M Veerappa Moily: I have no role to play in ‘award wapsi’ campaign
Mangaluru: Saraswati Samman awardee and former Union Minister M Veerappa Moily has denied being part of the ‘award wapsi,’ campaign as the award he received recently was not conferred by the government but by a private institution.
Moily received the prestigious Saraswati Samman award for the year 2014 for his work ‘Ramayana Mahanveshanam.’
“This (Saraswati Samman) is not a government award. A team headed by the former Chief Justice of India and 72 scholars have gone though my literature and conferred this award. It was by a private institution. Thus there is no relationship between award wapsi and my award,” Moily told reporters here on Sunday. He defined ‘award wapsi’ as a natural reaction by writers and thinkers who felt that intolerance had increased.
He denied charges by Union minister Arun Jaitley that ‘award wapsi,’ was manufactured. “Mr Jaitley’s statement is unfortunate. Such statement would be like disrespecting intellectuals. The awards were returned as the awardees felt that intolerance had increased in the country. It should not be seen from a political angle. These awardees do not have any association with the Congress. It is their individual decision,” he said.
When asked the reason for decrease in ‘award wapsi,’ post Bihar election, he said it was just coincidental. “There is no relationship with Bihar election as none of them are politicians,” he said.
On the winter session, Moily advised the government not to indulge in attacks on Congress. “If government wants a smooth session then they should stop attacks on our leaders. Incidents like allegations against our leaders through others might elicit a reaction in parliament. Government should create an environment where all parties sit and have discussions on the bills,” he said.
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