After taking on the rising trend of fringe-led communalism in the country vis-à-vis silence of top leadership, Goa's celebrated writer Damodar Mauzo has now taken the battle directly to the Sahitya Akademi.
Mauzo has shot a letter to the President of the Akademi Vishwanath Pratap Tiwari demanding that the premier literary body of the country should urge the government to adopt stringent measures to curb the “moral policing by the protagonists of mono-culturism”.
He has been a member of the executive board(EB), general council member as well as the finance committee member.
In a copy of the letter which was released in Panaji on Sunday, Mr. Mauzo, who is closely associated with the Akademi for years, also demanded that Sahitya Akademi needs to send a strong message to those in power that this writers’ body will not tolerate any threat to their freedom.
“Sahitya Akademi, a body of eminent writers as it is, cannot remain silent on the issues pertaining to the scuttling of freedom of expression”, said Mr. Mauzo.
“I sincerely feel that following the assassination of Prof. M. M. Kalburgi, Sahitya Akademi should either have come out with a strong condemnation over the killing or should have convened an emergency meeting of the EB to assess the situation wherein the life of writers is threatened by the fundamentalist forces,” said Mr. Mauzo.
Though belated, he feels happy, that the Akademi has finally convened an EB meeting. “I strongly feel that the Executive Committee has to come out expressing its serious concern over the prevailing threat to the creativity of the free thinking writers and the rising trend of intolerance in the country,” he asserted.
He has also reminded the Akademi of its duty to safeguard the interests of the writers’ community and also ensure safety to the lives of its members.
