New Delhi: Another renowned poet has returned his award claiming that intolerance is on the rise in India. Eminent Odisha poet of international fame Dr Jayanta Mahapatra on Sunday returned his Padma Shri award.
In a letter to President Pranab Mukherjee, Mahapatra claimed that he is returning his award in protest against rising intolerance in the country. Mahapatra has received numerous awards and is the first ever Indian poet to win Sahitya Akademi award for English poetry.
In the last two months, several writers of national and international repute have spoken out against what they call systematic muzzling of voices of dissent by the government and government backed people. A famous writer like Vikram Seth has also backed these writers.
At the same time, a section of the writers are opposing the returning of awards. They allege that these writers are hypocrites who were quiet during the previous Congress regime. They have also questioned Vikram Seth for accepting an award from former Union minister Jagdish Tytler who is accused of leading a mob during the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. Union Finance and Information & Broadcasting minister Arun Jaitley wrote a blog describing the protest as a manufactured dissent. His blog attracted sharp criticism from the writers who have been supporting returning of the awards.
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