Venkaiah Naidu on Padmavati row: Violent threats unacceptable in democracy
At the inaugural session of the Times Literary festival, vice president Venkaiah Naidu asserted that violent threats and announcing rewards for causing physical harm are unacceptable in a democracy. Though not directly mentioning Padmavati, Naidu referred to films and art in general. From the Parliament's functioning to the importance of literature, read on to know what else Naidu commented about.
What is the hullabaloo over Padmavati?
What triggered the Padmavati controversy was the assumption that the film contains some intimate scenes between Deepika Padukone's character Rajput Queen Padmavati (Maharawal Ratan Singh's wife) and Sultan Alauddin Khilji played by Ranveer Singh. Following this, Rajput Karni Sena, a Rajput caste group, started protesting and threatening the Padmavati makers not to release the film that could hurt Rajput community's sentiments.
What did Venkaiah Naidu say about Padmavati protests?
In a covert reference to the violent threats made against Padmavati director Sanjay Bhansali and actress Deepika, Naidu said people go "overboard" and announce rewards. He questioned whether these people even had so much money. He contended that people should protest within a democratic framework and maintain "rule of law."
Naidu gives a lesson on democracy and Parliament's functioning
Naidu said "the sentiments of the common people need to be respected." He added "we cannot say that outrage by one community is right and another is wrong." He urged people to debate saying "the beauty of democracy is the right to agree to disagree." About the Parliament's functioning, Naidu said the question was not how many days Parliament sat, but how it functioned.
'Demonetization was appreciated globally; GST was transformational'
Citing Moody's credit ratings, ease of doing business rankings, etc, Naidu said India was emerging as a strong economic power and investors' most favored destination. About demonetization, Naidu exclaimed "People say that all the money came back from demonetization. But that was the purpose."
Naidu urged youth to respect their mother tongue
Further, Naidu elaborately spoke about respecting one's mother tongue and learning it. He urged youth to give back to society. Coining acronyms, Naidu said "Some politicians have remembered only the 3 Cs: caste, community, and cash. But, I say character, calibre, conduct and compassion are important." Naidu spoke about celebrating literature. "Good books, like great leaders, are immortal...A society must always converse with itself."
