2015 Indian writers' protest
 | This article needs to be updated. (November 2026) |
The 2015 Indian writers protest, also referred to as award wapsi (lit. 'award return'), against alleged government silence on violence was a wide-spread protest in India starting from the beginning of September 2015, wherein disgruntled writers and poets across India started returning highly prestigious awards, including Sahitya Akademi Award and Padma Shri, to protest the increasing incidents of communal violence in India, murder of minorities and rationalists, and alleged government silence on the matter.
Overview
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They believe there is a climate of rising intolerance in the country under the present central government (NDA Alliance). Many scholars have protested the growing intolerance of government supported Hindu right-wing groups against minorities particularly Dadri lynching, murders of rationalists like M. M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, and Narendra Dabholkar, and government silence on violence.
Sixteen Sahitya Akademi Award-winning Tamil writers, Indira Parthasarathy, K. Rajanarayanan, Ponneelan, Prapanchan, Ashokamitran, Thoppil Mohamed Meeran, S. Abdul Rahman, Vairamuthu, Tamilanban, Muhammed Metha, Melanmai Ponnusamy, Puviarasu, Nanjil Nadan, S. Venkatesan, D. Selvaraj and Poomani, have condemned the Akademi for not adequately condemning the murder of Kannada writer M. M. Kalburgi and its failure to bring pressure on the centre to protect freedom of expression. Several elite writers and poets, including Shashi Deshpande, K. Satchidanandan, Aravind Malagatti and P. K. Parakkadvu have resigned their posts in Sahitya Akademi, the General Council of the country's top literary body, claiming that they were shocked at the level of intolerance on freedom of speech and expression. including Nayantara Sahgal, Sarah Joseph, and Ashok Vajpeyi
Hindi writer Uday Prakash was the first to return the prestigious award on September 4, 2015, protesting against the murder of M. M. Kalburgi. Writer Nayantara Sahgal and poet Ashok Vajpeyi followed Prakash in protesting the murders of rationalists like M. M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar. They also came out against the Dadri incident, in which a mob lynched a Muslim man in Dadri village of Uttar Pradesh over rumours of eating and storing beef.
As of 2020, 26 writers are yet to return their souvenirs after declaring the return of awards. Only 13 writers have returned souvenirs and prize money.[citation needed] To prevent return of awards from taking place again, a Parliamentary committee recommended that the Centre should make recipients of government awards sign an undertaking that they would not return them at any stage as a mark of protest. Among others, as of October 2015, Ajmer Aulakh, Aman Sethi, Ganesh Devy, Kum. Veerabhadrappa and Shashi Deshpande have publicly announced their return of the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civillian award in India and 40 Sahitya academy award recipeints have returned their award. To show their condemnation Deshpande, K. Satchidanandan, PK Parakkadvu and Aravind Malagatti have also resigned their posts at the Sahitya Akademi institution.
| S.No. | Writer | Field | Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Uday Prakash | Hindi writer | |
| 2 | Nayantara Sahgal | English writer | Padma Shri |
| 3 | Ashok Vajpeyi | Hindi poet | |
| 4 | Sarah Joseph | Malayalam novelist | |
| 5 | Ghulam Nabi Khayal | Kashmiri writer | |
| 6 | Rahman Abbas | Urdu novelist | |
| 7 | Waryam Sandhu | Punjabi writer | |
| 8 | Gurbachan Singh Bhullar | Punjabi writer | |
| 9 | Ajmer Singh Aulakh | Punjabi writer | |
| 10 | Atamjit Singh | Punjabi writer | |
| 11 | G. N. Ranganatha Rao | Kannada translator | |
| 12 | Manglesh Dabral | Hindi writer | |
| 13 | Rajesh Joshi | Hindi writer | |
| 14 | G. N. Devy | Gujarati writer | |
| 15 | D. N. Srinath | Kannada translator | |
| 16 | Kumbar Veerabhadrappa | Kannada novelist | |
| 17 | Rahamat Tarikere | Kannada writer | |
| 18 | Baldev Singh Sadaknama | Punjabi novelist | |
| 19 | Jaswinder | Punjabi poet | |
| 20 | Darshan Buttar | Punjabi poet | |
| 21 | Surjit Patar | Punjabi poet | |
| 22 | Chaman Lal | Punjabi translator | |
| 23 | Homen Borgohain | Assamese journalist | |
| 24 | Mandakranta Sen | Bengali poet | |
| 25 | Keki N. Daruwalla | English poet | |
| 26 | Nand Bhardwaj | Rajasthani writer | |
| 27 | Veeranna Madiwalar | Kannada writer | Sahitya Parishat |
| 28 | T. Satish Javare Gowda | Kannada writer | Sahitya Parishat |
| 29 | Sangamesh Menasinakai | Kannada writer | Sahitya Parishat |
| 30 | Hanumanth Haligeri | Kannada writer | Sahitya Parishat |
| 31 | Sridevi V. Aloor | Kannada writer | Sahitya Parishat |
| 32 | Chidananda Sali | Kannada writer | Sahitya Parishat |
| 33 | Maya Krishna Rao | Theater artist | |
| 3434 | Megh Raj Mitter | Punjabi writer | |
| 35 | Dalip Kaur Tiwana | Punjabi writer | Padma Shri |
Statements made by writers
The situation has come to such pass that there was no security for the life of a writer not to mention the threat to freedom of expression. The Akademi has not condemned the act in no uncertain terms. On the contrary it has just issued a general statement. It is not adequate and we demand that the Akademi take a stronger stand.
