In recent weeks, 41 of India’s most esteemed writers made international headlines when they decided to return the country’s highest literary award back to the Sahitya Akademi, or the Academy of Letters. Five of them have even gone so far as to drop out of the Academy altogether. On Friday, one hundred writers gathered to march on Delhi. Many authors explained their decision to return the awards in vague and poetically abstract terms. G.S. Bhuller complained of “retrogressive forces dictating terms in the field of literature and culture,” while P.S Darwad warned of “pernicious dogmatism creeping into the mainstream.” Others, like playwright and actor Maya Krishna, prefer a more dramatic reading; “It’s become a question of an individual’s right to speak, to think, to write, to eat, to dress, to debate.”Lost? For those of us who do not speak in riddle, I’ve attempted to piece together a more coherent narrative. Two concrete events are often cited as the origin of the protests. Last month M.M. Kalburgi, a vocal critic of Hindu idolatry, was gunned down in his home by extremists. This month a Muslim man in Bisada was lynched by a mob for allegedly eating beef. Though these unrelated events occurred a month apart and in different parts of the country, the writers have apparently linked the two together to foment what writer Rahamat Tarikeri refers to as “a protest on the attack on free thinking and food liberty.” What’s more, the writers all seem to share the inexplicable notion that the rise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is somehow connected to these isolated incidents. Many draw attention to Modi’s failure to promptly condemn the attacks. They claim Modi’s silence has given tacit permission to his fellow Hindu nationalists to perpetrate this kind of violence. Though the Prime Minister officially expressed his condolences on Sept. 28, most felt this was too little too late.What does any of this have to do with the academy? Though the academy already condemned the attacks, the writers also expected the academy to criticize the government for not promptly condemning the attacks. Some writers have speculated the academy has failed to do so because it relies heavily on government patronage. In short, these writers are condemning the academy for not condemning the government for not condemning the attacks soon enough. If this all sounds incoherent to you, it's because it is. There are extremist lunatics in every corner of the earth, and, in a country of over a billion people, there are bound to be more than a few. Communal violence and interreligious strife are nothing new to India, so why protest now? And in this way?If you ask me, this is a protest for the sake of protest. These writers already gained recognition when they received their awards, and now they can gain recognition all over again by giving them back. They have discovered that rejecting an award can be even more ennobling than receiving one. Their literary careers may be waning, but here is an opportunity to return to the limelight, even if only for a brief moment. “If they say they are unable to write, let them stop writing,” Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma sneered at the protesters. Here is a point. Shouldn’t writers protest through their writing? This article was written by Alexander Kario. Send an email to [email protected] to get in touch. Photo Credit: Biswarup Ganguly