Malayalam writer C Radhakrishnan quits Sahitya Akademi, alleges political interference; claim misleading, says body

Renowned for acclaimed novels like ‘Munpe Parakkunna Pakshikal’ and ‘Spandamapinikale Nandi’, the 85-year-old stated that all members of the Akademi had protested when a Union minister had participated in the organisation’s annual festival and subsequently, assurances were given that this would not recur. The Akademi runs as an autonomous body under Ministry of Culture.

The move comes barely weeks after Minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal had inaugurated the 39th edition of the annual ‘Sahityotsav: The Festival of Letters’, attended by over a thousand authors.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Radhakrishnan said “it was a well thought-through decision” on his part “against political interference in the running of the Akademi”. However, he clarified that he was not against any particular political party and that his protest was against the politicisation of the administration of culture.

He also alleged there have been increasing incidents of government interference in its day-to-day functioning. Radhakrishnan said the two other Akademies (Lalit Kala Akademi and Sangeet Natak Akademi) “have already lost their autonomy” and he hopes the President or the Prime Minister would listen to the voice of writers about this latest trend of political interference.

Rebutting his charges, the Akademi released a statement on Monday evening, saying that the information in his resignation letter is misleading. “The President, Sahitya Akademi, Madhav Kaushik, opined on the resignation submitted by C Radhakrishnan, noted Malayalam writer, of his membership of Sahitya Akademi’s General Council, that the information in his written resignation is misleading,” it says.

In the letter, Radhakrishnan said that he “strongly protests” against this year’s Sahitya Akademi Festival of Letters having been inaugurated by a “Cabinet Minister of the Government of India, a person without any known credential whatsoever in literature”. However, Kaushik said: “This is entirely wrong, for Arjun Ram Meghwal, MoS Culture, is himself a writer. He is well versed in Rajasthani and Hindi.”

The Akademi also noted the names of Meghwal’s Hindi works and how the minister extended “full cooperation in various capacities for recognition of Rajasthani as an Indian language in the VIIIth Schedule of the Constitution”.

While Radhakrishnan alleged that “this is the ?rst time such things happened in the long chequered history of Sahitya Akademi which consistently upheld its autonomy”, the Akademi notes that “many a Minister, irrespective of any political parties, have participated in the Akademi’s literary programmes in the past too, and which certainly in no way violates its autonomy”. Radhakrishnan was honoured by the Akademi with distinguished membership for his literary eminence in December 2022.