The ‘intolerance debate’ is a gift that keeps on giving. The latest scandal to hit the news is the stepping down of the Bengaluru Literature Festival’s (BLF) co-founder and director Vikram Sampath.
Sampath, a Sahitya Akademi award winner himself, had written an article last month in Mint , where he disagreed with writers who returned their awards over the rising intolerance in the country. According to the historian’s view, the Sahitya Akademi does not represent the government. He wrote that it would be better to return a Padma award instead. Sampath had described the spate of ‘award wapsi’ as selective outrage which did not go down well with several noted Kannada writers like Dayanand TK, Arif Raja and OL Nagabhushana Swamy pulling out of BLF.