Returning Sahitya Akademi Awards - Is it a right kind of protest by writers?

Returning Sahitya Akademi Awards - Is it a right kind of protest by writers?

"The purpose of a writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself." - Albert Camus.

There has been a recent spur in the writers returning Sahitya Akademi Awards in protest. The number has reached nearly to 20. It simply reminds the time when Rabindranath Tagore renounced his title of 'Sir' in protest to Jallianwala Bagh massacre during the British times. Though it is not British times and we have all the freedoms which we need, the writers still felt that they are facing hostility from some factions of the society and have taken to protests in the form of returning the awards.

But is this protest being done in an appropriate form as Sahitya Akademi Awards are one of the highest level literary awards in the country; or is there no truth to the allegations by the writers?

Yes –

1. It is an appropriate response to the insecurities felt by the writers.

2. It is a symbolic show of protest against what writers feel as a growing disregard for freedom of speech.

3. The writers can use the media or their writings to bring their problems in front of the entire nation. However, they fear that some factions in society might turn hostile if they are criticized. Writings of the writers might provoke hostilities by those fractions.

4. Thus we can see that what remains with a writer to do, if his writings are bone of contention. This symbolic gesture thus shows the severity of the problem.

5. The violence and murders of writers with very different point of views was another issue. Here we see that writings and difference of opinions itself got writers killed. So there was no other way to protest. A strike might not have the same effect as the strike of petrol pumps or doctors’ strike.

6. This gesture shows that one of the highest literary honors too is insufficient if the writers feel that all spaces of liberal values and thought, all locations of dissent and dialogue, all attempts at sanity and mutual trust are under assault.

7. This tradition of returning awards is not new in our country and has been going on since the British times. So frowning at the writers to use this method is not fair.

No –

1. It is irrelevant to return the awards. It will not have much effect.

2. Sahitya Akademi Awards were given by the Sahitya Akademi to writers and not by the government. If an award is returned as a protest, it does not make sense as the government did not give the awards. Had the award been awarded by the government, it made sense to return.

3. If the writers want to protest they can do so in their writing. Many read what writers write. This way they reach a majority of the population with their problems. Returning awards is of no use.

4. The writers can also use media to make sure their plights reach the appropriate authority and even the people come to know about them.

5. The writers are feeling that their liberal space is getting reduced. To address this issue, entire nation is with them. They just need to initiate a dialogue with appropriate authority to resolve the problem. They need not take such steps.

6. These steps are only making such awards political. This will have ramifications in the future too. This can make these honorable awards a political tool.

7. In India, during the British times, whenever there was pressure on the writing space provided to the writers, the writers reacted with their articles and generated public opinion from their side. With the growing use of internet and good communication networks, the writers can reach every nook and corner of the country in matter of hours. Such avenues of protests must be used.

8. Also, more than returning the awards, scathing articles and criticisms can do a better job of generating public opinion. If a writer is afraid then to hide identity, pen names can be used.

"No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader." - Robert Frost.

Such is the importance of writers. This is how they can have an impact on the people. Various hostilities and problems of India have provoked writers and artists to protest against and condemn the damage done to social fabric, communal harmony and creative life of India. Not doing so will be failing in their duty. Literature in India has been a sort of conscience-keeper of the country. Though returning awards may not be the most appropriate kind of protest, it is a symbolic gesture which only aims to draw attention towards the issues raised by the writers. This protest is not damaging public life and hence instead of arguing if the protest is appropriate or not, we must focus on addressing concerns of the writers.