Sahitya Akademi urged to reinvent itself

Indian writers including those who had returned their Sahitya Akademi awards yesterday wrote to the National Academy of Letters urging it to build on the resolution passed during its recent emergency meet and respond in a "strong, humane and robust" manner to situations.

"This is an urgent matter at this moment of spiralling hatred and intolerance," a group of 41 writers said a statement to the Akademi president, and also asked the literary body to "reinvent" itself.

The authors, who have written the letter include Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok Vajpeyi, Ganesh Devy, Githa Hariharan, Gurbachan Singh Bhullar, K Satchidanandan, Keki Daruwalla, Krishn Sobti, Kum Veerabhadrappa, Sara Joseph, Shashi Deshpande and Waryam Sandhu, among others.

At least 36 writers including Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok Vajpeyi, had one after another returned their state awards in protest against the Akademi's "muted response" to killings of writers and rationalists, besides on incidents such as the Dadri lynching and blackening of Sudheendra Kulkarni's face in Mumbai.

Five writers had also stepped down from the literary body's official positions.