"The returning of awards was not justified. It was a politically motivated move. It raises a lot of questions and one is that why it has stopped immediately after Bihar polls and country becoming tolerant," Hussain told reporters.
"First they approach to get awards and then return them. Tomorrow they will again say that they want it back," he said, adding if someone asks me to return Padma Shri, it would be hypocrisy.
Stating that "social media" was a threat to vernacular journalism, Hussain said now instead of reading newspapers people use Whatsapp and other means to get news.
"This is not a good trend for vernacular journalism," he said.
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