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BJP draws flak for dropping Thapar, Yadav from Prasar Bharti board

Academics, writers and artistes have criticised the removal of historian Romila Thapar and Hindi author Rajendra Yadav from the board of the Prasar Bharti saying this ''unique way of silencing the views of people clearly brings out the hidden agenda of the Sangh Parivar that is to violate all democratic norms in governance.''

In a joint statement, the Citizens' Forum said the removal of these two eminent personalities once again brought to the surface how the Bharatiya Janata Party dealt with individuals known for views different from the ruling partners.

''This is not the first time that the BJP has had problems with the bill. Before the exit of Professor Thapar and Mr Yadav, one saw the ouster of Prasar Bharti's first chief executive S S Gill. The only crime of Mr Gill was that the then minister for information and broadcasting Sushma Swaraj somehow convinced herself that he was a Marxist and thus had to go. Further the BJP shamelessly contradicts itself by not bringing the Prasar Bharti bill in the Rajya Sabha while speaking all the time about autonomy and freedom of speech,'' the statement said. The group of writers, academics and artistes said the dismissal of Thapar and Yadav should not be seen in isolation from the overall design of the BJP.

It had once again proved that the party had no respect for the fundamental rights enshrined in the Indian Constitution. The Citizens' Forum urged all the secular forces within the National Democratic Alliance to raise their voice against the ''illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic arbitrary action'' to drop Thapar and Yadav.

The signatories to the statement included freedom fighters Abani Lahri and V N Mathur, Dr Achin Vanaik, Dr Ambrose Pinto, Dr Amar Farooqui, Prof C P Chandrasekhar, Prof B S Chimni, Geetha Hariharan, Dr Jayati Ghosh, John Dayal, Dr Kamal Mitra Chenoy, Praful Bidwai, Vivan Sundaram and Prof K N Panikkar.

UNI

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