The delay in announcing the Sahitya Akademi Awards has drawn strong criticism from CPI(M) State Secretary P. Shanmugam and party MP Su. Venkatasan, who accused the BJP-led Union government under Prime Minister Narendra Modi of attempting to bring the Akademi under its control.

The awards were scheduled to be announced on December 18, but it was postponed after the Union Ministry of Culture sent a note to the Akademi reminding it of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with the four autonomous institutions under the Ministry — the National School of Drama, the Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Lalit Kala Akademi, and the Sahitya Akademi. The note stated that any restructuring of awards should be undertaken in consultation with the Ministry.

Condemning the Ministry’s intervention, Mr. Shanmugam alleged that, henceforth, awards would be given only to those who “play second fiddle to the BJP government and supporters of Sanatana ideology.”

“Quality in literature and history means nothing to them. Their politics is to destroy everything,” Mr. Shanmugam said in a social media post.

Mr. Venkatasan said that the National Executive Council of the Sahitya Akademi had met earlier this month and approved the recommendations made by the respective language juries for selecting the Sahitya Akademi Award recipients for 2025.

“It is unacceptable that the autonomous Sahitya Akademi remains silent and claims an inability to announce its decision. This silence and helplessness amount to a betrayal of our rich literary tradition and the Akademi’s illustrious history. I urge the Akademi’s Executive Council to boldly make its decisions public,” said Mr. Venkatasan, who is himself one of the award recipients.

He further alleged that the Modi government was openly forcing the country’s eminent cultural institutions to “kneel at its feet.”

“All those who love literature and writing must come together and resist this attack on our freedom of expression,” he said.

Published – December 19, 2025 05:29 pm IST