Hindi poet Vajpeyi also returns award

Ashok Vajpeyi, a literary heavyweight, has returned the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award, joining several other litterateurs who have renounced their coveted prizes, to protest the "assault on the right to freedom of both life and expression". Vajpeyi's decision came close on the heels of celebrated writer Nayantara Sahgal on Tuesday returning the Sahitya Akademi Award over the "vicious assault" on "India's culture of diversity and debate" and the "right to dissent". Vajpeyi, a former chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi, voiced displeasure over the Dadri lynching incident and a string of killings of rationalists, while questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi's continued silence on these. "Sehgal was right. He is a very loquacious Prime Minister. Why doesn't he tell the nation that the

pluralism of this country will be defended at every cost?" Vajpeyi told PTI. The 74-year-old Hindi poet, essayist and noted critic on literary and cultural matters disapproved of statements by senior political leaders, including Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma which, he said, "belittled the "multi-cultural and multi-religious" fabric of the country. "The Culture Minister has made comments about renaming the Aurangazeb road to APJ Abdul Kalam road. He says Kalam was a great nationalist despite being a Muslim. "These kinds of statements belittle the multicultural and multi-religious fabric of the country.... What can writers do but protest," he said.