Writers have been returning awards and quitting posts to register their protest against "rising intolerance", but eminent Kannada writer SL Bhyrappa calls it a "publicity stunt". He says the writers have a political agenda and the time has come to distinguish between "political litterateurs" and "pure litterateurs". Excerpts:

What is your response to writers returning awards and giving up posts?

It is nothing but a publicity stunt. Writers are doing it because returning the award will fetch them more publicity than getting the award. It is a ploy to destroy the democratic fabric of the country and the functioning of the Sahitya Akademi, which is an autonomous body.

Writers say their protest is against the BJP-led government and the growing intolerance indicated by MM Kalburgi's killing and the lynching of a Muslim man in Dadri. Do you think it is an effective way of exerting pressure on the Modi government?

I condemn Kalburgi's killing and the Dadri lynching. But what does the Modi government have to do with these incidents? Dadri is in Uttar Pardesh where Samajwadi Party is in power. Kalburgi's killing took place in Karnataka, which is under Congress rule. There is a political agenda behind what writers are doing which needs to be examined and publicly discussed. Why is it Nayantara Sahgal felt no guilt receiving the Sahitya Akademi award in the aftermath of the Sikh riots (in 1984) in which over 2,500 innocent people were killed? Where was her conscience then? Ashok Vajpeyi, who returned the award along with Sahgal, was the right hand of Congress leader Arjun Singh. It is time we distinguished between political litterateurs and pure %litterateurs.

In a recent interview to TOI, Taslima Nasreen said most secular people in India are pro-Muslim and anti-Hindu. Do you agree?

Yes, I agree with her view. She is right in saying that 'secular' people here protest the acts of Hindu fundamentalists and defend the heinous acts of Muslim fundamentalists. I agree with her that politicians appease Muslims for votes in India and Muslims get so much favour that it angers Hindus. Taslima is the real secular writer. Indian literary secularists must learn from her.