Theatre artist Maya Krishna Rao and noted poet Rajesh Joshi return Akademi awards

New DelhiBhopalClose on the heels of a string ofwriters handing over their literary awards theatre artistMaya Krishna Rao and noted Hindi poet Rajesh Joshitoday returned their Sangeet Natak Akademi andSahitya Akademi award respectivelyto protest against the Dadri lynching and the overallrising intolerance in the countryThe Delhibased actor expressed her disappointment over thegovernments failure to speak up for the rights of citizensRationalists creative artists thinkers dissentersactivists have faced threats and even been murdered On acarefullyorchestrated malicious rumour in Dadri village anironsmith was lynched and killed The government has failed tospeak up for the rights of the citizens in disturbingincidents such as these she allegedIn a letter addressed to Helen Acharya the secretary ofthe Sangeet Natak Akademi Rao expressed her disappointmentThe present government has in spite of reminders fromsociety done little to stand up for the right of people toexpress their thoughts and ideas and love the way they wouldchoose to in a free country she saidThe Prime Minister is just agreeing with the statementmade by the President barring that he has not said anythingelse regarding the incidents that are happening in thecountry The PM has to be acting on whatever is happening onthe ground Rao who had received the award in 2010 from theAkademi told PTIThe 62yearold New Yorkborn actor director and writerhas since the late 1970s produced a body of work that hasprovoked her audiences to delve into social and politicalissuesA foundermember of the street theatre group TheatreUnion Rao scripted directed and performed street plays suchas Om Swaha a critique of dowry and Dafa No 180 on theIndian rape law between 1979 and 1982She has produced a succession of compelling singleactorplays such as Ravanama Are You Home Lady Macbeth ADeep Fried Jam and Heads Are Meant for Walking Into andQuality Street based on a short story by the Nigerianwriter Chimamanda Adichie was presented by her to greatacclaim last yearClaiming that universal issues ranging from personal andindividual rights are under threat daily she said As awoman artist of the country I think its high time we allstand up to thisRao is the first artist to return her awardNoted Hindi poet Rajesh Joshi meanwhileon Monday announced he had returned his Sahitya Akademi award in protest against the attacks on the freedom of speech and expression in the country He was conferred the award in 2002The government is keeping mum on writers murders On one hand the intolerance is on the rise in the country on the other hand attacks are being perpetrated on the freedom of speech and expression Joshi told IANS on MondayThe behaviour of the government following Dadri lynching in Uttar Pradesh reflects that the country is heading towards fascism he addedTill nowthere has been a growing chorus of protest in the literarycommunity At least 16 authors have so far returned theirSahitya Akademi Awards since 77yearold Kannada rationalist and thinker MM Kalburgi was shot dead on August 30 by two unidentified assailants at his residence in Dharwad about 430 km from Bengaluru in Karnataka