Veteran scientist P.M. Bhargava, who has decided to return the Padma Bhushan award to protest against the government's attack on rationalism, reasoning and science, today said that religious dictatorship should not enter politics.
"Pakistan thinks our nation will become a Muslim religious autocracy with the direction we are heading to and we don't want that. We don't want religious dictatorship to enter politics," Bhargava told ANI here.
"At present, the BJP Government is the political face of the RSS. The government and the RSS are trying to tell us what to eat, what to say, what to dress, what to think about and I don't like this kind of a constraint on my freedom," he alleged.
Bhargava further said that he would return his award next week.
"Returning the award won't distort the nation's image as much as compared to other things," he said.
Bhargava's move comes after eminent filmmakers, including Dibakar Banerjee and Anand Patwardhan, have decided to return their National Awards in solidarity with the protesting FTII students and against the growing intolerance in the country.
