Urdu poet Munnawar Rana returns Sahitya Award on live TV……….

Noted Urdu poet Munawwar Rana joined the league of writers returning
their awards in protest of the ‘present situation’ in the country.

Noted Urdu poet Munawwar Rana joined the league of writers returning
their awards in protest of the ‘present situation’ in the country.
Participating
in a televised debate with other writers and politicians, Rana said he
was not happy with the current atmosphere in the country.
He further said that he won’t accept any government recognition in
future.
 


“I come from Rae Bareli, politics runs through the street drains in my city but I never cared for it,” Rana said.
“Writers
and litterateurs have been associated with one party or the other. Some
are linked with Congress while others are alleged to be linked with the
BJP.
“I am a Muslim and some may label me as a Pakistani. Many
areas in this country do not have an electricity connection but Muslims
here are linked to Dawood Ibrahim,” the poet said. 
 Rana, 62, who was awarded the Sahitya Akademi in 2014 for his book
Shahdaba, had earlier said that he would not return his award as doing
so would not solve the issue of growing religious intolerance in India. 

“I vow not to accept any government award in future, from whatever government is in power,” he said.
Over
the past, at least 34 writers including famous writer and first Prime
Minister Jawaharlal Nehru’s niece Nayantara Sahgal, writer and former
chairperson of the Lalit Kala Akademi Ashok Vajpeyi, Keki N Daruwallah,
Uday Prakash have announced their decision to hand over Sahitya awards
protesting incidents like the killing of fellow writers M M Kalburgi and
the Dadri lynching incidents among others.
On the night of
September 28, 52-year-old Mohammad Akhlaq was lynched by a mob at his
house at Bisara village near Dadri in Uttar Pradesh over rumours that
his family consumed beef.