INDORE: Author Chetan Bhagat on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has come under attack from historians, scientists and artists because he does not belong to the ‘privileged class’.

The privileged class of this country is rattled because the political power has slipped into the hands of people from the Hindi medium. Bhagat said, addressing a curtain raiser function for a literature festival here.

" If Modi and Amit Shah had attended Doon school, spoke impeccable English and were spotted with their English girlfriends, they would not have been attacked so much ,” said the author.

The controversy surrounding returning of awards can be attributed to the power shift that is taking place in the country, he said.

Attacking a section of intelligentsia for returning their awards alleging growing climate of intolerance, Bhagat said national awards are not given by the government. Rather a jury or a panel selects the qualifying people and thus, it’s inappropriate to blame the government for it.

“These are not mere awards, but honours that are given to an individual for his or her individual achievement. How can you later return an honour that you had already accepted?” he said adding now foreign media has come into play and they are painting a sorry picture of India. They are portraying India as a country which is intolerant.

Earlier in the day, the bestselling author was attacked for making an indirect jibe at historians who have returned their awards through his Twitter handle. “What do historians do? I am genuinely curious. This happened. Then this happened. Then this. Ok work done for the day,” Chetan Bhagat had tweeted.

Bhagat said he doesn't care about personal criticism targeted at him, but foreign media should not be allowed to portray a negative image of India.

