A lot of very eminent (?) people including historians, filmmakers, scientists are returning their awards in order to oppose the current PM, his government, random crimes in the country, RSS – not necessarily in that order. Everybody is entitled to have their point-of-view and has a democratic right to protest in whatever mode they choose to protest – as long as it is legal. So, I do not want to quarrel with their respective right to “think” or act in a particular way as long as it is “legal”.
Thinking aloud – how does one return an award?
- Do you go to the govt treasury and deposit the money that came with the award and then display the receipt to the press? If yes, then do you include the interest to date along with the base amount? Will you frame this receipt and hang it in place of the erstwhile plaque.
- What about the plaque? Does the government have a window where you can “return” your plaque and get a receipt?
- What about all the biographies, publications and other places where you had mentioned something like “padma … awardee”. Will you issue a retraction at all possible places? Will you now replace the words with “padma … returnee” going forward?
Ahhhhhh devil …. why didn’t I think of the details before going to scream in front of Arnab Goswami and Barkha Dutt?
thoughtsoflight 