Last month, the media reported that seasoned actor Prakash Raj might return his awards, upset over the ‘intolerant climate’ prevalent in the country. But he quickly clarified that his voicing concern over ‘intolerance’ did not mean that he would return his ‘rightfully earned’ awards. Recently, Irish musician Bob Geldof returned his ‘Freedom of the City of Dublin’ award stating that he cannot hold on to an honour that was also extended to Myanmar’s leader Aung San Suu Kyi who finds herself in troubled waters over the Rohingya crisis.
This could possibly find an echo in India with talks of ‘Award Wapasi 2.0’ already in the air and the prestigious Gujarat state elections round the corner. With many a politician afflicted with the ‘foot-in-the-mouth’ disease, it’s not be going to be any difficult to come across intolerant sparks.
Last time, when the Award Wapasi Season 1.0 was in full flow, the ruling dispensation came out with conspiracy theories that fell by the wayside and dented their electoral prospects. I am no sympathiser of any party and the objective is just to give some useful tips on managing the ‘intolerance’ onslaught creatively and through an ‘out-of-the-tolerance (read ‘box’) approach.
The government can fix a due date for ‘Award Wapasi’ and announce this: “All those who’d like to return the awards can do so on or before ... (the due date), for Season 2. However, for Season 3, new dates will be announced later. To ensure transparency, the process has been made online. Each applicant with valid Aadhaar and ‘PAN’ has to remit `10,000 as application fee, which will be used to fund future awards. All valid applications will be processed and successful applicants will be intimated, after which they can return the awards at a ceremony that will be organised either in Gujarat or New Delhi.”
Whenever there is a due date and compulsion, we generally tend to grow intolerant and disobey. Thus the award-returning momentum will greatly lose its steam. Simultaneously, the government can announce a new list of winners for categories in which awards have been successfully returned, thereby making more people recognised and happy.
These awards can be given in the second half of the award return ceremony itself. For the new recipients to qualify, the government can impose a condition: “The recipient should not intolerantly return the award due to perceived intolerance in the country, during the tenure of this government.” Thus, instead of losing sleep over award wapasi, the government can reward more ‘presently tolerant’ people.
V Viswanathan
Email: vishyvaidya@gmail.com