Prakash Raj will be awarded the Dr Shivarama Karanatha award, the Kottattu Gram Panchayat has decided. Campaigns on social media to not give the award to the actor have had no effect on the panchayat committee’s decision and the event will go on as planned on October 10, a Deccan Chronicle report said.
Raj’s name was announced as this year’s recipient two months ago. At the time, there was no opposition to this decision. It was only when his comments (regarding PM Narendra Modi’s silence about the murder of Gauri Lankesh) triggered controversy, that there have been calls for the committee to give the award to someone else.
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Reportedly, some people have even announced that they would wave black flags at the event to show their condemnation.
“Stopping the programme or not conferring the award will be a great disrespect to Shivarama Karanth. He was known for his punctuality. He was a universal man and practised secularism. There was no opposition when we finalised Prakash Rai’s name,” Panchayat President Pramod Hande told Deccan Chronicle.
Dr Shivarama Karanatha Huttura Prashasti Award recognises achievements in various fields. It is given out on Dr Shivarama’s birth anniversary – October 10 every year.