Actor Prakash Raj has threatened to return his five National Awards and condemned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on certain sections “celebrating” the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh on social media. He likened the PM’s silence to an “actor trying to please his followers.”
Deccan Chronicle quoted him as saying at the 11th state meet of the Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) in Bangalore, “Those who killed Gauri may or may not be traced but that apart, there is a huge crowd out there enjoying and celebrating on social media. We all know who they are, what their ideology is. Some of those celebrating this ghastly episode are being followed by none other than Mr Modi himself. This is what worries me, where is our country is headed to?”.
“People who our Prime Minister follows are also among them. We have a Prime Minister who shuts his eyes to this,” he added.
He also stated that he was ready to be part of any struggle that is directly linked with the poor and with issues such as the Gauri Lankesh murder. “At this juncture, there are no leaders who can take up issues like this and make a nation-wide impact. We need such leaders in the days to come to fight this kind of jingoism,” he asserted.
Hitting out at politicians, he further said, “In UP, we don’t know whether he’s a Chief Minister or the Poojari of a temple. You know, I have 5 national awards. I think I should give them to him.
