THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday came out in support of the film fraternity who chose to boycott the National Film Award presentation, calling it yet another ‘product of the Central Government’s intolerance’.
By insisting Union Minister Smriti Irani also present the awards, the event, in effect, ended up as an insult to the President. The Centre has not yet explained why such a discrimination was introduced in the award presentation.
“The protest made by the award winners is just. They have not rejected the awards, but merely demanded they be presented by the right person,” Pinarayi said in a Facebook post. The Chief Minister’s reaction to the controversy comes at a time when playback singer K J Yesudas and director Jayaraj are facing flak for attending the ceremony and accepting the awards.
While he remained silent on the award winners who chose not to boycott the event, Vijayan said the protesters performed their responsibility to the society by sacrificing their golden moment for a fight against injustice.
Centre should apologise, says Sudheeran
Trivandrum: The Central Government should apologise to the National Film Award winners in the controversy over award distribution, said senior Congress leader V M Sudheeran, adding that the Centre was unable to give any satisfactory explanation for deviating from the 65-year-old practice. “If there was any misunderstanding, it’s for the Centre to convince the President about the usual practice. However, there was serious lapse from the part of I&B Minister Smriti Irani. Instead of coming up with more justifications, the government should admit its mistake and ensure that such incidents are not repeated in future,” said Sudheeran.