Shivamogga: Joining the bandwagon of writers and poets protesting growing intolerance, Ria Vithasa, a 17-year-old school girl, from Shivamogga, on Thursday decided to return her Bal Sahitya award as she was pained by the killing of noted writer M.M. Kalburgi.
“I knew Kalburgi from childhood and have read all his books. I cried a lot when he was killed and wanted to return my award but my parents told me to have patience and wait. Now so much time has elapsed and still there is nothing being done so like the other writers have done, I have returned my award,” said the Class XI student, who won the award for her collection of essays Ondu Chandrana Tundu.
Rajasthani writer Nand Bharadwaj, who received the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2004 for Rajasthani novel Samhi Khulata Marag, too announced his decision to return his award on Thursday.
Breaking their silence on the issue, around 90 writers from West Bengal have signed a letter sent to President Pranab Mukherjee seeking his intervention to restore the common fabric of the society, replaced by a stifling atmosphere of fear.
Several writers had earlier this month returned their awards to Kannada Sahitya Parishat, upset over the delay in arrest of killers of Kalburgi, who was shot dead at point blank range by two men at his Dharwad residence recently. The police are yet to crack the case.
