Prominent academic Suhas Palashikar has announced his resignation from the Maharashtra government’s language advisory committee in protest against the widely criticised move to withdraw an award that the government had announced for Anagha Lele for her Marathi translation of Kobad Ghandy’s prison memoir. “I am resigning from the membership of the Language Advisory Committee of Maharashtra Government owing its decision to abruptly withdraw the award of a book it had previously conferred,” Palashikar, who taught political science at Savitribai Phule University for many years, said in a Twitter post. Literary awards announced on December 6 under 35 categories included one for Lele for her Marathi translation of Fractured Freedom: Prison Memories and Thoughts, written by Ghandy, an alleged Maoist ideologue. The award carried a cash prize of Rs 1,00,000. The government, however, issued a resolution on Monday withdrawing the award, a move that invited widespread criticism from the literary world. Authors Sharad Bawiskar and Anand Karandikar protested against the decision and members of various committees of the Marathi language department submitted their resignations.
