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Hitmen hired by Hindutva group may have killed Kalburgi, say CID officials

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M M Kalburgi

Bengaluru: Sources in the Criminal Investigation Department, which is probing the murder case of Kannada scholar MM Kalburgi said that supari killers, hired by a Hindutva group might have committed the crime.

CID officials said 20 such Hindutva groups were under surveillance over the past three months, and they are now close to cracking the identity of the group. However, they refused to comment further on the issue as it could hamper the probe.

CID sources said they had been working on the theory that hired hitmen shot down Kalburgi at his Kalyan Nagar residence in Dharwad on August 30 last year. When quizzed whether the new lead meant the sleuths had zeroed in on the group involved in the murder, the official said they were close to cracking the identity of the killers. The official also said they believed the same group and probably the same hit men may have been involved in the murders of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar and social activist Govind Pansare.

The basis for this, sleuths said, was the ballistic report of the bullets used in the Kalburgi murder that linked the weapon used in the two earlier assassinations. If proved right, it would be contrary to the arrests made by the Maharashtra police in the two murders. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Pansare murder case, had arrested Samir Gaikwad, an alleged activist from Goa-based Sanatan Sanstha, for the murder. The police are on the lookout for another absconding accused, Rudra Patil, in the case.

All officials involved in the probe, led by Inspector-General of Police Hemanth Nimbalkar, have been camping in Dharwad for the past two days. They even visited the house of the slain scholar on Thursday. Officials said they wanted to verify certain information with the family members, but beyond that the visit was a courtesy one.

Mr. Nimbalkar said they reviewed the probe into the case in the light of the new leads, and brainstormed over the next course of action. This is the first such meeting in recent months.

(Agencies)

Prof. B. Sheik Ali to get first M M Kalaburagi Award

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B Sheik AliBengaluru: Historian B Sheik Ali will receive the first Dr M M Kalaburagi Award, instituted by the Kannada Book Authority (KBA).

The award carries a cash prize of Rs. 75,000 and citation, for writers in humanities.

Announcing the awards, KBA chairperson Banjagere Jayaprakash said Prof. Sheik Ali served as Vice-Chancellor of the Mangalore and Goa universities and was responsible for the emergence of a number of History scholars.

A major share of his research work relates to the period of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan. Prof. Sheik Ali has around 40 major works to his credit, including eight in Urdu.

(Agencies)

Sahitya Akademi condemns killing of writers after activists stage protest

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Sahitya Akademi

New Delhi: The Sahitya Akademi on Friday condemned the killing of writers and urged those writers who had returned their awards in protest against its silence to take them back.

The appeal followed a meeting of the Akademi’s Executive Board, Krishnaswamy Nachimuthu, an Akademi member and a Tamil scholar, told the media here.

Writers march in protest

With black gags and arm bands, writers and their supporters held a solidarity march here ahead of the Sahitya Akademi emergency meeting to discuss the returning of awards by eminent authors in protest against “rising intolerance” in the backdrop MM Kalburgi’s killing.

Writers from different languages converged for the silent march carrying huge banners from Sri Ram Centre at Safdar Hashmi Marg to the Sahitya Akademi building, where they submitted a memorandum to the Akademi demanding that it pass a resolution pledging to take stern steps to safeguard the freedom of speech and right to dissent of the writers.

At least 35 writers from across the country had over the past few weeks announced their decision to return their Sahitya Akademi awards and stepped down from official Akademi positions to protest the “rising intolerance” in the country.

Akademi chairman Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari accepted the memorandum and said “it will be considered” in the meeting.

“The executive council of the Akademi should pass a resolution that it will take stern steps to safeguard the freedom of speech and right to dissent of the writers,” the memorandum said.

The protesters has also criticised Tiwari’s recent statements in which he dubbed as “illogical” the act of several writers returning their awards. They also called for a written apology from Tiwari against statements he had made about Akademi award winning writers having made gains from their award royalties.

“A delegation of 13 Hindi-Urdu writers had met the representatives of the Akademi on September 16 to demand for a ‘shok sabha’ but the Akademi denied to do so,” the memorandum said. The writers said if the Akademi does not conduct a condolence meet for Kalburgi in Delhi, they will demand Tiwari’s resignation.

