It seems that the returning of awards (Award Wapsi) movement is far from over. As many as 24 recipients of the national award have decided to return their awards on Thursday citing intolerance in the country.
The list of awardees who have decided to part ways with their national awards include Saeed Mirza, Kundan Shah, Arundhati Roy, Vikrant Pawar.
Hitting back at them, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday released a book on the spate of award returning, named ‘Know The Truth’. The book was released by BJP President Amit Shah at their party headquarters in the national capital.
Targeting those who are returning their awards, Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu said: "The whole thing has been created to derail the developmental agenda of the Modi government. The purpose of the book is to show both sides of the story."
Naidu trained guns at the Congress party on the issue, saying, "In the last 60 years, the other side was not allowed to have any view. The policy that existed was that the king can do no wrong."
Meanwhile, noted sound designer and national award recipient Vivek Sachidanand said that he was returning his award in protest against whatever happened at the Film and Television Institute of India, referring to the protest over appointment of Gajendra Chauhan as the institute's chairperson.