NEW DELHI: If an actor wants to return his awards, he should not accept it in the first place, Union Minister Sadanand Gowda said on Sunday while referring to Prakash Raj's remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.


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Gowda further said that Raj “is not a fool” to return his five national awards. 


The veteran actor hit the headlines after calling out PM Modi for following people celebrating journalist Gauri Lankesh's murder and expressed his desire to return the awards.


“Gauri Lankesh's killers have not been caught yet. But what is more disappointing is people celebrating her murder over social media and spreading hatred. Some of these people who celebrated her (Gauri's) murder are followed by our Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) on Twitter. We have a PM, who shuts his eyes to this,” he had said.


 



Raj was chosen to receive a new award Dr Kota Shivaram Karanth Huttara Prashanth to recognise of his contribution to cinema. He was a close friend of senior journalist Lankesh who was shot dead in Bengaluru.