Author Nayantara returns her award over ‘curbs on dissent’

New Delhi, October 6

Eminent author and niece of Jawaharlal Nehru, Nayantara Sahgal today returned the Sahitya Akademi award in protest against increasing intolerance for right to dissent in the country and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's “silence” on the “reign of terror”.

Sahgal, who received a Sahitya Akademi award in 1986 for her English novel “Rich Like Us (1985)”, said: "The ruling ideology today is a fascist ideology and that is what is worrying me now. We did not have a fascist government until now... I am doing whatever I believe in."

Citing various incidents of killings of writers and rationalists, including MM Kalburgi and Govind Pansare, she alleged: "Rationalists who question superstition, anyone who questions any aspect of the ugly and dangerous distortion of Hinduism known as Hindutva – whether in the intellectual or artistic sphere, or whether in terms of food habits and lifestyle – are being marginalised, persecuted, or murdered.”

The 88-year-old author said most recently, a village blacksmith, Mohammed Iqlakh, was dragged out of his home in Bishada village outside Delhi, and brutally lynched on the supposed suspicion that beef was cooked at his home.

"In all these cases, justice drags its feet. The Prime Minister remains silent about this reign of terror. We must assume he dare not alienate evil-doers who support his ideology. It is a matter of sorrow that the Sahitya Akademi remains silent....In memory of the Indians who have been murdered, in support of all Indians who uphold the right to dissent, and of all dissenters who now live in fear and uncertainty, I am returning my Sahitya Akademi Award," said Sahgal, who in the past also strongly criticised imposition of the Emergency in 1975 by her cousin late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

She said: "Modi is a politician who knows how to speak. He has given long speeches. On Twitter and other social media, he is vocal. He should be responsible for (what is happening) in the country."

The author said: “Under Modi's government, India is going backwards. It is rejecting our great idea of cultural diversity and debate and it is narrowing down to an invention called Hindutva."

In her open letter "The Unmaking of India", she said: "Many people have been marginalised and a lot of Indians are living in fear of what might happen to them... the situation in the country is getting more serious and the Prime Minister should make a statement." — PTI