The protest march was convened by five groups – Janvadi Lekhak Sangh, Pragatisheel Lekhak Sangh, Jansanskriti Manch, Dalit Lekhak Sangh and Sahitya Sanvad.

Eminent writers Keki N Daruwala, Geeta Hariharan, Anuradha Kapoor (former director National School of Drama), Shekhar Joshi and Javed Ali among others were part of the protest.

Called the getting together of writers as historic step in the literary history of the country, the protesters called for the Akademi to condemn in strong terms the killings of Kannada writer Kalburgi and other writers and rationalists and assure the writers that the Akademi would in these times of distress ensure the right to freedom of speech and expression.

“Tiwari has lost the trust of the writers. If Tiwari does not apologise and conduct a condolence meet for Kalburgi in Delhi, we will demand his resignation,” a statement by the writers said.

(Agencies)

Young Dalit writer attacked for criticizing caste system

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Dalit writer Huchangi Prasad, who was attacked in Davangere.

Dalit writer Huchangi Prasad, who was attacked in Davangere.

Davanagere: In a fresh case of upper caste atrocity against lower caste Hindus, a young Dalit writer was attacked by a group of Hindutva activists for his writings against the caste system perceived to be “anti-Hindu” at Davanagere in Central Karnataka.

The Thursday’s attack comes barely three months after the shooting of writer M.M. Kalburgi – barely 100 km away – and at a time when numerous writers across the country have raised their voice against rising intolerance.

According to the complaint filed by 23-year-old Huchangi Prasad, a journalism student at Davanagere University who had published a ‘controversial’ book a year ago, an unidentified man came to the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe hostel at the university in the early hours, claiming that Mr. Prasad’s mother had been hospitalised following a heart attack.

Apparently in “shock”, the student followed the man who promised to take him to the hospital. Midway, in an isolated corner of APMC Yard, a group of eight to ten people ambushed him.

“They surrounded me and started to push me around. They said my writings were anti-Hindu as I talked about the caste system. They even put kumkum all over my face. They pulled out a knife and said they will cut my fingers off so I can never write again,” Mr. Prasad told The Hindu.

He pushed his way through the group and ran into the nearby woods, where he hid. Hours later, when sure that the group had left, he fled to the hostel. He later filed a police complaint.

Following the attack, police have registered a case against “unknown persons” under attempt to murder (IPC 307) and under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989.

The student had published his first book in April 2014 and had since then faced threats. The book comprised prose and poetry revolving around treatment of Dalits in the country.

At the book launch, Kannada writer K.S. Bhagwan — who has recently received threats — spoke inviting the ire of right-wing organisations who had filed a complaint for provocative speech at the local police station. Mr. Prasad had been threatened since then.

(Agencies)

Urdu poet Munawwar Rana to meet Modi soon over writers returning awards

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Munawwar Rana

Lucknow: Urdu poet Munawwar Rana, who has returned his Sahitya Akademi award would meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi soon.

“I got a call from PMO on Tuesday with a request to meet him the next day. As I was in Gwalior I said that it was not possible and the date and time should be fixed for some other day…On this I was told that it will take some time,” Mr. Rana said on Thursday.

Mr. Rana, a big name in contemporary Urdu poetry said that whenever Prime Minister would call him he would meet him and narrate his grief over the present scenario and would explain the reason behind his decision of returning award.

“I will meet the PM as a poet with reference to Ganga-Jamuna tehzeeb of the country. My intention is to live the life which I was born with,” he said.

On being asked if he will meet PM along with other litterateurs, he said, “Somebody goes with me or not is his or her personal choice, but if Modi calls me I will definitely meet him.”

Meanwhile, Mr. Rana evaded the question of accepting his award again if Prime Minister would request.

Mr. Rana had recently announced to give up his Sahitya Akademi award dramatically during a live TV debate over the killing of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and lynching of a man in Dadri for allegedly consuming beef.

The Rae Bareli-born writer conferred the Sahitya Akademi award by the Modi government in 2014 for his book Shahdaba.

