Hazaribag: Padma Shri awardee Bulu Imam has threatened to return the honour unless the Union govt apologises within a week for the alleged treatment of students protesting at Jantar Mantar on July 20.“The govt must apologise for what happened to the students at Jantar Mantar on July 20. If it does not do so within a week, I will return my Padma Shri,” Imam said.The 85-year-old said he had informed the authorities of his decision. “I am giving the govt one week’s time. If it does not apologise during this period, I will personally go to the deputy commissioner’s office and surrender my Padma Shri,” he said.Imam, who received the country’s fourth-highest civilian award from President Ram Nath Kovind in 2019, said the honour meant little to him in the face of injustice. “This award is a piece of metal for me if they do not apologise. I will return it and, through this, give strength to the ongoing movement,” he said.Alleging that the turmoil reflected a “sickness” rooted in “nothing but corruption”, Imam said, “What is happening in this country is painful. The way the students were lathi-charged is deeply distressing.”“It would not be wrong to call what is happening in this country the seed of revolution,” he added.
Bulu Imam
