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In a release, Mr. Puttappa said that Kalburgi’s murder was highly condemnable but the reaction of the litterateurs in returning the awards was not justifiable.

It was strange that writers and so-called intellectuals were hurt only when a writer and the two rationalists were killed.

These writers were mute when hundreds of farmers committed suicide in the State and incidents of rampant corruption, sexual assaults and atrocities were being reported from various parts of the country on a regular basis.

They had remained unresponsive to all these maladies and now they are showing their “courage” by returning the awards in protest against the alleged “inaction” of the government and the “silence” of the academies, Mr. Puttappa said.

Instead of returning the awards, these writers and intellectuals should come out of their ivory towers and participate actively in the agitations launched by the people against injustice, corruption, red-tapism and atrocities.

If these writers continue to keep themselves away from people’s struggles, they are as good as non-existent, Mr. Puttappa said.