Award-Wapsi Is Back; But This Time It's Against Mamata Banerjee

Ratna Rashid Bandopadhyay, a Bengali writer and cultural researcher has returned an award that was presented to her by Paschimbanga Bangla Academy registering her protest against the academy’s decision to felicitate Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with a newly-instituted state award for her “relentless literary pursuit”.

In the same line, Anadiranjan Biswas of the Sahitya Akademi has resigned from the national institution’s Bengali Advisory Board.

What Did Ratna Rashid Bandopadhyay Say?

Bandopadhyay lamented that as a writer she “felt insulted by the move to give a literary award to the CM” and as a result, the award has become a “crown of thorns” for her.

Calling the academy’s praise of the “relentless literary pursuit” of Banerjee “a travesty of truth” and “distortion of the truth”, she said, “the Academy has not only set a condemnable example but has also insulted all people who are dedicated to Bengali literature”.

Saying that “it will set a bad precedent”, she added that “in the letter, I have informed them about my decision to return the award with immediate effect… I cannot equate her contribution to politics with the claim that she worked for the cause of literature.”

She also said that the Banerjee could have shown maturity by not accepting the award as she was in attendance when the award was announced.

Seeking exclusion of his name from the approved projects of the Sahitya Akademi’s Kolkata office, Biswas said “on May 9, 2022, which was the 161^st birth anniversary of Gurudev, sheer insult has been caused to Bengali poetry in Kolkata.”

Citing the prevalence of favouritism in Bengali literature, Biswas alleged that “earlier also, it has been observed by me that whims, caprices, nepotism and the ‘pick and choose’ theory are ruling the contemporary Bengali literature in Kolkata. Hence, my conscience and the morality which I believe in goaded me to take this ultimate action.”

About The Award

The West Bengal Chief Minister was presented with the award for her collection of over 900 poems Kabita Bitan.

She is the first recipient of the award that was presented to her at the “Ravi Pranam” function organised by the state government on the occasion of the 161st birth anniversary of Rabindranath Tagore.

It is noteworthy that the education minister who named Banerjee as the recipient is also the president of the organisation conferring the award, Paschimbanga Bangla Academy.