The Sikh groups have burnt over 500 books and slammed the writers for their silence over their plight over the years. Some of them condemned the writers for “shamelessly” accepting the award after the 1984 massacre without any protest.
A number of writers and filmmakers have recently returned the awards, citing rising intolerance in the country and government inaction. They are mostly inclined to Left-Centrist ideology and have been working against RSS, Hindutva ideology and Narendra Modi.