Intellectuals and writers returning their awards is nothing but hypocrisy, and they should avoid taking a stand, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has said, in a conversation with The Hindu on the completion of one year of the BJP-led government.
“In India, writers taking a stand will become as big an issue as intolerance. I think it will not be the right thing. I request them not to do it, as we are ready to return all their awards with equal honour,” Mr. Fadnavis said, referring to Marathi writers who have returned their awards and prize money to protest the growing intolerance in the country.
“They should create public awakening through intellectual discourse and criticism, whenever necessary. But returning awards is not a right step.”
He criticised the writers for blaming Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the growing intolerance. Several incidents, similar to those of the Dadri lynching and the Kalburgi murder, had taken place in the past. “Why didn’t anyone return his awards then? It raises suspicion about their motive,” he said. None of the writers had answered the same question posed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He later said the intellectuals showed hypocrisy in their behaviour. “Yes, certainly. It is exactly what we feel.”
Mr. Fadnavis spoke about his year in office, relations with allies and his stand on right-wing organisations. As for the Sanatan Sanstha, a right-wing Hindu organisation one of whose volunteers has been arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder of social activist Govind Pansare, Mr. Fadnavis said his government would go by the evidence.
“To some extent, organisations like the Sanatan Sanstha are a matter of concern for me, as a Chief Minister. They are acting smartly. They are doing things within the framework of law. The day we get enough evidence against them, we will ban the organisations. We are not scared of anyone,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Shiv Sena, without naming it or its leaders, Mr. Fadnavis said his party’s Hindutva was not for electoral gains. He was answering a question whether the Sena was trying to hijack the BJP’s agenda of Hindutva. “No one can hijack any agenda like this. We believe that the nation should be built on the basis of nationalism and Indian culture or Hindu culture. Hinduism is our way of thinking: tolerant, secular and inclusive development,” he said.
Referring to the war of words between the two parties, Mr. Fadnavis said the alliance had problems even 25 years ago. “But it survived. I am sure it will survive for the next five years and we will not need anyone’s support to retain power,” he said. Mr. Fadnavis said the people had given a mandate against the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party. “We are together to honour that mandate. We have to run the show and will do that for the next five years,” he said.
Mr. Fadnavis said he was against any alliance with the NCP and was sure the BJP would not require the NCP’s support. Asked about the government’s failure to act on the allegations of corruption against NCP leaders Ajit Pawar, Chhagan Bhujbal and Sunil Tatkare, he said the government would take these cases to their logical conclusion.
