Check backgrounds of protesting writers: Mahesh Sharma

NEW DELHI: For someone who holds forth on most things under the sun, often embarrassing his government, culture minister Mahesh Sharma was unusually quiet when asked about celebrated writer Salman Rushdie's comment that these are "alarming times for free expression in India".

Talking to reporters on Tuesday, Sharma said, "Rushdie's comments are addressed to the government. Let the government address it." When reminded that he was part of the government, he said, "Yes, but I talk only about my areas of responsibility." Told that Rushdie's comments were on Twitter and were directly related to his ministry, that of writers returning their awards, Sharma said, "No, I will not answer. Only the government can answer."

Before that, Sharma was stoutly defending PM Narendra Modi's silence on protests by writers. "Why should the PM speak? I am his minister. The writers should talk to me. They were given awards for their literary achievements by juries consisting of writers. I invite them," he said.

Sharma also insisted that he could not stop anybody from airing their views, though he said returning awards was a "wrong" move. "I did not say that they should stop writing. How can I stop anybody from expressing his views. We are with them in condemning the murders -- be it of writers like MM Kalburgi or the killing at Dadri. Nobody is saying that anyone's murder is justified. This is a law and order problem," he said.

The minister reiterated that "background of writers" returning Sahitya Akademi awards should be looked into. "Why should they return their awards on law and order issue, be it killing of writers or the Dadri incident." He advised writers to sit with him or the home minister so that "doodh ka doodh aur paani ka paani" (real reason) came out.

Sharma refused to react to Ashok Vajpeyi's comment that he was not "sanskriti mantra" (culture minister) but "visanskriti mantra" (not cultured). "This is his culture" is all Sharma said.

If Sharma is to be believed, all his troubles are "media-made", for he claimed to have never said that Dadri was an accident or writers should stop writing. "I condemn Dadri. If anyone had the first right to visit the place, it was me. But before I could go, Brinda Karat and Owaisi had already visited the place," he said.