G N Devy writes on ‘award wapsi’: Parliamentary Committee Report doesn’t understand the artist’s conscience
GN Devy | 28 July 2023 | Indian Express
MM Kalburgi was assassinated at his residence in Dharwad on August 30 2015. The murder shocked the country and triggered a country-wide intellectual protest. It was a protest against growing intolerance. Supporters of the government mistook it as an anti-government protest. It was variously dubbed as a “manufactured protest”, “move to spread disaffection towards the state”, “Congress-induced protest” and “insult to the nation”. No one in the authorities made any attempt to understand from the writers, dramatists and film-makers who had returned their awards why they were returning the awards earned for their talent and creativity.
In February 2017, a question was asked in Lok Sabha by the BJP’s Om Birla to find out if the government was aware that many writers had returned their awards since 2015, and how many? And, did they “accept the government’s request to take back the awards”? The Culture Minister at that time was Mahesh Sharma. Sumitra Mahajan was the Lok Sabha Speaker.