K Satchidanandan, the president of Sahitya Akademi and a writer, blasted the action while claiming to be uninformed of it.

A group of authors and intellectuals have criticised the Kerala Sahitya Akademi’s decision to acknowledge the second anniversary of the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Left Democratic Front (LDF) government by placing a marker on the cover of about 30 books.

The books, which the Akademi recently published, included a collection of poems by renowned poet KA Jayaseelan and one by Dr. M. Leelavati on the history of Malayalam poetry and literature. At the top of the covers of the books was inscribed, “Stronger, with our hands joined: the second anniversary of Pinarayi Vijayan government.”
K Satchidanandan, the president of Sahitya Akademi and a writer, blasted the action while claiming to be uninformed of it.

In a Facebook post, he said that the government identifier might have been verbally communicated at the time of launch or shown in a minor way on the second page. “Since governments can fall and books will always remain, the Akademi has the responsibility to be more careful in such matters,” he wrote on Monday.

The author Anvar Ali, who won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 2021 for his collection of poetry called “Mehaboob Express,” asked the head of the organisation to either voice his concerns to the government directly or to order the books with the official sign to be withdrawn.

Such a move devoid of any reasoning on the part of CPI(M), especially in the realm of literature, has never been witnessed before. Kerala’s cultural community ought to query this. Such initiatives ought to be resisted and rejected, argued literary and social critic NE Sudheer in a post for the Malayalam news website “The Fourth.”

CP Aboobacker, secretary of the Akademi, supported the choice to mark the books’ covers with a government marker, nonetheless.
The books were released as part of the 100-day development project for the second anniversary of the LDF government, he stated in a Facebook post on July 2nd.

“The emblem signifying the same was added on the cover of the books on my suggestion,” he said, highlighting that the books were published as part of a government programme.

The decision to add the emblem was not discussed or opposed within the Akademi, he added. “There is no motive to insult a poet or a writer. If they are offended, I convey my apology,” he wrote.