“If anyone from Pakistan chants ‘Jai Modi’, he can now get citizenship of India as well as a Padma Shri award. Selection of Sami for the award is a damage control exercise,” tweeted a NCP leader.
Recently the list of Padma Shri awardees for 2020 was announced and singer and musician Adnan Sami was one of the recipients. Adnan Sami has been a part of the music industry for over three decades now. However, his inclusion in the 2020 Padma Shri recipients has not been received positively by a section of the society. Many have pointed out that his father Arshad Sami Khan, was a Pakistani Air force veteran-turned-bureaucrat who fought in the 1965 war against India.
In Modi's India, Adnan Sami – son of a Pakistani who shot down Indian aircrafts during the war in 1971 gets Padma award.
In Modi's India, a Kargil war veteran who had won President's medal has to prove his citizenship in Assam.
Let it sink in.#CAA_NRC_NPR #PadmaAwards
— Srujana Deva (@SrujanaDeva) January 26, 2020
While, others looked past his lineage and focused on Sami’s individual contribution. And in this case, on the basis of merit, people believe that he did not deserve the Padma Shri award.
It's not an issue of Adnan Sami Khan's earlier nationality or that his grandparents were senior Afghan officials, or that his mother was from J&K. He is, undoubtedly, a musical genius and is committed to India but what are his credentials to be awarded a Padma Shri?
— Anand Arni (@anand_arni) January 28, 2020
Does NCP’s opposition to Sami’s award shows that BJP is not alone in the anti-Pakistan agenda? Anti-Pakistan sentiment is very strong in India. Many believe that is because of BJP. But, is there any truth in that? Pakistan and India’s rivalry goes way back in history. It’s not a manifestation of Modi’s extremism. Anti- Pakistan sentiment in India is as strong as anti-Indian sentiment in Pakistan.