(PTI)

I do not recognise India of the present time, says writer Anita Desai

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Image by Ramin Talaie/Corbis

Image by Ramin Talaie/Corbis

London: Noted novelist Anita Desai has said she will return her Sahitya Award if the Akademi does not make it clear that it is not a government body but an independent one that exists to defend free speech and the right to question and dissent.

Her comments came after at least 34 writers, over the past weeks, handed over their Sahitya Akademi awards in the aftermath of the killing of Kannada writer M M Kalburgi and Dadri lynching incident, among other issues.

“If it is not able to declare and pursue such a policy, I will be obliged, in solidarity with my fellow writers, to renounce my membership of the Akademi and the award it gave me when I was a young writer in more hopeful times,” Desai said in a statement distributed by PEN International here.

The 78-year-old author who received a Sahitya Award in 1978 for her novel “Fire on the Mountain” said she was born in an India that enshrined democracy, pluralism and the freedom of speech in its constitution.

“I do not recognise India of the present time where, under the banner of ‘Hindutva,’ intimidation and bigotry seek to silence writers, scholars and all who believe in secular and rational thought,” she said.

The author said in an atmosphere where there is no security or support for those who voice dissent, criticism or rational thought, there can be no intellectual or artistic work of any worth.

“It saddens me that the august body of the Sahitya Akademi has not been able to support and protect writers from the intimidation and violence, verbal and physical, watched publishers withdraw books, universities delete texts from syllabi, distort and manipulate history, and silently witnessed institutions like the National Book Trust, the Nehru Museum and Library, and the University of Nalanda replace distinguished scholars,” Desai said.

“At this crucial moment I appeal to the Sahitya Akademi to make clear that it does not represent any government or its policies, but is an independent body that exists to defend free speech and the right to question and dissent, in short what the constitution of the country promised us,” she said.

Desai, who was shortlisted three times for the Booker Prize was in 2007, was elected as a Sahitya Akademi Fellow, one of the highest honour conferred by the literary body on a writer.

Recently, writers from 150 countries expressed solidarity with Indian authors and artistes who returned their prestigious awards in protest against “rising intolerance” in the country and have asked the BJP government to provide better protection and safeguard free speech.

The president of 1921 founded body PEN International had earlier in a letter to the President, the Prime Minister and the Sahitya Akedemi, urged them to take “immediate steps” to protect the rights of everyone, including writers and artists.

Desai is among many writers including noted writers Nayantar Seghal, Ashok Vajpeyi, Shashi Deshpande and Ganesh Devy who have spoken out against the rising intolerance in the country.

(PTI)

17-year-old Ria Vithasha returns Karnataka state Sahitya award

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Ria Vithasha

Bengaluru: For 17 year-old Ria Vithasha, who has authored five novels, the killing of senior Kannada writer M M Kalburgi distressed her enough to take the decision to return her Karnataka Sahitya Academy award.

Vithasha, known by her pen name Muddu Thirthahalli, whose novel “Kaada Haadiya Hoogalu” has been adapted into an award-winning film, said she was “pained” that the killers of Kalburgi had not yet been caught and punished.

“I knew Kalburgi from childhood and have read all his books. I cried a lot when he was killed and wanted to return my award but my parents told me to have patience and wait. Now so much time has elapsed and still there is nothing being done so like the other writers have done, I have returned my award,” Vithasha said in halting Hindi.

The young writer, who is a PU II (Class 11)student, was conferred the award for her 2011 collection of essays “Ondu Chandrana Tundu”.

Vithasha’s mother Lydia D’Mello said her insistence to return the award came after hearing Kannada writer Chandrashekar Patil decided to return his Pampa award, one of the highest literary honors conferred by the Department of Kannada and Culture of Karnataka.

“She was close to Kalburgi and had attended many functions in his hometown Dharwad. She wanted to do something when she heard of his killing but we advised her to have patience,” D’Mello said.

(PTI)

Kalburgi’s wife ​Umadevi refuses to accept Basavashri award

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M M Kalburgi

Dharwad: M M Kalburgi’s wife Umadevi has reportedly denied accepting the Basavashri award from Murugha Mutt in Chitradurga.

