Ranchi, Feb. 12: Even as protests over Padma Shri awardee Shyama Charan Pati intensified today, the Chhau guru, who was incommunicado for the last few days, sent an email to The Telegraph today ?thanking? chief minister Arjun Munda for recommending his name for the prestigious award:
?I am very grateful to Sri Arjun Munda, the chief minister of Jharkhand, for recommending my name to the central government for the Padma Shri award. I thank the Government of India for bestowing this honour upon me,? the mail went thus.
He further wrote in his mail: ?I would like to share my happiness not only with people in my home district but also with the masses of Jharkhand along with the respected Sri Arjun Munda who personally congratulated me at his residential office on the 3rd of February 2006.? Pati, however, did not disclose his whereabouts or leave behind any contact numbers.
The chief minister could not be contacted for comments. He had earlier washed his hands of the issue claiming that he had no clue how Pati?s name featured in the list of awardees. ?It is a socio-political issue and I do not want to say much about it,? he had said.
Pati?s statement reflects a complete turnaround to his erstwhile stance during his visit to Ranchi, where he lambasted the state government for delaying the recommendation of his name for the award.
Interestingly, Union minister of state for food processing Subodh Kant Sahay had, a couple of days back, admitted having recommended Pati?s name for the award.
Chhau artistes from Seraikela, on the other hand, knocked on the doors of the President, sending him a memorandum, urging him to ?direct the Union minister of culture to conduct an enquiry into the authenticity of the claim of Shyama Charan Pati and after the revelation of truth, to take back the award from him?.
Charging Pati with ?forging and fabricating? the documents, the memorandum further states: ?He has played fraud on the Government of India by virtually ?stealing? the award of Padma Shri which has undermined the sanctity of the award itself.?
