Literary icons at Sahitya Akademi resign, return award to protest against communal incidence

New Delhi: Joining the protest over rising communal violence cases in the country, Malayalam and English poet K. Satchidanandan quit the Sahitya Akademi on Saturday, becoming the latest literary icon to do so.

Earlier, Malayalam author and activist Sarah Joseph returned the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Akademi award protesting against the 'communal policies' of the central government.

Writer Shashi Deshpande resigned from the Sahitya Akademi General Council yesterday, saying she is 'deeply distressed' by the silence of the Akademi on the murder of Professor M M Kalburgi, a Kannada writer, scholar and winner of the Akademi award, who was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Dharwad.

Noted writer Nayantara Sahgal, the niece of former Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, has also returned the prestigious award in protest against what she called the "vanishing space" for diversity.

The Literary icons have been protesting against the soaring cases of communal violence in the country and the inaction of the government to bring the perpetrators to justice.