“This will open up a whole area of challenge…”

Prabir Purkayastha of Newsclick interviewed Teesta Setalvad on the series of awards being returned by various writers as a protest against the killing of rationalists, the Dadri lynching, and other instances of growing intolerance in the country. Setalvad discusses the power of the RSS diktat on the present government, and the agenda of communal polarisation. On the question of freedom of speech, Teesta questioned the ways in which dissenting voices are curbed in India, despite its being a democracy. In such dark times, political and cultural resistance should go hand in hand and give a befitting reply to undemocratic forces.