There is a tide of intolerance in the country, says poet Keki Daruwalla

Several eminent writers have announced recently that they were returning their Sahitya Akademi awards over rising intolerance

Poet Keki N Daruwalla on Thursday said writers are giving up their Sahitya Akademi awards as they feel there is "rising intolerance" in the country.

"People are asking absurd questions as to why the writers did not protest in 1984. Why they did not protest when the Bhagalpur riots took place. We are protesting against writers being killed of no fault of his. There is no communal element in it. I have also written in my letter that there is a tide of intolerance in the country or that is what people feel or there may not be," Daruwalla told ANI here.

"Dadri incident is not an accident. Today, people kill if a leaf of a sacred book is trampled. I would think that if a book by Isaac Newton or Einstein is trampled, we should take umbrage on that," he added.

Several eminent writers have announced recently that they were returning their Sahitya Akademi awards, joining the growing protest by litterateurs over "rising intolerance" and "communal" atmosphere, and the "silence" of the Sahitya Akademi over the killing of Kannada scholar M M Kalburgi.