“For the far-right wingers, the idea of the other is unfortunately the Muslims”

After various members of the film fraternity returned their awards on Thursday, a group of writers and artists also came together to warn the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party to rein in their controversial leaders or face a “storm of award wapsi ”, a hashtag that has gone viral on a microblogging site.
Speaking at the meeting, 91-year-old Justice (retired) Rajinder Sachar stated that the right-wing party ought to be reminded that almost 98 per cent of beef trade in India actually benefits Hindus.
Justice Sachar, the head of the Sachar Committee that had drafted a report on the social, economic and educational status of Muslims, also went on to call the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh “foolish” for not being able to furnish a convincing rebuttal on the recent communal attacks.
Bringing up the case of BJP MLA from Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Som, Justice Sachar added: “Mr. Som said he had just given the land for setting up of the meat export firm. However, he and his party have forgotten that while such an agreement is made, the memorandum, where all stakeholders have to sign, also clearly states the objective of the company being set up.”
Talking of disinvestment in public sector undertakings, he further lashed out at the NDA government for not only ruining the essence of “Secularism” in the Constitution, but also damning the concept of “Socialism” in it.
Eminent poet and short-story writer Keki N. Daruwalla, one of the many writers who returned their Sahitya Akademi Award, said the ruling party was confusing “nationalism” with “communalism”. “For the far-right wingers, the idea of the other is unfortunately the Muslims. It high time the BP stops its people from shooting off their mouths,” he said.
Calling the phenomenon of “love jihad” and “ ghar wapsi ” as manufactured programmes, he maintained that the saffron party boasts of “pseudo secularism”.
Prominent painter Ashok Bhowmick, who has also returned his Akademi award in protest against the murder of renowned Kannada writer M.M. Kalburgi, emphasised the need to take the agitation of artists, writers and scholars to the common man for widespread impact.
The meeting, which had several other writers, concluded with a six-point resolution. It demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi acts against the members of his Council of Ministers.