To accusations of having received favours from the Congress governments, Dr Bhargava recalls the challenges he faced in setting up the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.
Hyderabad:
Among the awards lining every wall of Dr Pushpa Mittra Bhargava's office in Hyderabad is the two decade-old Padma Bhushan that he now intends to give up, joining a league of public intellectuals who have given up honours in similar fashion in recent months.
The protest against "a movement away from democracy to autocracy” however won’t be the 87-year-old scientist’s first expression of dissent against a government.
"This is more special because I didn't ask for it. It came as a complete surprise at 3 am on 26th January in the form of a telegram. My wife thought it must have been meant for another Bhargava and came to me by mistake!'' he says.
The signature of then President Zail Singh has faded but the Indian State emblems are intact. The words in Hindi proclaim the honour was bestowed for his personal contribution - which now the ruling BJP says was for his "political rather than scientific temperament".
Dr Bhargava has been called "pro-naxal" and a "cheerleader of Sonia Gandhi"; a BJP spokesperson even called him "juvenile" and "anti-national". But the scientist is not distressed.
"I have been very critical of UPA 1 and UPA 2. It is documented in my book 'An Agenda for the Nation'. I gave them 8 out of 100 marks in performance," he says, adding, ''I didn't get such sharp reactions though."
He says those vilifying him are trying hard to find reasons that establish such protests are motivated.
"We are losing the path of democracy. We are on the path to make India a Hindu religious autocracy - something like Pakistan," he says.
To accusations of having received favours from the Congress governments, Dr Bhargava recalls the challenges he faced in setting up the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.
"I was very critical of the emergency. During the Emergency, Mrs Gandhi said no one should comment on space and atomic energy. I wrote a whole article and published it in Secular Democracy. It is a miracle I escaped the wrath of Mrs Gandhi even though I disobeyed her," he says.
The protest against "a movement away from democracy to autocracy” however won’t be the 87-year-old scientist’s first expression of dissent against a government.
"This is more special because I didn't ask for it. It came as a complete surprise at 3 am on 26th January in the form of a telegram. My wife thought it must have been meant for another Bhargava and came to me by mistake!'' he says.
The signature of then President Zail Singh has faded but the Indian State emblems are intact. The words in Hindi proclaim the honour was bestowed for his personal contribution - which now the ruling BJP says was for his "political rather than scientific temperament".
Dr Bhargava has been called "pro-naxal" and a "cheerleader of Sonia Gandhi"; a BJP spokesperson even called him "juvenile" and "anti-national". But the scientist is not distressed.
"I have been very critical of UPA 1 and UPA 2. It is documented in my book 'An Agenda for the Nation'. I gave them 8 out of 100 marks in performance," he says, adding, ''I didn't get such sharp reactions though."
He says those vilifying him are trying hard to find reasons that establish such protests are motivated.
"We are losing the path of democracy. We are on the path to make India a Hindu religious autocracy - something like Pakistan," he says.
To accusations of having received favours from the Congress governments, Dr Bhargava recalls the challenges he faced in setting up the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology.
"I was very critical of the emergency. During the Emergency, Mrs Gandhi said no one should comment on space and atomic energy. I wrote a whole article and published it in Secular Democracy. It is a miracle I escaped the wrath of Mrs Gandhi even though I disobeyed her," he says.
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