We had to dramatise our protest for visible impact: Ashok Vajpeyi

Authors like him had no option but to “dramatise” their protest against growing intolerance by returning awards for a “visible” impact, noted poet Ashok Vajpeyi said on Thursday.

He also claimed that President Pranab Mukherjee has expressed the view that “puraskar wapsi” was a way of expressing dissent.

Speaking on the sidelines of an event organised to mark Constitut-ion Day here, he asserted that writers had raised voices against “intolerance” for one-and-half years, but no one took notice of it, compelling them to take such a step.

Mr Vajpeyi, who was among the writers who returned their awards, accused the RSS of “distorting” the definition of Hindu religion and insisted that the government should do its job of protecting interests of people.

“We had no option but to dramatise (protest) because no one paid attention to the issues we raised earlier. Had we not done so (returned awards), you would not be asking us questions (now). For a year-and-a-half, I had been writing on these issues in my column, but it had no impact. Thirty of us issued a statement, but majority of newspapers did not even carry it. So, we thought of this (returning award) as the socially visible action,” Mr Vajpeyi said.

He further claimed that during an interaction with Mr Mukherjee on Wednesday, the President admitted that the return of awards by writers and intellectuals was “evidently spontaneous” and a way of protest that has triggered a nation-wide debate on the issue of intolerance.

“Now even the Parliament wants to discuss it,” he added.

Mr Vajpeyi also dismissed allegations that awards returning was a “motivated” protest and ridiculed minister of state for external affairs V.K. Singh for his reported charges that the demonstrators were “paid” for the same by the Congress.