Amid row over his poem, Sahitya Akademi calls off Bengali poet’s Kolkata event

The Sahitya Akademi’s regional office in Kolkata cancelled a programme featuring Bengali poet Srijato Bandyopadhyay, citing “unavoidable circumstances” in a message posted on X on October 24.

The event, part of the Akademi’s “Abhivyakti” series and due to be held at 2.30 pm on October 25, was called off a day before it was to take place.

“Due to some unavoidable circumstances, the Abhivyakti programme, scheduled to be held at 2:30 pm on October 25 at Sahitya Akademi’s Regional Office, Kolkata , has been cancelled,” the Akademi said.

The decision followed a wave of criticism on social media over a line in Bandyopadhyay’s poem “Abhishap” (curse) , which people said ‘hurt religious sentiments’.

The debate intensified after the Akademi announced the poet as a speaker, with sections of pe