'The killers of MM Kalburgi are cowards and anti-nationals'
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Writers and intellectuals staged protest in Dharwad as the assassination of MM Kalaburgi completes one year. The protesters took three resolutions. The intellectuals made some controversial comments.
At the one year anniversary of the assassination of rationalist MM Kalaburgi, writers and intellectuals staged a protest in Dharwad. The protestors contended that both the central and state governments were neglecting the assassination of intellectuals.
"Even after one year the SIT (Special Investigation Team) has not shown any progress in the MM Kalaburgi assassination case. We are going to stage a massive protest if they don’t arrest culprits within a month".
The protestors included writers, artists, intellectuals and the family members of MM Kalaburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dhabholkar.
The protest was not without some controversy. Here are some of the statements made during the event:
"Fundamentalists among Brahmin, Veerashaivas and Lingayat communities are encouraging communalism in the state" - Poet, playwright and editor Chandrashekhar Patil
"Give guns to dalits. Only then weak people will become strong. You can't go a single day without the nation witnessing one or the other incident of a rape of a dalit woman and atrocities against dalits. The government may arrest innocents if we pressurise it. Hence we waited and tolerated for one year. Our toleration is not our weakness," – Writer and rationalist KS Bhagawan
"The wound of the bullet fired at my father by a coward is still fresh. This is an assassination of freedom of expression. We will continue our protest, based on the principles of my father” – Sri Vijaya, son of MM Kalaburgi
Meanwhile, Kagodu Timmappa, the Congress MLA from Sagar, tried to sooth angry sentiments by saying, "It may take one year, two years or five years to catch the culprits. The police are investigating”
Noted Kannada scholar and researcher, M M Kalburgi, who often courted controversies with his outspoken stand on various issues including idol worship, was shot dead at point-blank range by two unidentified men at his residence on 30 August, 2015.
Two men came on a two-wheeler and knocked at the door of Kalburgi's house and as it was opened, two shots were fired at him on his forehead and chest, after which the assailants fled.
