Govt refused to accept Mukundan's resignation: Minister

Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 15 (UNI) Kerala Education and Cultural Affairs Minister M A Baby today said the government had refused to accept the resignation of noted writer M Mukundan as President of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi.

''Although Mukundan had expressed his willingness to quit the post and forwarded his resignation letter, it was rejected by the government. The Cultural Affairs Department feels that no such situation existed now to accept it,'' he told UNI.

''I have spoken to him and convinced him that he should continue in the post till the term ends,'' he added.

Mr Baby said Mukundan had agreed to continue in the post.

Earlier the Minister had denied media reports that Mukundan had forwarded his resignation to the government, saying that it was only a creation of the media.

In an interview to a weekly, Mukundan had described Chief Minister V S Achuthandan as an ''antiquated saint,'' triggering a controversy.

The Chief Minister had retorted to the slight, stating that ''postmodernists were right in calling him antiquated. At the time of Marx itself, capitalists had described Communists as antiquated.'' UNI CGV PMM RR RAI2002