It’s the season of protests and Urdu writer Mujtaba Hussain has kickstarted the ‘award wapsi’ by announcing that he would return his Padma Shri award as a mark of protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The 84-year-old was awarded the Padma Shri in 2007.
As per reports, he is pained over the current situation of the country with “those in power targeting the minorities, especially Muslim.” Reportedly, his “conscience is pricking him” and he is “feeling suffocated”. Hussain is the first to return his Padma Shri award over the CAA and NRC.
As per reports, he said that India needs politics that unites and not divides. He said that the CAA and NRC is mockery of our constitution laid down by Baba Saheb Ambedkar.
A native of Hyderabad, Hussain is contemporary of Makhdoom Mohiuddin, a poet who was one of the foremost leaders of Communist Party of India during the Telangana Armed Struggle.