KOCHI: Author C Radhakrishnan has resigned as an eminent member of the Sahitya Akademi on Monday, alleging attempts to politicise the national academy dedicated to the promotion of literature.
The incident that provoked the writer happened on March 11, when the annual Festival of Letters organised by the Sahitya Akademi was inaugurated by Union minister of State for Culture Arjun Ram Meghwal. Alleging that the decision to allow a minister to inaugurate the annual festival was an attempt to politicise the administration, Radhakrishnan said it will erode the independent stature of the Akademi.
"This is the fist time such a thing has happened in the long chequered history of the Sahitya Akademi which consistently upheld the autonomy of the institution against pressures to make it yield to political clout. True, last year a lesser official, a minister of state, had taken part in the inaugural session of the Festival, inviting protests from all of us. Assurances were given then that this would not repeat. Hope you remember the unrelenting struggle we put up against efforts to influence the Akademi politically while I was a member of the Executive Committee for five years," Radhakrishnan wrote in the resignation letter sent to Akademi secretary K Sreenivasa Rao.
Clarifying that he is not against any political party, Radhakrishnan said he can't stand a silent witness to the funeral of the very last democratically autonomous institution of culture in the nation.
"The other two Akademis have been robbed of their autonomy since a long while ago. I hope and pray my fellow writers, young and old, would realise the severe danger this Akademi too is drifting towards. Again, as you very well know the far-sighted founding fathers of the Sahitya Akademi gave it a constitution capable of resisting all attempts to undermine the democratic autonomy of this institution and enable it to survive unmolested. Political bosses are now reported to be smarting even to redraft the constitution of the Akademi! Sorry, I can't be a silent witness to the funeral of the very last democratically autonomous institution of culture in the nation," he said.
He said the minister who inaugurated the festival did not have any known credential in literature. The festival brochure did not carry his name. It described the event as the inauguration of the Akademi Exibition without mentioning the name of the inaugurator. The programme detail, which included his name was issued as a special invite card later.
"Strange that the Akademi wanted this person so badly that it waited till it became clear that the declaration of the General Elections would not make the Akademi out of bounds for him.Therefore I am no longer interested in continuing as an Eminent Member of the Sahitya Akademi," he said.