A day after Prakash Raj criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over the murder of senior Kannada editor and activist Gauri Lankesh, he clarified that he had no intentions of returning his National Awards and would be a “fool” to do so. However, the actor maintained that he was “hurt” by the prime minister’s silence and termed it as “chilling.”
What’s said…n what’s not said. For all out there .. thank you pic.twitter.com/zIT7rnkFxb
— Prakash Raj (@prakashraaj) October 2, 2017
“Gauri’s killers have not been caught yet. But what is more disappointing is people celebrating her murder over social media spreading hatred,” Raj had said on Sunday speaking at the 11th state meet of Democratic Youth Federation of India (DYFI) held in Bengaluru.
“Some of these people who celebrated her (Gauri’s) murder are followed by our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on Twitter. We have a PM who shuts his eyes to this,” he said.
The actor did not leave out Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in his speech and said, “When you look at the kind of statements he (Adityanath) makes, you don’t understand whether he’s a chief minister or a priest.”
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According to the Deccan Chronicle, the actor said that Modi’s silence proves that “he is trying to become a bigger actor than me.” He also said that the prime minister’s continued silence is worrying and that he does not mind returning his National Awards if the PM remains silent on the issue, added the report.
“Is he trying to endorse cruelty espoused by some of his followers,” he was quoted as saying.