After some journalists refused to accept the award from the Prime Minister, Raj Kamal Jha said that criticism from the government is a badge of honour.
The Ramnath Goenka Awards for Excellence in Journalism are handed out annually by the Express Group. This year's awards were handed out by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The announcement caused a stir among reputed journalists, with two of them — Akshaya Mukul of Times of India and film critic Anna MM Vetticad — refusing to accept the awards from him.
In a Caravan report, Mukul retold an incident from February where BJP leaders attacked students and journalists at Patiala House Court. He said, “Imagine, there were journalists who defended the BJP and opposed us.”
At the event held on November 2, Modi gave a speech praising Indian Express and their founder, Ramnath Goenka.
Indian Express's editor, Raj Kamal Jha, gave his vote of thanks as a response to the PM's speech. It started off easy.
