Magsaysay-Award-winner Mahasweta Devi, who is known to be a close associate of West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, sent in her resignation as chairperson of the Bangla Academy here on Wednesday.
“I want to be relieved from the post of the chairperson of the Bangla Academy. Henceforth, I shall not go to the Academy,” Mahasweta Devi wrote in her letter to the Chief Minister, who is also in charge of Information and Cultural Affairs department.
The renowned writer said the committee formed to recommend the names of the recipients of the Vidyasagar Puraskar had concluded that two persons be jointly given the award. However, the State government decided to drop the name of one of them without stating any reasons.
“The person who is not being given the award is a young writer. This is why I am pained and humiliated.”
“In my entire writing career, I have never felt so humiliated,” she told journalists. Mahasweta Devi is the recipient of the Jnanpith Award and the Sahitya Akademi Award.
