Hampa Nagarajaiah, who was questioned by the Mandya police over his critical remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has expressed dissatisfaction over the press statement issued by the police on the issue.
“As a writer, I’m concerned with the language and nuances. I’m troubled by the deliberate distortion of my statement by the police and the context in which it was made,” said Dr. Nagarajaiah.
The statement released by K. Parashurama, SP, Mandya, while expressing regret over a senior citizen scholar having to come to the police station to record his statement, had made it appear like he was not “summoned.” “I was asked by the sub-inspector to go to the police station, face an inquiry and record my statement. It is not as if I went to the police station voluntarily,” Dr. Nagarajaiah said.
The Mandya SP’s statement says Dr. Nagarajaiah in his statement to the police said he had only spoken about the farmers’ protest, but “had immense respect for our Prime Minister and he was a tall national leader that all of us are proud of.”
Dr. Nagarajaiah has taken objection to this, saying the statement from the police seems to suggest he had backtracked from his criticism of the Prime Minister and the government’s policies “which is a misrepresentation.” “Answering the allegation that I have made derogatory statements against the Prime Minister, I had indeed denied that and said I do have respect for Mr. Modi. But I have also said that my criticism of the Prime Minister was not unparliamentary and I would stand by it. I have not backtracked on my statement. The police misrepresenting my statement is very troubling,” he said.
Dr. Nagarajaiah, inaugurating the taluk sahitya sammelan in Mandya on January 17, had criticised Mr. Modi stating that his “handling of the farmer’s protest at the Delhi border was not befitting his stature” and said his “revengeful attitude” of trying to “undermine Opposition leaders by misusing agencies, trying to mock and defame them was not the right attitude of any leader in a democracy.” Further, commenting on the “gap between the rhetoric he speaks and his deeds”, he had said that people have come to think of the Prime Minister as gomukha vyaghra (cow-faced tiger).
