Satchidanandan slams decision to publish LDF govt ad in Kerala Sahitya Akademi's books

Thissur: Kerala Sahitya Akademi president and renowned writer K Satchidanandan expressed strong disapproval over the LDF government's second-anniversary advertisement in the books published by the akademi.

The LDF government published its second-anniversary advertisement on the cover page of the books published by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi. This triggered a controversy after writers took to Facebook calling for the removal of the advertisement from the books.

Reacting to the row, Kerala Sahitya Akademi secretary C P Aboobacker claimed that the books were published as part of the LDF government's anniversary programmes.

“LDF government's second-anniversary emblem was added to 30 books in order to differentiate it from the official publications. Only a few copies of these books were published and the advertisement can be removed in new copies, said Aboobacker in his Facebook post.

The secretary added that he had given directions to add the LDF government's political emblem on the cover page of the 30 books.

Meanwhile, sharing this post, Satchidanadan opined that there was no need to publish the LDF government's second-anniversary emblem on the books.

“ I think the matter should have been mentioned only on the second page or announced during the launch of the books. It is learnt that only a few copies were published and we can remove the LDF government's advertisement in the new copies. Sahitya Akademi is bound to act responsibly as the governments will fall anytime and books will remain forever,” reads Satchidanadan's post.

Earlier, writers including Saradkutty, PF Mathews, Anvar Ali and N E Sudheer also criticised the government for choosing books for political campaigns. The writers pointed out that the government should not have published its political advertisement on books which are purely literary works.