Chandigarh/New Delhi: Eminent Punjabi writer and Padma Shri winner Dalip Kaur Tiwana yesterday decided to return her award to protest “recurrent atrocities” on Muslims in the country. Kannada writer Prof Rahamat Tarikeri and writers Krishna Sobti and Arun Joshi have also returned their Sahitya Akademi awards.

In a letter to the Centre, Tiwana said, “In this land of Gautama Buddha and Guru Nanak Dev, the atrocities committed on the Sikhs in 1984 and on the Muslims recurrently because of communalism are an utter disgrace to our state and society. And to kill those who stand for truth and justice put us to shame in the eyes of the world and God. In protest, therefore, I return the Padma Shri award”, said the author who received the honour in 2004.