Swamy Calls Amartya Sen ‘Traitor’, Questions His Bharat Ratna

Incidentally, Sen was awarded the Bharat Ratna in 1999 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government.

Subramanian Swamy.

(Photo: Reuters)

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Sunday, 29 January, called Bharat Ratna awardee Amartya Sen “a traitor.”

Swamy’s statement comes after the Congress attacked the BJP for conferring the Padma awards to some RSS leaders.

Speaking to ANI, the BJP leader said:

They (RSS) are also citizens of this country. They have worked hard and were not recognised fully... I think RSS people have done social work without any expectation. NDA gave (the Bharat Ratna) to Amartya Sen, who is a traitor. What has he done for the country except looting Nalanda University? Just because he was Left-wing and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi pressed for it, he got it.

The Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, was awarded to Sen in 1999 by the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government for his distinguished scholarship and advocacy of policy action.

Earlier, Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala had said that the government had conferred the Padma awards to persons who were engaged in propagation and expansion of the BJP.

In a tweet, he listed out names of five persons who have figured in Padma award list, including RSS leader Ved Prakash Nanda and Kerala RSS pracharak chief P Parmeshwar. He said that the government gave the award to Nanda, who has been propagating the RSS views and Indian culture among the NRIs, and Parmeshwar, who helped the BJP establish itself in the state.

(With inputs from ANI)