Noted writer C. Radhakrishnan has resigned as the eminent member of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi in protest against the inauguration of this year’s annual festival by a Union Minister, whom he alleged lacked any literary credential.
His resignation was in protest against the inauguration of the 39th edition of ‘Sahityotsav: The Festival of Letters’ by Union Minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal on March 11.
In his resignation letter sent to the Secretary of the Akademi on April 1, Mr. Radhakrishnan said that the festival brochure had not carried the Minister’s or anybody’s name. It described the event as the ‘Inauguration of the Akademi Exhibition’ without mentioning the name of the inaugurator. The programme detail with his name was later issued as a special invite card. “Strange that the Akademi wanted this person so badly that it waited till it became clear that the declaration of the general elections would not make the Akademi out of bounds for him,” he said.
“You know this is the first time such a thing happened in the long chequered history of the Sahitya Akademi, which consistently upheld the autonomy of the institution against pressures to make it yield to political clout. True, last year a lesser official, a minister of state, had taken part in the inaugural session of the festival, prompting all of our protests. Assurances were given that this would not repeat,” he said.
Mr. Radhakrishnan recalled the unrelenting struggle put up against the efforts to influence the Akademi politically while he was a member of its executive committee for five years.
“I would like to clarify that I am not against any particular political party. I dissent from the politicisation of administration of culture eroding the independent stature of the institution. You know the other two Akademis have been robbed of their autonomy since a long while ago. I hope and pray my fellow writers, young and old, would realise the severe danger this institution too is drifting towards,” he said.
The author of novels such as Munpe Parakkunna Pakshikal, Spandamapinikale Nandi and Theekkadal Kadanju Thirumadhuram said that the far-sighted founding fathers of the Sahitya Akademi gave it a constitution capable of resisting all attempts to undermine its democratic autonomy and enable it to survive unmolested. “Political bosses are now reported to be smarting even to redraft the constitution of the Akademi. Sorry, I can’t be a silent witness to the funeral of the very last democratically autonomous institution of culture in the nation,” he said.
