Joining the group of writers resigning their posts from the Sahitya Akademi, Kannada writer and researcher Dr Aravind Malagatti today resigned from its General Council, while another noted writer Kum Veerabhadrappa has decided to return the award condemning its "silence" over the killing of rationalist M M Kalburgi and Dadri lynching.
Sahitya Akademi award winning author, Veerabhadrappa said he will be returning the award on October 15.
"I'm doing this condemning the killings of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M M Kalburgi, and Akademi's silence on the issue; also against Dadri lynching.
"These incidents are an attempt to destroy the diversity of this country and it signals the entry of fascism in to India," he added.
Veerabhadrappa had won the Sahitya Akademi award in 2007 for his book 'Aramane'. He has also authored an autobiography, 'Gandhi Classu'.
Confirming his resignation, Malagatti told PTI, "Yes I have resigned as member of the General Council and have sent a letter to the President and Secretary of the Akademi this morning. I have resigned condemning the killing of Kalburgi and silence of Akademi over the issue. It should have spoken out and expressed its condemnation against such acts."
Kalburgi (77) fell to the bullets of two unidentified men at his residence at Dharwad in north Karnataka, considered the state's cultural capital on August 30.
"Killing of personalities like Kalburgi, (Govind) Pansare and incidents like Dadri lynching are an attack on the Constitutional rights in this country. They are highly condemnable," Malagatti said.
Malagatti is among 20 representatives from various Universities in the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi.
He has worked in varied forms of Kannada literature like poetry, prose, essays, criticism and folklore study. Karnataka government has bestowed the prestigious Ambedkar Fellowship Award on him considering his corpus of writing. His 'Government Brahamana' being the first Dalit autobiography in Kannada has got the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award.
Recently literary figures like Shashi Deshpande, K Satchidanandan and P K Parakkadavu had resigned from their posts in the Akademi, citing similar reasons.
Eminent personalities like Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok Vajpeyi andm Sara Joseph have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards.
At the state-level, six Kannada writers had earlier this month returned their awards to Kannada Sahitya Parishat upset over the delay in arrest of Kalburgi's killers.
