KOCHI: If the BJP leadership and Sangh propagandists continue to ask free-thinking intellectuals and artists to leave India, Pakistan would soon become Asia’s cultural capital, said poet K Satchidanandan. He was speaking at the 24th national conference of the All India Insurance Employees Association (AIIEA) on Monday.
Reacting to the recent remarks by some BJP leaders against director Kamal and writer M T Vasudevan Nair, Satchidanandan said the Sangh Parivar wanted artists who dared to say the truth to go to Pakistan.
“The threat that began with M F Hussain and U R Ananthamurthy, has outgrown and now targets Shahrukh Khan, Nandita Das and Kamal. The Sangh agendas are based on the ‘Goebbelsian fascist’ attitude, which should be resisted,” he said.
Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Satchidanandan said even great freedom fighters like Gandhiji and Patel were facing threat from the BJP. I think the Indian currency would soon have Modi’s picture on it,” he said. “The Constitution itself is facing threat from the Sangh Parivar.
The Hindutva agenda, along with the policies of globalisation, is posing a challenge to the country’s diversity. The government at the Centre is surviving by feeding fear and insecurity among the people on a communal basis.