The trend of noted writers resigning from official posts and returning literary honours in protest against the killing of scholar M.M. Kalburgi and other rationalists grew bigger in the State on Sunday with writer Arvind Malagatti announcing his resignation from the general council of the Central Sahitya Akademi and novelist Kumvee (Kumbar Veerabhadrappa) and translator D.N. Srinath declaring that they would return the Akademi awards conferred upon them.
With this, they have joined the ranks of Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok Vajpeyi and Shashi Deshpande who have already resorted to similar measures to protest the alleged “silence” of Akademi over such killings.
Dr. Malagatti, who submitted his resignation to the Akademi on Sunday, said that silence would be construed as acquiescence and it should not be perceived as such. “Kalburgi himself was a former member of the Akademi and hence a strongly worded statement should have been issued by the president considering his contribution to the literary world,” he felt.
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Mr. Veerabhadrappa, a well-known novelist from Kottur in Ballari district, said, “It is a matter of grave concern that rationalists and writers are being killed and so far the law enforcing agencies have failed to trace the perpetrators of the crime. I am returning the award on October 15 at the regional office of the Akademi in Bengaluru.” The central literary award for 2007 had been conferred on him for his novel
Mr. Srinath, who was conferred with the award in 2009 for translating the short stories authored by Hindi writer Bheesham Sahani to Kannada, said he would return the award in two days.