Writers returning awards politically motivated: Anupam Kher

Veteran actor Anupam Kher on Wednesday lashed out at writers returning their awards to the Sahitya Akademi, saying the move is politically motivated and aimed to discredit Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Taking a contrarian view, Kher said: “I do not respect the intentions of writers, I think their intentions are politically motivated. It’s not like violent incidents are happening in India for the first time. I think this is mostly to discredit the Prime Minister. If they want to return, why not return everything.”

He was referring to instances such as the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, Kashmir genocides and the killings in various states.

His wife, Kirron Kher, is the Chandigarh BJP MP. “Many say my wife is in the BJP so I am critical about academics returning awards. I’m independent in my views,” he said.

Several authors, including Nayantara Sehgal, Sara Joseph, Surjit Patar, Uday Prakash, Ashok Vajpeyi and Aravind Malagutti, have returned their Sahitya Akademi awards.