'Nonsense Club' wants awards so that it can return them

At a time when there is a nationwide controversy over intolerance and return of awards by writers, theatre and film personalities, Chandigarh's 'Nonsense Club' on Wednesday put up a unique demand to the government seeking awards for itself so that it could return them some time.

The satire by 'Nonsense Club' members led by Savita Bhatti, wife of late comedian-actor Jaspal Bhatti, was enacted at Chandigarh's Sector 17 plaza in front of scores of people on Wednesday.

"When the spotlight is on writers and filmmakers returning their prestigious awards as a mark of protest against the rising religious intolerance in the country, we have demanded from the government that some award should be given to us so that we can also return it," Savita Bhatti told IANS.

"As an artiste, I cannot join the protest as I haven't got any award. I request the union and state governments to honour me and my fellow Nonsense Club members Vinod Sharma, Lally Gill and Gurtej Tej with a 'surrenderable' awards so that they could return it at the earliest," she said.

"As artistes working for the last 30 years in this field, we have nothing that we can return symbolically as a voice of protest. We are feeling left out," she said.

On the occasion, club members sang tearfully: "Jaane who kaise log they jinko, award pe award miley, Humne jab perform kiya, hum pe to zamana hasa."

"Since the issuing of 'surrenderable' awards is a 'sarkari' process, it will take time. Till then, the club members have decided to surrender their fundamental rights as a protest against the deteriorating religious and social infrastructure of the country.

"We want the government to issue awards to all artistes who complete 20 years of work on similar lines of issuing pension to its employees," Bhatti said.