Ashok Vajpeyi

Noted writer and poet Ashok Vajpeyi today refused to take back the Sahitya Akademi award that he had returned stating that "intolerance levels remain high" in the country.

Noted writer Ashok Vajpeyi today decided to return D Litt degree given to him by Hyderabad University in protest against the "anti-Dalit" attitude of authorities which has allegedly driven a Dalit student to commit suicide.

Post the 'award-wapsi' campaign across the country during which a slew of writers returned their Sahitya Akademi awards to protest against "growing intolerance", Akademi President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari today said the writers must respect the awards they win.

Prominent writers in India are collectively protesting what they consider an increase in hostility and intolerance, which they argue has been allowed to fester under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by returning a prestigious literary award.

Facing heat over a long list of writers who have returned Sahitya Akademi awards or resigned from their posts in the literary body, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today denied that it was being soft on the issue of "intolerance" and said the ideological inclinations of the writers should be looked into.

Six more authors have decided to return their Sahitya Akademi awards as a mark of protest against rising intolerance and communal atmosphere after the death of rationalist MM Kalburgi, taking the number of such authors returning the literary honour to 16.

Following announcements by writer Nayantara Sehgal and poet Ashok Vajpeyi to return their Sahitya Akademi awards, the literary body's president said authors should "adopt a different way to protest" and not politicise the autonomous body.

After writer Nayantara Sahgal returned her Sahitya Akademi award protesting against what she called a "vicious assault" on India's diversity and debate, poet Ashok Vajpeyi has also given up the prestigious literary honour.

On NDTV Dialogues, we move away from political campaigns and the slugfest over history. We focus instead on the idea of India. What are we seeing in the current context? Are we seeing a battle between different ideas of India? Are we looking at different interpretations of a grand unifying Idea? Kapil Sibal, Professor Sunil Khilnani, Ashok Malik an...

Noted writer and poet Ashok Vajpeyi today refused to take back the Sahitya Akademi award that he had returned stating that "intolerance levels remain high" in the country.

Noted writer Ashok Vajpeyi today decided to return D Litt degree given to him by Hyderabad University in protest against the "anti-Dalit" attitude of authorities which has allegedly driven a Dalit student to commit suicide.

Post the 'award-wapsi' campaign across the country during which a slew of writers returned their Sahitya Akademi awards to protest against "growing intolerance", Akademi President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari today said the writers must respect the awards they win.

Prominent writers in India are collectively protesting what they consider an increase in hostility and intolerance, which they argue has been allowed to fester under the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by returning a prestigious literary award.

Facing heat over a long list of writers who have returned Sahitya Akademi awards or resigned from their posts in the literary body, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today denied that it was being soft on the issue of "intolerance" and said the ideological inclinations of the writers should be looked into.

Six more authors have decided to return their Sahitya Akademi awards as a mark of protest against rising intolerance and communal atmosphere after the death of rationalist MM Kalburgi, taking the number of such authors returning the literary honour to 16.

Following announcements by writer Nayantara Sehgal and poet Ashok Vajpeyi to return their Sahitya Akademi awards, the literary body's president said authors should "adopt a different way to protest" and not politicise the autonomous body.

After writer Nayantara Sahgal returned her Sahitya Akademi award protesting against what she called a "vicious assault" on India's diversity and debate, poet Ashok Vajpeyi has also given up the prestigious literary honour.

On NDTV Dialogues, we move away from political campaigns and the slugfest over history. We focus instead on the idea of India. What are we seeing in the current context? Are we seeing a battle between different ideas of India? Are we looking at different interpretations of a grand unifying Idea? Kapil Sibal, Professor Sunil Khilnani, Ashok Malik an...