THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘The New Indian Express’ Editorial Adviser T J S George was presented with the Kamala Surayya Award by Cultural Affairs Minister A K Balan here on Tuesday.
George won the award in the media category. The award was instituted by the Kamala Surayya Foundation and Friends Cultural Centre, Doha.
The other recipients of the award under various categories are: K Satchidanandan (overall contribution to literature and culture), K A Siddique Hassan (service sector), Santha Thulaseedharan (literature) and T P Mohammad Shameem (science literature). Lakshmi Nalapat presented the scroll of honour to the winners.
Felicitating the award winners, the minister said the memories of Kamala Surayya will continue to provide strength to the state’s literary and cultural domains. Cultural complexes, named after the state’s renaissance leaders, will be set up in each district at a cost of Rs 40 crore, he said.
Satchidanandan said the thoughts of Kamala Surayya would make writers fearless at a time when secularism is under threat. The poet added that fundamental principles of the Constitution are being subverted as the state is trying to dictate what the citizen should do.
Senior journalist B R P Bhaskar presided over the function. Writer Perumbadavam Sreedharan, who was the chairman of the award jury, delivered the Kamala Surayya memorial lecture.