Ganesh Devy - Marching in Memory of M.M. Kalburgi
The brutal murder of the Kannada scholar
M.M. Kalburgi in August last year had resulted in a sharp reaction from Indian
intellectuals, literary scholars and artists. Earlier, rationalist Narendra
Dabholkar was killed in Pune and Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in Maharashtra.
Reacting to these attacks on intellectuals, several artists and writers had
returned their awards to the awarding bodies as a way of protest.
Though in none of the
three cases have the respective state governments been able to get to the
bottom of these attacks, there has been some progress in the Dabholkar murder
case. Despite appeals from individuals and concerned bodies from all parts of
the country and even outside, the investigation in Kalburgi’s murder has made
negligible progress.
In order to protest
the government’s indifferent attitude to such an important case and to remember
Kalburgi, a silent walk is being staged in Dharwad on August 30, the day that
marks a year since the tragic killing. Over 90 organisations from Karnataka and
a similarly large number of orgaisations from outside have come together to
hold the walk and a public meeting following the march.
The organisations that
have converged on this issue include cultural bodies, student organisations,
literary associations, professional unions, women’s organisations and various
colleges and publishing houses. Important literary figures participating in the
march range from octogenarian poet Channavir Kanavi to the teenage
award-winning writer Muddu Theerthally. Writers from several states, ranging
from Punjab to Kerala, have come together in Dharwad on the morning of the
30th. Similarly, the spouses of the three victims of intolerance are
also present at the silent walk.
Local organisers of
the event have received messages from several important thinkers and social
activists from across the country. Among the speakers at the open meeting
following the silent walk are writer and editor, Antara Dev Sen, media
persons Kumar Ketkar and Siddharth Varadarajan, novelist Rajan Khan, poet
Sanjeev Khandekar and film artist Anjum Rajbali.
Nearly 1,000 literary
persons from Karnataka arrived in Dharwad on the August 30 to participate
in the protest and eminent scholars like Rahmant Tarikere, Rajendra Chenni,
Narahari Balasubramanyam, Chandrashekhar Patil (Champa), B. Suresh, K.S.
Bhagwan, Muzaffar Asadi, Sarju Katkar, T.R. Chandrashekhar, G. Rajashekhar and
many others will address the meeting to be held at the Town Hall located on the
R. L. S. Campus. A compilation of essays about Kalburgi is being
released on the occasion.
A similar protest was
organised in Maharashtra on August 20 in Dabholkar’s memory. The growing
restlessness and unease among intellectuals about the government’s indifference
to the attacks on intellectuals is likely to be expressed during the
public meeting. Given the scale of the protest, all eyes remain focused on
Dharwad on August 30.
Ganesh Devy, writer
and activist, is founder director of the Bhasha Research Centre and has chaired
the People’s Linguistic Survey of India. This article was
originally published in Indian Cultural Forum. Read
the original article here.
