More than a hundred writers, translators and publishers from across the country have written an open letter criticizing the ‘JCB Literary Award’, terming it as hypocrisy of the company. The authors say that the British bulldozer manufacturer that funded the prize has ‘played a major role in the horrific destruction of homes’ for people in India and Palestine.
The authors said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has consistently used JCB bulldozers in a ‘systematic campaign’ to demolish homes, shops and places of worship of Muslims in various Indian states and described the project as ‘bulldozer justice’. Has also been named, which is very disturbing.
The letter has been issued on Thursday, two days before the announcement of the winner of the ‘JCB Sahitya Puraskar’ on November 23. Famous poet and critic K. Many popular writers including Satchidanandan, poet and publisher Asad Zaidi, poet Jacinta Carketta, poet and novelist Meena Kandasamy and poet and activist Cynthia Stephen have signed this open letter.
The authors said JCB (India) is a wholly owned subsidiary of British construction equipment manufacturer JC Bamford Excavators Limited (JCB), which has been one of the most influential donors to the British Conservative Party. “In this context, the use of JCB equipment in far-right Hindu supremacist projects in India is not surprising,” the authors said in the open letter.
JCB bulldozers are also used to demolish houses and expand settlements in the Israeli-occupied Palestinian Territory. This is due to the contract between JCB’s agent and the Israeli Defense Ministry. The authors allege that JCB has established a literary award ‘for marginalized writers’ while at the same time ‘being complicit in destroying the lives and livelihoods of so many people as punishment.’
The authors said, “As writers, we will not tolerate such fraudulent claims of support from the literary community. This award cannot wash away the blood on JCB’s hands. India’s emerging writers deserve a better award than this.” Many writers from Palestine and the Middle East, including Palestinian novelist Isabella Hammad and poet Rafif Ziada, Egyptian novelist Ahdaf Soueif, Iraqi poet and novelist Sinan Antoon and Palestinian Literature Festival director Omar Robert Hamilton is also among the signatories.
Irish novelist and screenwriter Ronan Bennett, novelist Andrew O’Hagan and novelist and screenwriter Nikesh Shukla are also among the signatories. “How ironic it is that in India the word JCB is more popular as the machine that has helped demolish hundreds of thousands of houses of ordinary citizens in some states of India,” the letter said. It is unrealistic to associate it with a very ‘prestigious’ literary award for Indian literature.
Poet Cynthia Stephen said, “Heavy earthmoving equipment is like knives. It can be used in building infrastructure for human beings, but in recent years it has been used more to destroy the lives of the poor and marginalized people. “We condemn this kind of hypocrisy on the part of the company and those who present the awards.”
Author and journalist Zia Us Salam said, “The JCB has become a symbol of state-sponsored hatred and intimidation towards minorities and marginalized groups in Modi’s (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) India.” It is trying to gain legitimacy through literary awards. It has nothing to do with promoting free expression, diversity and pluralism. As writers, it is important that we speak out against this gross violation of human rights.”