Reports state that Umadevi in a letter to the Murugha Mutt said that she was still in a shock after her husband’s death and was not able to receive the Basavashri award under such circumstances.

Professor MM Kalburgi was killed by two men on August 30.

The Murugha Mutt had planned on conferring the award on MM Kalburgi posthumously at an event scheduled for October 7. However, on October 9, Umadevi thanked the Murugha Mutt for choosing MM Kalburgi for the award but denied accepting it.

Another report adds that the Mutt wanted to send a person to convince them in accepting the award, but the family said that they were in no position to do so.

(Agencies)

6 more authors return Sahitya Akademi awards

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Noted Kashmiri writer and poet Ghulam Nabi Khayal. Photo: Facebook

Noted Kashmiri writer and poet Ghulam Nabi Khayal. Photo: Facebook

New Delhi: Six more authors including Kashmiri writer Ghulam Nabi Khayal, Kannada writer-translator Srinath D N and Rajesh Joshi have decided to return their Sahitya Akademi awards under the spiralling protest by litterateurs against “communal” atmosphere and “rising intolerance” following rationalist M M Kalburgi’s killing.

Hindi writers Mangalesh Dabral and Rajesh Joshi along with Srinath today said they will return their prestigious Sahitya Akademi awards while Waryam Sandhu and G N Ranganatha Rao intimated the Akademi of their decision. Khayal also joined the bandwagon of authors, saying the minorities in the country today feel “unsafe and threatened”.

“In the place of the pen, there are now bullets being fired. Author Kalburgi was murdered and both the Centre and the state should quickly act against the offenders so that such an incident is not repeated in the future,” Srinath said.

Srinath had won the 2009 Sahitya Akademi for translating short stories in Hindi written by Bheesham Sahani into Kannada.

In their joint statement protesting the “silence” of the Akademi over the Kalburgi murder, writers Dabral and Joshi said, “For the past one year or so basic values of democracy freeedom of expression, freedom to live our lives according to our wishes are under attack by the forces of Hindutva, which is not acceptable.

“The Sahitya Akademi remains silent about the Kalburgi murder so many dangers our democracy is facing, the very fabric of democracy is under threat.”

They said the Akademi should have opposed the killing of Kalburgi openly. “It was the duty of the Akademi to condemn the atmosphere in the country,” he said.

When contacted Akademi officials said they were yet to recieve intimations of the writers returning the awards.

“Apart from writers Uday Prakash, GN Devy, Aman Sethi, Waryam Sandhu and translator G N Ranganatha Rao, we have not got any intimations about the writers returning their awards,” an official said.

Joshi told PTI over phone from Mumbai, “Manglesh Dabral and I made the decision last night and have written to the Akademi chair our decision to return the award.”

Joshi said they had sent a joint statement to the Akademi President Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari and will soon be returning their prize money too.

“We thought that it is high time that we returned the award. The climate in the country is such that writers are being killed, the freedom of expression is under threat…,” Joshi said.

“Besides, the way country’s atmosphere is being communalised is not good for the tradition of tolerance for which the nation is known and also for its democracy,” he said.

The writer, poet and playwright who recieved the Akademi award in 2002 for his ‘Do Panktiyon Ke Beech’ (Between Two Lines) said it was unprecedented to have so many writers return their awards.

“Right now the Akademi’s executive council has to deliberate on the issue to come up with a provision on what to do with the award money,” Joshi said.

Six authors, including Gujarat-based writer Ganesh Devy, announced they were returning their awards, joining ranks with authors Uday Prakash, Nayantara Sahgal, Ashok Vajpayei who had earlier given up the honour to protest against the Kalburgi killing and Dadri lynching incident wher a man was kileld by a mob over rumour of beef eating

At least 16 authors have announced their decision to return their Sahitya Akademi awards.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, Urdu novelist Rahman Abbas today returned the Maharashtra State Urdu Sahitya Academy Award as a mark of protest against the Dadri lynching incident.

