THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:The murder of Kannada scholar and Sahitya Akademi Award winner M M Kalburgi reveals the fascist policy of suppressing people who attempt to express their views in a democratic manner, poet Prabha Varma said on Friday.
He was speaking at a commemoration organised by the NGO Union to condemn the heinous crime which took place at Kalburgi’s residence on August 30. “ His murder is not an isolated incident. It reveals the fascist policy of suppressing democratic views,” Prabha Varma said.
Organisations which champion racist causes are making strides in our society to terrorise the democratic way of life. The message that people who oppose idolatry need not live is an attempt to thrust India back into the dark ages, Prabha Varma said. ‘’Such groups are trying to create a modern fascist nation in India by shattering the reformist institutions nurtured by the likes of Sree Narayana Guru, Vagbhadananda and Sahodaran Ayyappan,’’ he said.
A rationalist and scholar on Vachana literature, Kalburgi had had quarrels with Hindutva groups in the past. He was an academic who served as the vice-chancellor of the Kannada University, Hampi. An epigraphist of the Kannada language, he was presented the 2006 Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award.
NGO Union general secretary T C Mathukutty, state secretariat member C K Dinesh Kumar, union district secretary U M Nahas also spoke.