Some Sahitya Yuva Puraskar awardees 'condemn' intolerance

NEW DELHI: Some recipients of this year's Sahitya Akademi's Yuva Puraskar today said that accepting the awards does not mean they do not condemn the "religious intolerance" against which several past winners have staged an 'award wapsi'.

"Receiving this award does not mean that I do not condemn the religious intolerance spreading across the country," said Kannada author Mounesh Badiger at an awardees' meet organised by the Sahitya Akademi here.

Badiger is among the writers from 23 languages who were conferred the Yuva Puraskar in a ceremony here on November 18.

The Kannada writer has been awarded for " Maayaa Kolahala", his collection of short stories "which impresses readers by its symbolism and socio-political consciousness".

The Bengaluru-based author said he was in "a state of quandary" on whether or not to come here to receive the award.

"At a time when we are seeing increasing religious conflicts in the country, communal violence, when a lot of writers, agitated by the brutal murder of intellectuals, are involved in a campaign to return their awards and at a time when the performance of the Sahitya Akademi itself is viewed as questionable, I was in a big dilemma as to whether or not to accept this award," Badiger said.

The 31-year-old author who began writing in 2002 said he ultimately decided to "accept the award with humble feeling."

"Artistes like me who rely on art for our livelihood most certainly do not have the forward financial strength to refuse an award of this huge an amount," he said.

Instituted in 2011, the Yuva Puraskar recognises young authors under the age of 35 years, with the aim "to encourage and promote young writers" and carries a cash prize of Rs 50,000 and an engraved copper plaque.

Adivasi writer and medical doctor Hansda Sowvendra Shekhar who was awarded for his English novel "The Mysterious Ailment of Rupi Baskey" said returning of awards represents a form of protest.