2015 Indian writers' protest

List of writers who have returned their awards As of 15 October 2015, more than 40 scholars returned their awards: 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, the writers said. The signatories are, as of October 12, 2015: 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. Reaction from Academy The academy's president, Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari, countered the writers' claims by saying that they are mistaken in believing that the academy was not responding to intolerance and violence, pointing out that the vice president of the academy presided over a tribute for Mr. Kalburgi in September, where his murder was strongly condemned. == Other award winners ==

• Six Kannada writers returned the Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award literary award on 3 October. • Theater artist Maya Krishna Rao has also returned her Sangeet Natak Akademi Award on 12 October. • Shiromani Lekhak Award winner Megh Raj Mitter has also announced to return his award. == Communal violence pointed out by the scholars ==

In general all the scholars have protested the growing intolerance of government supported Hindu right-wing groups against minorities and rationalists. Particularly • Dadri lynching • Murders of rationalists like M. M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare, and Narendra Dabholkar • Alleged government silence on violence == Controversy ==

Former Sahitya Akademi president Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari has claimed that he has evidence to prove that the so-called “award wapsi” movement in 2015, when more than 50 writers returned their awards to protest alleged growth in intolerance under the Narendra Modi regime, 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. == Reactions ==

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. == References ==