— Tamil writers
The PM keeps quiet. Writers are being murdered, Innocents being killed and his ministers making objectionable statements
— Ashok vajpeyi
The country is now passing through very though times. It's worse than Emergency
— Sarah Joseph
We are going backwards. There is rising intolerance
— Nayantara Sahgal
Reactions
Former Sahitya Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari has claimed that he has evidence to prove that the “award wapsi” movement in 2015, when more than 50 writers returned their awards to protest alleged growth in intolerance under the Narendra Modi governance, were part of a politically motivated campaign organised by Marxist writers and Hindi poet Ashok Vajpeyi to defame the government in the run-up to the 2015 Bihar Legislative Assembly election. Union Minister and former Chief of Army Staff General V. K. Singh claimed that the return of awards by the writers citing intolerance was a planned conspiracy. The then Union Minister Maneka Gandhi said that the return of awards was an international conspiracy against the Modi Government. The prime minister Narendra Modi has been accused of using whataboutism, especially in regard to the 2015 Indian writers protest and the nomination of former Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi to parliament.
See also
References
- 1 2 3 IBTimes (13 October 2015). "Sahitya Akademi protest: Complete list of writers who returned their awards". International Business Times, India Edition.
- 1 2 "Dadri incident: Urdu writer to return award in protest - Times of India ►". The Times of India. 10 October 2015.
- ↑ "The Sahitya Akademi row: All you need to know". 14 October 2015.
- ↑ Kolappan, B. (12 October 2015). "Tamil Sahitya Akademi winners condemn the Akademi". The Hindu – via www.thehindu.com.
- 1 2 3 4 "Culture Shock". The New Indian Express.
- ↑ "Why Nayantara Sahgal Is Returning Her Sahitya Akademi Award After 29 Years". HuffPost India. 7 October 2015.
- ↑ "Writer Nayantara Sahgal Hits Back at Sahitya Akademi Chief's 'Goodwill' Barb". NDTV.com.
- 1 2 "After Nayantara Sahgal, Poet Ashok Vajpeyi Returns Award, Takes on PM". NDTV.com.
- ↑ Scroll Staff (2023-07-26). "To prevent award wapsi protest, Parliament panel suggests making recipients sign undertaking". Scroll.in. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
- ↑ "Sahitya Akademi in a fix as returned awards pile up". The Times of India. 31 October 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- ↑ "Now, six more writers return Sahitya Akademi awards". Hindustan Times. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 3 November 2015.
- ↑ "Six writers to return award to Sahitya Parishat". The Hindu. 2015-10-03. ISSN 0971-751X. Retrieved 2026-11-04.
- ↑ Venugopal, Vasudha (9 August 2018). "Have evidence to show Award Wapsi was politically motivated, not spontaneous: Former Sahitya Akademi chief - Economic Times ►". The Economic Times.
- ↑ PTI (2016-01-24). "Award wapsi a 'planned conspiracy', says VK Singh". The News Minute. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
- ↑ "Maneka Gandhi says #AwardWapsi international conspiracy against Modi govt". India Today. Retrieved 2024-02-16.
- ↑ Moitra, Mahua (March 18, 2020). "Ranjan Gogoi, MP: India is Done With Whataboutery, My Lords!". The Wire. Archived from the original on 19 March 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.
- ↑ Moza, Raju (October 11, 2015). "Why Using Kashmiri Pandits To Discredit 'Award Returnees' Doesn't Make Sense". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved June 12, 2020.