New Delhi, Sep 11
The death of Kannada
rationalist and literary scholar M.M. Kalburgi has sparked protests
among people of all spheres in Karnataka. Many political leaders have
drawn parallels between his death and those of rationalists Narendra
Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.
According to those who were closely
associated with Kalburgi, the killing represents a worrying trend of
silencing people for holding contrarian views.
The former vice
chancellor of Hampi University, Kalburgi, was shot dead by unidentified
assailants at his home in Dharwad on August 30. Kalburgi was known for
his extensive research on the 12th century old Vachanas, the literary
work of Basava, the founder of Lingayatism.
According to activist
and writer based in coastal Karnataka, H.S. Anupama, the killing of
Kalburgi could have been an act to silence his ideologies.
"In my
opinion, it was a mind target, to silence the person. There are many
people including Kalburgi who vehemently opposed the Sangh Parivar and
its ideology -- although we cannot say his killing was the work of Sangh
Parivar. There are many facets to this killing," Anupama told IANS in a
telephonic interview.
"Any idea slightly challenging to those in
power is not being tolerated today. Freedom of speech is a farce and
nearly non-existent, with so many in the country being silenced for
their ideas," she said.
Through his writings, Kalburgi had
pointed out that Lingayats cannot be a part of the Hindu religion since
the community according to Basava's scriptures does not believe in idol
worship, temple construction or caste system, Anupama pointed out,
adding that self-realization was a key aspect of the community.
Lingayats
are a major community in the political sphere of the state, and their
political leaders were in merger talks with the BJP of the state. Hence,
Kalburgi's writings, in a way, posed threats to the Hindutva
ideologues.
His book Marga 1 in 1989, where he had examined
several Vachanas by Basava's second wife Neelambika, had triggered the
Lingayat community to force him to withdraw some parts of his text.
Other texts of his had the other Hindu groups raising their brows at his
work.
Kalburgi had called the withdrawal an "intellectual suicide" to save his family members.
"His
research work on the Lingayat community, the Vachanas and the
Shaiva-Vaishnava clash had created ideological enemies to him within the
community," Anupama said, adding that the man was like an
'ajatashatru', someone who knew no enemies in his everyday life.
Among
rationalists, Kalburgi's killing was roundly condemned. "Killing a
77-year-old man for his ideologies is an act of cowardice. He had a
scientific way of analysing many things. He may have been killed, but
his ideas cannot be," said Narendra Nayak, president of the Federation
of Rationalists' Association of India.
Kalburgi, who had written
over 100 books, had also shown his support to the Anti-superstition
Bill, which was proposed by the current chief minister Siddaramaiah in
2013. The bill, which planned to ban practices like black magic and
witchcraft had received flak from the BJP and other Hindu groups.
As
the former vice chancellor of Hampi University, Kalburgi was a
rationalist, anti-superstitious and believed in hard work, said a
professor of Hampi University, who had worked with Kalburgi.
"He
was a very sincere man, as far as the financial transactions of the
university were concerned. He had no other ambitions than academic ones
and was a very popular role model for many teachers in Karnataka," said
the professor, who wished to remain anonymous.
Allegations that
his killing may be over property or family matters cannot be possible,
the professor said, as he was never interested in anything but academic
subjects.
The 77-year-old man had a simple way of living and
dressing, and ate two jowar rotis and some boiled vegetables as his
standard meal, the professor said.
He also recalled numerous hate
emails, letters and hatred on social media that Kalburgi had to face
over the past few years due to his research.
But for Shreeraj
Gudi, a professor in Manipal, who has been in Dharwad for over three
decades - the place where Kalburgi was shot dead - the city has never
witnessed such terror act.
Dharwad, arguably, the literary
capital of Karnataka, as Gudi said, "has always been the place for
debate and discussions. It has strong Left and Right wing ideologues,
but the place never curtailed anyone's ideas."
Dharwad, about 430
km from Bangalore located in the north, is unlike coastal Karnataka,
where the Left and Right wings often indulge in violence, Gudi said over
the phone.
The town is also known to have produced the highest number of Jnanpith awardees.
Talking
about the Hindutva groups in the state, Gudi said "even Pramod Muthalik
(chief of Rashtriya Hindu Sena) does not enjoy the same popularity as
he does in coastal Karnataka.
For Ramakant Joshi, publisher of
the Manohara Grantha Mala, the image of Kalburgi's at 9.30 a.m. in the
local hospital of Dharwad, where he was lying with two bullets through
his head, stands still in his memory. Joshi, said Kalburgi was a
workaholic who dedicated over 18 hours of his day to his writing. He had
published 'Kevur Vasudevacharya Samagra' a book edited by Kalburgi,
through Manohara Grantha Mala.
H.V.Kakhandiki, the core-secretary
of the Dharwad Sahitya Sambhrama, which worked on the lines of the
Jaipur Literature Festival, had worked very closely with Kalburgi, who
was honorary president of the fest along with playwright Girish Karnad.
Kakhandiki
and Joshi recalled the numerous plans that Kalburgi had laid ahead for
his books and the fest, calling his death an "extremely unfortunate"
event.
(Bhavana Akella can be contacted at [email protected])
