Ashok Vajpeyi won't take back Sahitya award, says intolerance remains high

January 23, 2016 17:14

Noted writer and poet Ashok Vajpeyi refused to take back the Sahitya Akademi award that he had returned stating that "intolerance levels remain high" in the country. "Intolerance levels remain high and widespread. Look at what happened to a Dalit student driven to suicide. This is also intolerance," Vajpeyi said on the sidelines of the ongoing Jaipur Literature festival.

He had recently returned the D.Lit honour conferred to him by the Hyderabad Central University in protest against the "anti-Dalit" attitude of authorities. Vajpeyi said although Prime Minister Narendra Modi had voiced his grief at Rohith Vemula's suicide, he had underplayed the Dalit issue.

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