Government of
India when its moves went against the writers’ freedom of expression.
I had hoped that the Akademi would continue to uphold its liberal,
open and democratic traditions. It was with this hope that I had sent
you a letter with the draft of a resolution expressing anguished
concern at the dastardly murder of M M Kalburgi, a Sahitya Akademi
Awardee and erstwhile Member, a rare scholar who edited several
volumes of the Vachana literature in Kannada and an independent mind
that refused to tolerate bigotry of any kind. But to my great
disillusionment my letter as a member of the Executive Board did not
even receive a reply from the Akademi, let alone an active response.
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 of India that seems to be getting violated every day
in the country. 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. I am sorry to find that you think this is a political
issue while to writers like me it is an issue of our basic freedom to
live , think and write . Annihilation should never be allowed to
replace argument that is the very essence of democracy.
I thank the Akademi for all that it has given me in lieu of the many
years of dedicated service I have given it; but as a concerned
citizen and writer my conscience does not permit me to continue on its
General Council and its Executive Board. I hereby abdicate all my
positions in the Sahitya Akademi including the Convenorship of the
English Advisory Board and the membership of its several committees
like the Finance Committee, Grants Committee and Building Committee.
With warm personal regards,
Prof K. Satchidanandan
