In a hard-hitting attack on writers who are returning awards as a protest against “growing intolerance” in India, Information and Broadcasting Minister Arun Jaitley said on Wednesday that it was a case of “ideological intolerance” and “manufactured protest.”
In a blog post, Mr. Jaitley said that many writers of leftist and Nehruvian leanings who had enjoyed patronage under the previous government were now uncomfortable as the Congress and the Left were on the decline. He added that though law and order was a state subject and the killings being referred to had happened in Congress and Samajwadi Party-ruled States, these were somehow clubbed and wrongfully blamed on the Centre.
“Those who had enjoyed the patronage under the earlier establishment have obviously been uncomfortable with the present government,” Mr. Jaitley said. “With shrinking fortunes, the Congress is showing no signs of revival. The Left is being increasingly pushed to the margin. The new strategy of anti–Modi, anti–BJP sections appears to be to resort to ‘politics by other means.’ “The easiest way is to manufacture a crisis and subsequently manufacture a paper rebellion against the government in the wake of a manufactured crisis.”
