Renowned Malayalam writer Punathil Kunjabdulla passed away in Kozhikode following a prolonged illness. He was 77. Kunjabdulla is regarded as one of the major figures of modernism in Malayalam literature. He won the Sahitya Akademi award for his novel Smarakasilakal in 1980 and the Kerala Sahithya Akademi award twice for the same novel in 1978 and for Malamukalile Abdulla in 1980.