NEW DELHI: India’s academy of letters conferred the annual
Sahitya Akademi Awards for 2017 on litterateurs of 23 regional languages in India on Monday.
The family of one award winner, Tamil rationalist Makkal Pavalar Inqulab, on who the honour was conferred posthumously, turned down the award.
The 2017 list of winners include Hindi critic Ramesh Kuntal Megh, Gujarati critic Urmi Ghanshyam Desai, Mamang Dai for her English novel the Black Hill, Shiv Mehta for his work in Dogri, Rita Boro for her work in Bodo, Afsar Ahmed for his Bangla novel, Jayanta Madhab Bora for his Assamese novel ‘Moriahola’, and TP Ashok for his contribution to Kannada.
Other awardees in 2017 include
Autar Krishen Rahbar for his short stories in Kashmiri, Gajanan Jog for his collection of Konkani short stories, Uday Narayan Singh ‘Nachiketa’ for his Maithili poetry,
KP Ramanunni for his Malayalam novel, Rajen Toijamba for his
Manipuri play,
Shrikant Dekhmukh for Marathi poetry, Nepali literary critic Bina Hangkhim, Gayatri Saraf for her Odia short stories, and Punjabi writer Nachhattar for his novel. Rajasthani critic Neeraj Daiya, Sanskrit poet Niranjan Mishra, Santhali poet Bhujanga Tudu, Sindhi essayist Jagdish Lachhani, Telugu poet Devipriya, and Urdu writer Mohammed Baig Ehsas were also awarded for their contribution to major Indian languages.
Speaking at the award ceremony, Marathi and English writer Kiran Nagarkar, also the chief guest at award ceremony quoted Martin Luther King and and said it was the duty of the artists in the country to serve as the conscience of the nation. Nagarkar said, “I want to quote the advisory issued by Martin Luther King. That it was the duty of all conscientious citizens but especially artists and thinkers to be maladjusted. For how else will the appaling condition of the poor in our country, the intolerance, the ubiquitous climate of hate and the nonstop noise of political leaders be exposed.”
