Playwright Girish Karnad criticised organisers of the ongoing Literature Live festival in Mumbai for giving writer VS Naipaul a lifetime achievement award earlier in the week, saying that the Nobel laureate had failed to comprehend key aspects of Indian history and culture.

Karnad used more than half of his one-hour time slot, which he was supposed to devote to talking about his life in theatre, to critique Naipaul’s non-fiction work on India.

“Naipaul simplifies complex events and facts in his terror, fear of Muslims, which is apparent in his writings,” Karnad said. Following Karnad’s talk, Literature Live director Anil Dharkar, said that the award was for a lifetime of work, including fiction. Writer Farrukh Dhondy told HT that Naipaul had been misquoted.