BJP blasts writers, filmmakers

Looking to blunt the opposition’s attack on the intolerance debate, the BJP on Saturday said denying Bharat Ratna to freedom movement icons like Sardar Patel and Maulana Azad for decades as they were critical of Gandhi family amounted to intolerance.

The scaled-up attack on the Congress, which the BJP believes gave patronage to Left intellectuals to hegemonise academic institutions despite its declining political currency, came a on a day when Bollywood actor Anupam Kher lead a ‘March for India’ in the national capital to counter intolerance voices. “ Icons like Sardar Patel and Maulana Azad were not given Bharat Ratna for decades, as they were at times critical of one family,” said Telecom Minister Ravishankar  Prasad said.

He recalled that Bharat Ratna was given to Patel and Azad in 1992 under Narasimha Rao’s regime and not when Gandhi family members were prime ministers. “Rahulji is this not intolerance?” Prasad wondered. From writers to artists to filmmakers and scientists have returned their awards to protest what they called attack on rationalists like MM Kalburgi and minorities.