Kashmiri poet returns Sahitya Akademi award, takes total number to 16

October 12, 2015 12:51

Noted Kashmiri writer and poet Ghulam Nabi Khayal has joined the bandwagon of authors returning their Sahitya Akademi awards, saying the minorities in the country today feel "unsafe and threatened". "I have decided to return the award. The minorities in the country are feeling unsafe and threatened. They feel their future is bleak," Khayal said.

Khayal, who won the prestigious honour for his book Gashik Minaar (Luminaries) in 1975, said he would soon return the cash prize and copper plaque to the Akademi. "The government has failed in fulfilling its duty of protecting the minorities as enshrined in the Constitution of the country," he said.

This is the first time that a Kashmiri writer has decided to return the literary honour to protest the "communal atmosphere" in some parts of the country.

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