All India Forum for Right to Education (AIFRTE) has expressed its profound solidarity with the growing numbers of writers and artists who are returning the awards they had been honoured with by the Sahitya Akademies at the central and state levels. This shows the measure of their outrage at the alarming loss of space for freedom of thought and speech and creative expression in India today.
The ideological support base of the present political regime has been so empowered that it does not only threaten or rant against those who oppose a narrow uni-dimensional view of our social and historical reality as it had done so far. Today it is emboldened to the point that its various offshoots have become death squads engaged in physical elimination of those who propagate scientific rationality, plurality and creative freedom. The recent controversy over the so-called beef ban has dangerously spiralled into fascist attacks against minorities as even the right to eat the food of one’s choice is challenged even in one’s own home.
The silence of leaders in the Government and of Akademi office-bearers in face of such actions has led to the people’s outrage being expressed by the return of awards by writers across the country.
The attempt of the Union Finance Minister to attack this protest as being politically motivated is a shocking reflection of the present Government’s attitude.
AIFRTE Presidium consists of Dr. Meher Engineer, West Bengal, Chairperson, AIFRTE and Ex-President, Indian Academy of Social Science, Kolkata; Prof. Wasi Ahmed, Bihar, Former Joint Secretary, AIFUCTO, Patna; Prabhakar Arade, Maharashtra, President, AIFETO, Kolhapur; Prof. G. Haragopal, Andhra Pradesh, National Fellow, ICSSR; TISS, Hyderabad; Prof. Madhu Prasad, Delhi, Formerly Dept. of Philosophy, Zakir Husain College, Delhi University; Prof. Anil Sadgopal, Madhya Pradesh, Former Dean, Faculty of Education, Delhi University; Prof. K. Chakradhar Rao, Telangana, Dept. of Economics, Osmania University, Hyderabad; Prof. K. M. Shrimali, Delhi, Formerly Dept. of History, Delhi University; and Dr. Anand Teltumbde, West Bengal, Professor of Management, IIT, Kharagpur.