 "Writers and poets returning awards to protest intolerance")
A day after the conferment of Sangeet Natak Akademi Awards, a delegation of artistes from the national academy met Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.
The delegation included Birju Maharaj, Vishwamohan Bhatt, Ajoy Chakravarty, Aruna Sairam and Atul Tiwari.
Sangeet Natak Akademi Chairman Shekhar Sen was also present for the meeting, it added.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Friday conferred the Sangeet Natak Akademi awards and fellowships for 2014 on many luminaries, including Hindustani classical singer Ashwini Bhide Deshpande, Kathak dancer Uma Dogra and playwright Asgar Wajahat.
These awards were conferred at a time when scores of writers and artists are returning their awards to condemn the attacks on writers, pointing to "growing intolerance".
Theatre artist Maya Krishna Rao returned her Sangeet Natak Akademi award last week over this issue.
