- ‘Dangerous distortion of Hinduism’ alleged
- BJP Ministers are make controversial statements, still Modi is quiet. Why does he not shut them up?
- Modi’s silence one ‘reign of terror’!
New Delhi/ Nagpur: After the renowned writer/ novelist Nayantara Sahgal’s surrender of Sahitya Akademi Award in protest and in order to express her solidarity with Indians who love to hold up ‘the right to dissent, renowned poet Ashok Vajpeyi too has surrendered his prestigious award to Sahitya Akademi in protest against ‘dangerous distortion of Hinduism.’ Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for observing silence over the recent incident of violence, Vajpeyi called on all writers to show their solidarity over the issue, and the like-ones, against which they have been voicing with their pens, said the media reports.
The former Chairperson of Lalit Kala Akademi, Ashok Vajpeyi, talking to media persons, further said, “It is high time that writers take a stand. We have an eloquent Prime Minister who addresses lakhs of people, but here writers are being murdered, innocent people ate being murdered, his ministers make controversial statements, still he is quiet. Why does he not shut them up?”
Feeling moral accountability towards the stand taken by the senior writer Nayantara Sahgal, he realized that the writers should support her stand. He also realized as to why Sahitya Akademi, the National Academy of Letters, failed to rise to the occasion and respect its ‘autonomy.’
Sahgal, the niece of India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, expressed concerns over a “dangerous distortion of Hinduism” and questioned Prime Minister Modi’s silence about a “reign of terror”.
The 88-year-old Nayan Tara Sahgal’s move came against the backdrop of the lynching of a Muslim man in Bisada village of Uttar Pradesh. Mohammad Ikhlaq, 50, was killed and his son critically injured by a mob last week after rumours that they had slaughtered a calf and eaten beef.
“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,” Sahagal said in a statement titled “Unmaking of India”.
Sehgal also referred to the killings of rationalists M M Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare and blamed the state for failing to protect those who question “any aspect of the ugly and dangerous distortion of Hinduism known as Hindutva”.
“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,” she said in the statement.
Sahgal, who strongly criticized the imposition of Emergency in 1975 by her cousin and ex-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, said Vice President Hamid Ansari had “found it necessary to remind us that India’s Constitution promises all Indians ‘liberty of thought, expression, belief, faith and worship’”.
