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No Padmashree This Year

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TGT Correspondent
Kathmandu, Sept 29

Khemlal-Harikala Lamichhane Foundation has decided to withhold Padmashree Award and Padmashree Honor for the year 2020. Foundation Chairperson Jiba Lamichhane, through a press release issued on Tuesday, made the announcement to withhold both the accolades for the year, following controversies that surfaced soon after the winners’ names were announced on September 27. The press release says, an emergency meeting of the  Foundation decided to roll its decision back and withhold the awards, following separate press statements by the finalists, novelist Sanjeev Uprety and poet Modanath Prashrit, to reject the offers. The Foundation has begged apologies from the two authors, literature lovers and well-wishers. It has further clarified: “The Khemlal-Harikala Lamichhane Foundation is always committed to the progress and development of Nepali literature.”

When The Gorkha Times asked what the provisions of selection and announcement were, and if the consent of the potential awardees were taken in advance, the Foundation chair Jiba Lamichhane said, “We always take consent of the potential awardees before the announcement is made. This time as well, I had personally called both the recipients individually before making the announcement, and had informed about the committee’s decision, though they were not told who the other recipient was. None wanted to know about the other recipient, and I didn’t tell, either. Both the recipients, however, expressed their happiness on hearing about their nominations, and said they would happily receive the same.” Mr. Lamichhane further clarified, “Though there is no provision of submitting books for the Padmashree Award, there is a culture of informing the recipients about the decision once the committee decides about the names. Padmashree Honor, as you know, is for given in recognition of one’s overall contribution to Nepali literature, and in this case as well, the recommended recipient is informed in advance.”

It may be noted that as soon as novelist Uprety and poet-critic Prashrit were nominated for this year’s Padmashree Award and Padmashree Honor respectively and the names occurred together in the Foundation’s first press release to this effect, Uprety had expressed his unwillingness to share the stage with Prashrit, who had been accused by Sharada Bhusal Jha  to have raped her repeatedly for many months, several decades ago. Her autobiography Dharatal has a section that details out incidents of rape and molestation.

A few hours later, Uprety issued a second statement through the media, deciding to reject the offer, whatsoever. Before, he has only expressed his resentment to share the stage with a rape accused, and not to reject the award as such.

Immediately after Uprety’s initial announcement of his reluctance to share the stage with Mr. Prashrit, the latter had issued a press release, declaring the rejection of the offer in reaction to what he said the ‘unwarranted’ attempts by some ‘individuals’ and ‘groups’ to sabotage his image. Though Mr. Prashrit within hours of making this declaration denied having issued any of such statements and claimed some members of his family could have done it, the contradictions in his press release and immediate denial of the same surfaced out.

It is understandable that in the wake of such contradictions, the Foundation decided to retract from its decision.

Since the establishment of these national-level literary decorations in 2010, this is the first time that nominees of both the titles—Padmashree Award and Padmashree Honor—have refused to accept the offers. This also is the first time the Foundation has scrapped its own decision.

Literary awards and honors in Nepal have often been controversial. Intellectuals say, there is a need to rectify loopholes that exist in the mechanism of making recommendations for such highly prestigious and coveted awards and honors that carry huge cash and prized citations.

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