Writer and AAP leader Sara Joseph has alleged that the country has lost the freedom of expression and its secular fabric.
She was interacting with the media here on Saturday after announcing her decision to return her Kendra Sahitya Academy award in protest against ‘cultural fascism’ in the country.
“There has been a gross attack on plurality and secularism in the country. We have been denied all kinds of freedom in contemporary India. The freedom to write, freedom of speech, freedom of movement, and freedom to love - all kinds of basic freedom have been snatched. Citizens do not even have the freedom to eat the food of their choice. The silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Dadri incident for nine days after the incident is highly condemnable. He does not show any prick of conscience. Now, India will be represented in front of the world as a country that kills people who eat meat. A panic situation prevails in the nation now,” Ms. Joseph said.
Her decision to return the Kendra Sahitya Academy award, which carries Rs.50,000, citation, and a certificate, was her protest against the Union government’s stance supporting killing of writers and attack on secularism and diversity of the country, Ms. Joseph said.
“It is my duty as a writer. I think I am already late to take such a decision,” she added.
Ms. Joseph got her Kendra Sahitya Academy award for her novel Alahayude Penmakkal in 2003.
