Amid Rows And Rows Of Empty Seats, The Internet Extends Support To National Film Awards Boycott
This year¡¯s National Film Awards ceremony was anything but conventional. While the expectation was of a glitch-free well-practiced ceremony, it got marred with controversy as over 68 recipients decided to boycott the event in New Delhi yesterday. The reason behind this unprecedented move was the decision of President Ram Nath Kovind of handing over the awards to only a selected 11 winners out of 135 recipients.
Breaking the years-long tradition, the rest of 125 winners were given the award by Information & Broadcasting minister Smriti Irani and Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore. The winners were so let down that they even wrote to the Directorate of Film Festivals, president's office and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, to express their concerns over this "discrimination".
To see several rows of empty seats with the name plates of the absentees facing down was definitely a first. Another protocol that was missing from this year¡¯s ceremony was a musical performance. Ironic, since the ceremony is all about celebrating Cinema, isn¡¯t it?
Agencies
Now, the internet never holds back from expressing their opinion and this time too it made sure that the message was conveyed loud and clear. Barring some users, most of the internet collectively voiced their support with the boycott. Here are some of the reactions. Scroll!
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