Arundhati Roy, 23 others return National Awards

Another 24 filmmakers including Kundan Shah of “Jaane Bhi Do Yaaro” fame and Saeed Mirza and writer Arundhati Roy on Thursday returned their National Awards over “growing intolerance”, voicing fears that the country’s robust democracy might be “coming apart” in the current atmosphere. With this, at least 75 members of the intelligentsia have either returned national or literary awards, in an escalation of protests by writers, historians, filmmakers and scientists even as writer Nayantara Sahgal reiterated that “secularism was under threat” like never before. Sahgal was among the first to return the honours when she gave back the Sahitya Akademi award 

in October. The filmmakers also strongly rallied behind students of the prestigious Film and Television Institute of India(FTII) who recently called of their 136-day strike, saying their battle went beyond the manipulation of education to include “intolerance, divisiveness and hate”. While returning their awards, the 24 filmmakers in a letter addressed to the President and Prime Minister have said, “We hope that this symbolic gesture urges you to pay attention to our fears, that the warp and weft of our robust democracy might be coming apart in the current atmosphere.”