India’s Liberal Intellectuals

(Penguin Petit)

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In a country like India with its massive socio-economic problems, the role of ideas is of great importance.’

This statement by Justice Markandey Katju, in direct support of writers uniting against the attacks on academics, intellectuals and writers, immediately turns the spotlight to the situation at hand.

The attacks, combined with the government’s silence on the topic sends a message that as a country, India is okay with its people tearing each other apart – all for having thoughts and opinions that are different. In a plea to have their voices and disapproval heard, the literary community came together by returning their government awards. But is it making a difference?

Keki N. Daruwalla attempts to answer that question in her essay ‘Writers Lack Brickbats’, while Markandey Katju and Maya Krishna Rao highlight the urgency of the situation and why it is important to not take this lightly in their essays respectively.