“I was to return the award on Saturday. However, officials of the Academy informed me that the office was closed that day. Therefore, I returned the award today,” Abbas told PTI, after returning the award at the Academy office in south Mumbai.

“After the Dadri lynching, the Urdu writing community has been quite unhappy. Therefore, I decided to return the award. There are some other Urdu writers who also want to join the protest. It is high time we stood up to the injustice surrounding us,” he said.

Abbas had in 2011 won the award for his third novel ‘Khuda Ke Saaye Mein Aankh Micholi’ (Hide and Seek in the Shadow of God).

Earlier, noted writers Nayantara Sahgal and poet Ashok Vajpeyi had returned their literary honours to protest what they termed as an “assault on right to freedom of both life and expression”.

A 50-year-old man was on September 28 lynched by a mob in Dadri’s Bishada village near Delhi over rumours of eating beef, triggering a nationwide outrage.

 

Writer Shashi Deshpande quits Sahitya Akademi governing body

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Shashi Deshpande

Bengaluru: The institution, she said, ‘should speak for the large community of Indian writers, and must stand up and protest the murder of Professor Kalburgi and all such acts of violent intolerance’.

“Deeply distressed by the silence” of the Sahitya Akademi on the murder of Professor MM Kalburgi, award-winning novelist Shashi Deshpande has offered her resignation from the premier literary body’s General Council.

“I do this with regret, and with the hope that the Akademi will go beyond organising programmes, and giving prizes, to being involved with crucial issues that affect Indian writers’ freedom to speak and write,” Deshpande, a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award for the novel That Long Silence in 1990 and the Padma Shri award in 2009, wrote in her letter of resignation, addressed to the Akademi President Dr Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari.

Earlier this week, eminent writer Nayantara Sahgal and former Lalit Kala Akademi chairman Ashok Vajpeyi had returned their Sahitya Akademi Awards to protest the “assault on right to freedom of both life and expression”.

Noted Hindi writer Uday Prakash was the first to return his Sahitya Akademi award to protest the murder of Professor Kalburgi.

Dr Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari,
President,
Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi

Cc: Professor Chandrashekhar Kambar, Vice-President Sahitya Akademi, Dr K. Sreenivasarao, Secretary Sahitya Akademi

Dear Sir,

When I heard in November 2012 from the Sahitya Akademi that I had been nominated to the General Council of the Akademi in the individual category of writers, I felt honoured. I have always respected the Sahitya Akademi’s role as the single institution in India that brings together all the Indian languages under one umbrella, at the same time giving each language its rightful place and dignity.

Today, I am deeply distressed by the silence of the Akademi on the murder of Professor MM Kalburgi. Professor Kalburgi was a noted scholar, and a good and honest human being; he was also a Sahitya Akademi awardee and a member of its General Council until recently.

If the Akademi, the premier literary organisation in the country, cannot stand up against such an act of violence against a writer, if the Akademi remains silent about this attack on one of its own, what hope do we have of fighting the growing intolerance in our country? A few tame condolence meetings here and there for a member of our community cannot serve the purpose.

Sadly, it has become increasingly important to reaffirm that difference of opinion cannot be ended with a bullet; that discussion and debate are the only way a civilised society resolves issues. It has also become clear that writers, who are supposed to be the conscience-keepers of society, are no longer considered intellectual leaders; their voices no longer matter. Perhaps this is the right time for writers to reclaim their voices. But we need a community of voices, and this is where the Akademi could serve its purpose and play an important role. It could initiate and provide space for discussion and debate in public life. It could stand up for the rights of writers to speak and write without fear; this is a truth all political parties in a democracy are supposed to believe in. Silence is a form of abetment, and the Sahitya Akademi, which should speak for the large community of Indian writers, must stand up and protest the murder of Professor Kalburgi and all such acts of violent intolerance.

In view of the Akademi’s failure to stand up for its community of writers and scholars, I am, out of a sense of strong disappointment, offering my resignation from the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi. I do this with regret, and with the hope that the Akademi will go beyond organising programmes, and giving prizes, to being involved with crucial issues that affect Indian writers’ freedom to speak and write.

Shashi Deshpande
Bangalore
October 9, 2015

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