Pakistani Writer Loses Award For Supporting Palestine

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Pakistani writer Kamila Shamsie has been punished for supporting Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Dortmund, the German city rescinds literary award to renowned Kamila Shamsie.

According to media reports, The German city of Dortmund has withdrawn its decision to award the Pakistani writer a prize for her literary prowess beacuse she supports the Palestinian Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. In honour of her literary work, Kamila Shamsie was announced as this year’s winner of the Nelly Sachs Prize but, now the eight member jury has decided to cancel its original vote. “Despite prior research, the members of the jury were not aware that the author has been participating in the boycott measures against the Israeli government for its Palestinian policies since 2014,” the statement said as quoted by AlJazeera.

On this shameful act by Jury, Shamsie has given her response by saying “It is a matter of Great Sadness to me that a jury should bow to Pressure and withdraw a prize from a writer who is exercising her freedom of expression.”

Shamsie wrote her first novel “In The City by the Sea” in 1998 when she was only 25. Her other books includes “Salt and Saffron”, “Kartography”, “Broken Verses”, “Offence: the Muslim case”, “Burnt Shadows”, “A God in Every Stone” and Home Fire.

Reportedly, she has won many awards as well. Shamsie got her first award “Prime Minister’s Award for Literature in Pakistan” for In the City by the Sea in 1999. Other awards includes “Patras Bokhari Award from the Academy of Letters in Pakistan” (2002), “Patras Bokhari Award,” for Broken Verses (2005), “Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for fiction,” for Burnt Shadows (2010) and “Women’s Prize for Fiction,” for Home Fire in 2018.

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