THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, 27 January 2007 — Eminent literary critic and orator professor Sukumar Azhikode has turned down India’s fourth highest civilian honor saying it lacked transparency.
He said he was rejecting the Padma Shri because it was decided by a small group in New Delhi without consulting him and he disliked being bracketed in a group much junior to him. “I have always held that such discriminatory honors have no constitutional sanctity. Besides, I have been contributing to the cultural sphere for more than seven decades unlike others,” Azhikode, 81, said.
Other recipients of Padma Shri include actor-filmmaker Balachandra Menon and magician Gopinath Muthkad. “What do they know about me? There are many people who believe this is not a big thing and I just wanted to teach them that lesson,” he explained. His fans and fellow writers also criticized the decision to honor him with Padma Shri instead of a higher honor.
“I personally do not believe in such awards and honors. But he definitely deserves a higher honor,” Dr. M.N. Karassery said. Sarah Joseph, Girish Puthancherry and U.K. Kumaran also came in support of the writer who retired in 1986 as the pro-vice chancellor of the Calicut University.
Suicides by Farmers
Kerala Governor R. L. Bhatia has expressed concern over the increasing number of suicides committed by farmers in the state. He has asked the government to come up with appropriate policies to help the farmers.
“Policies on agriculture, on productivity and prices, credit and marketing should be the priority of any government and it is shameful for any civilized society that farmers end their lives in distress,” Bhatia said in his Republic Day parade address here. Stating that Kerala was undergoing a crisis in the agriculture sector, he said it was not for the government but for the society at large to provide solace to farmers.
Lauding the achievements made by the state during the last 50 years in social, educational, health care and cultural fields, he said the state still has a long way to go as far as the economic front was concerned. He said the government should take steps to harness the vast potential of resources of non-resident Keralites who could contribute a good deal to the all round development of the state. There was a deep gap between state’s potential and real performances, he said. “It is imperative that we launch a string of initiatives to tap this vast prospects that is well within our reach,” he added.
Akkitham Receives Award
Noted poet Mahakavi Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, 80, has received this year’s Mahakavi Pandalam Keralavarma literary award for his anthology of complete works.
He was presented with the prestigious award by former Kerala University Vice Chancellor Dr. Balamohan Thampy at a function held at the press club here.
The award carries a cash prize, memento and citation, Pandalam Keralavarma Smaraka Samithy Secretary P. Ravivarma said.
The previous recipients of the award include O.N.V. Kurup, Dr K. Ayyappa Panicker, Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri, Sachidanandan and Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan.
Akkitham is a recipient of numerous awards including the 1973 Kendra Sahitya Academy Award for Balidarsanam (Vision of Bali), the Sanjayan Award for his 1952 poem Irupatham Nottandinte Ithihasam (The Epic of the Twentieth Century) and Abu Dhabi Malayalam Samajam Award in 2006. He has some 45 poetry volumes, plays and short stories to his credit.
