December 29, 2025 06:56 pm (IST)
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Returning of awards a manufactured anti-BJP protest: Jaitley
New Delhi, Oct 29 (IBNS) As more eminent people continued to return their national honours in protest against rising intolerance in India, the ruling BJP said it is a manufactured move against the party.
Finance Minister and top BJP leader Arun Jaitley reiterated on Thursday that such dissents are manufactured and directed against the party of BJP.
Noted scientist PM Bhargava has said he will return his Padma Bhushan to protest against the “the government’s attack on rationalism, reasoning and science” while several filmmakers, including Bollywood director Dibakar Banerjee, decided to return their national awards.
Reports quoted the veteran scientist as saying that he will give back the award to the home secretary.
Bhargava urged young scientists to come forward and protest against the incidents of intolerance.
Bhargava, the founder-director of the Hyderabad-based Centre for the Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) was awarded the Padma in 1986. He is also a recipient of France’s highest honour, the Legion d’Honneur.
Earlier, protesting against rising intolerance and coming out in support of the students of Pune's Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) , ten filmmakers, including Dibakar Banerjee and Anant Patwardhan,on Wednesday decided to return the national awards.
"I am returning this award...You all must think whether the thing that is happening in the FTII is correct," Dibakar Banerjee said while addressing a press conference.
Speaking at the press conference, Patwardhan said: "We are disenchanted with what is happening in the country."
These protests followed after several recipients of Sahitya Akademi award had returned their awards in protest against incidents like the Dadri lynching and murder of rationalist writer M M Kalburgi.
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