14, Oct 2015

Tiwana, 80, is the first writer to give up a Padma award as part of a protest which has seen about 25 people across the country return their Akademi awards.
By: Express News Service
Chandigarh/ Guwahati/ New Delhi/ Nagpur/ Kolkata Updated: Oct 14, 2015, 8:
Likening the “atrocities committed on Sikhs in 1984” to attacks on Muslims now, Dalip Kaur Tiwana, a novelist and short story writer from Punjab, announced Tuesday that she will return her Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award in the country.
The announcement came as several other writers decided to return their Sahitya Akademi awards, and the RSS hit back, calling them “self-proclaimed contractors of intellect”.
Tiwana, 80, is the first writer to give up a Padma award as part of a protest which has seen about 25 people across the country return their Akademi awards. The writers are protesting against the killing of a man in Dadri over rumours of cow slaughter and the murder of writer and rationalist M M Kalburgi.