Award Wapsi - Are they really at fault ?

I beg to differ with a few of my friends with a contrary view on the eminent people returning their awards. I think they have chosen the most sensible way to protest and put pressure on the people concerned to act ! Especially when innumerable letters written by many scholars have been ignored. It neither belittles their stature nor the honour that they have been bestowed with.

I think their protest is in the right spirit but is not enough. Instead of just criticizing and showing their vexation, they could have proposed suggestions to improve the deteriorating polarized environment prevalent in the current Indian setup. Interpreting what it means to return an award is every individuals guess. People who returned the honours alone know the motive behind it.

I myself can see the surge in intolerance against certain sects of people in the society and governments inability to punish the fringe elements present with their own party and outside. The whole idea of these guys could be to get people talking about this deliberate communalization of Indian society. They are at their discretionary liberty to choose the method of demonstrating their displeasure.

The government at the center has become so insensitive to intelligentsia, that they are not able to digest all this and they preferred to call it “a manufactured rebellion” instead of paying heed to the plight of the doyens and take corrective actions. Alleging that these eminent and revered personalities have "selective amnesia" and questioning where were they, when other similar situations happened earlier is just being insensitive to the situation devoid of any intent to solve the problem. A few of the writers have protested and written letters earlier too, may not be as a cohesive unite as they are doing now, but surely they displayed their displeasure during the emergency etc. Even if they might not have protested earlier, it attaches no rational logic to question their intent in past. Painting the whole act as a political gimmick is just miniaturizing the very reason of their act.

They might have thought that organized protests are the need of the hour as Passive protests are not going to help anymore. The president of India appealing to the government and people to protect the plural fabric of the nation not just once itself explains the severity of the divide. Hope the central government takes necessary steps and in the right direction!