'Pained' 17-yr-old Karnataka writer returns state Akademi award

Ria Vithasha, 17, known by her pen name Muddu Thirthahalli, joined the chorus of authors protesting against the growing cases of rising intolerance by returning her Karnataka Sahitya Akademi award.

Thirthahalli, whose novel ‘Kaada Haadiya Hoogalu’ has been adapted into an award-winning film, said that she was ‘pained’ that the killers of author M M Kalburgi have not been caught.

“I am returning the award because there have been killings in the region. Many Sahitya people are being threatened but I want to fight. They are attacking people’s freedom,” she told ANI.

Thirthahalli, a first PU II (Class XI) student of SahayadriHigh School in Shimoga district of Karnataka, returned the Sahitya Akademi award she got in 2011 for a collection of her essays.

Writers, artists and literary icons are being criticised by political leaders for returning their awards, adding that it was not the ‘right platform’ for them to stage their protest and that they should take up their complaint with the state government or the Centre. 

Image: Muddu Thirthahalli returned her award to protest against cases of rising intolerance. Photograph: ANI