Veteran Manipuri filmmaker Aribam Syam Sharma on Sunday said he would like to return his Padma Shri that he was awarded in 2006 in protest against the central government’s Citizenship Bill.
The 82-year-old made the announcement in Imphal. The filmmaker has made 14 feature and 31 non-feature films.
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Protests have rocked the entire northeast against the proposal to grant citizenship to non-Muslims from neighbouring Muslim-majority countries.
“They should respect us as a state – small or big. It should not be counted on population basis. I raise this because the Union of India is made up of states,” he said. “When the northeastern states jointly represent or present something in the government, they should consider it and if they do not consider, naturally we have to oppose.”
Late president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam had conferred the Padmashree award to the noted filmmaker for his contribution to Manipuri cinema and world of the films.
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