Noted litterateur Dr. Shripal Sabnis has been accorded security by the Pune police after he had allegedly received death threats. Earlier, the Marathi author has made contentious remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
According to sources, Dr. Sabnis has been provided with an armed guard after an application to that effect was sent by him to the Joint Commissioner of Pune Police.
Dr. Sabnis said he would not recant his statements even if the Bharatiya Janata Party “hanged him.”
“Why should I have to apologise for praising the Prime Minister,” asked Dr. Sabnis, after he was threatened by some people in Marathwada for his remarks against the Prime Minister.
In a function in Pimpri-Chinchwad last week, Dr. Sabnis, who is president of the upcoming 89th Akhil Bharatiya Marathi Sahitya Sammelan 2016, had attacked Mr. Modi as a person forever “smeared with the taint of the 2002 Gujarat riots” and a Prime Minister that he would not endorse.
Dr. Sabnis attempted to clarify the issue by stating that while he did criticise the Prime Minister and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in one context, he had, in fact, commended Mr. Modi’s ‘courageous’ trip to Pakistan and the mention of Gautama Buddha and Mahatma Gandhi in his foreign diplomacy.
