The inclusion of a logo marking the second anniversary of the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government on books published by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi has kicked up a row with a section of writers, including akademi president K. Satchidanandan, registering their strong dissent.
Many writers took to social media demanding that the logo be removed from the books. The logo was printed on the cover page of the books published by the akademi.
Secretary’s stance
Akademi secretary C.P. Aboobacker appeared to reason that a logo marking the government’s second anniversary was added on the cover page of 30 books published to mark the anniversary to differentiate them from other books. Only a few copies of the books were published and the logo could be avoided in new copies, Mr. Aboobacker said in a Facebook post while saying that he had instructed the inclusion of the logo.
However, Mr. Satchidanandan wasn’t impressed. On a social media post, sharing Mr. Aboobacker’s post, he said that the printing of the logo was uncalled for. He felt that it could have been given on the second page or just announced during the launch of the books. He said that the logo could be avoided in the new copies, adding that while governments might change, the books would remain forever.
Saradakutty, P.F. Mathews, Anwar Ali, and N.E. Sudheer were also among the writers who disapproved of the government’s perceived use of books for political campaign.
A section of writers also dubbed it ‘improper’ and ‘humiliating.’ They said that the akademi should not be relegated to the office of the ruling party.
Among the critics were writers and former akademi office-bearers U.K. Kumaran, P.V. Krishnan Nair, M.R. Thampan, Kattoor Narayanapilla, Ajithan Menoth, L.V. Harikumar, T.S. Joy, Vilakutty Rajendran, Sudarshan Karthikaparambil, and Shaju Puthoor.
