In the past few weeks, over 30 writers have handed over their Sahitya Akademi awards in protest against growing intolerance in the country.
Noted novelist Anita Desai has said she will return her Sahitya Award if the Akademi does not make it clear that it is not a government body but an independent one that exists to defend free speech and the right to question and dissent.
"If it is not able to declare and pursue such a policy, I will be obliged, in solidarity with my fellow writers, to renounce my membership of the Akademi and the award it gave me when I was a young writer in more hopeful times," Ms Desai said in a statement distributed by PEN International.
Her comments came after at least 34 writers, over the past weeks, handed over their Sahitya Akademi awards in protest against the killing of Kannada writer and rationalist, MM Kalburgi and Dadri mob killing incident, among other issues.
The 78-year-old author who received a Sahitya Award in 1978 for her novel "Fire on the Mountain" said she was born in an India that enshrined democracy, pluralism and the freedom of speech in its constitution.
"I do not recognise India of the present time where, under the banner of 'Hindutva,' intimidation and bigotry seek to silence writers, scholars and all who believe in secular and rational thought," she said.
The author said in an atmosphere where there is no security or support for those who voice dissent, criticism or rational thought, there can be no intellectual or artistic work of any worth.
"At this crucial moment I appeal to the Sahitya Akademi to make clear that it does not represent any government or its policies, but is an independent body that exists to defend free speech and the right to question and dissent, in short what the constitution of the country promised us," she said.
Ms Desai, who was shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize was in 2007, was elected as a Sahitya Akademi Fellow, one of the highest honour conferred by the literary body on a writer.
She is among many writers including noted writers Nayantara Seghal, Ashok Vajpeyi, Shashi Deshpande and Ganesh Devy who have spoken out against the rising intolerance in the country.