GANGTOK, 13 Jan: The Nepali Sahitya Parishad, Sikkim, in a letter to the president, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi, has supported the 2-member jury of the Akademi which rejected the shortlist forwarded to it for selection of the Sahitya Academy Award in Nepali literature for 2011. No award was given out in this category after the jury comprising of Prof Ghanashyam Nepal and Dr Rajendra Bhandari declared that none of the books recommended were suitable for this year’s award.
According to the letter, the Advisory Board headed by its convenor, Dr Jeewan Namdung, which recommended the titles, were biased in shortlisting prospective awardees which is why the two-member jury rejected the entire lot. Therefore, the letter holds the Advisory Board responsible for depriving Nepali litterateurs of an Akademi Award this year.
“The manner in which the ground list was prepared and got shortlisted is highly deplorable and this act of the convenor and its board members has created unwarranted controversy in the society and tarnished the image of the highly esteemed national award,” the letter highlights.
The central executive committee of the Parishad had convened a special meeting on 06 Jan to discuss the matter. The meeting resolved to appeal to president and secretary of the Sahitya Akademi to remove Dr Jeewan Namdung from the post of convenor with immediate effect and dissolve the Advisory Board.
Condemning what it sees as an attempt [made by the convenor and members of the Advisory Board] “to wrongly motivate and instigate people and different literary organisation to join their misinformation campaign against the two members of the jury”, the Parishad has called for action to be taken against those responsible.
The members have upheld the decision of the two-member jury and appreciated their courage in exposing the “unhealthy practice of groupism, favouritism, campaigning” adopted by the convenor and members of the Advisory Board. The members have further expressed strong resentment against being excluded by the Advisory Board/Sahitya Akademi in the process of preparing list of books for the award and related programmes for the last five years.
so sad. Nepali community is one of the most prospering communities in the country today. We must work towards nurturing nepali literature and make younger generation to be attached to our literature and culture by varieties of activities and initiatives. it's certainly disheaterning to learn that nobody deserved the sahitya akademi award for whatever the reasons.
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