Shiv Sena on Friday opposed Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Chandan Mitra’s demand for stripping Nobel laureate Amartya Sen of Bharat Ratna, for speaking against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, but also advised the veteran economist to ‘mind his own work.’
“Amartya Sen is an economist, but country’s poor wonders what does he do exactly? Country’s economy has collapsed, poverty has increased and prices are soaring. Modi has not done this and despite winning Nobel award in economics, Amartya Sena has no remedy to control this,” said Sena president Uddhav Thackeray in an editorial in party mouthpiece Samana.
“Amartya Sen is world renowned economist and his greatness cannot be undermined. His detractors should not even make such (stripping him of Bharat Ratna) demands,” said the editorial.
Mr. Thackeray however made it clear that everyone should know his limits. “If people ask him to mind his own work first and then poke his nose in politics, then what answer does he have?” he asked.
Mr. Sen while recently criticising the Gujarat’s model of development said that he does not want to see Mr. Modi as India’s Prime Minister as he lacks secular credentials.
