HYDERABAD: Support for Kancha Ilaiah, the Dalit writer is growing, especially online, after numerous death threats and protests against him by members of the Arya Vysya community. The state police too have extended security to the professor, provided he approaches them with such a request. “We are closely monitoring the situation and have taken adequate measures for his safety, “ said V Satyanarayana deupty commissioner of police, Hyderabad east zone. “Ilaiah has to send us an application requesting for police protection, the request will then be looked at by a vigilance committee,” he added.
Various Dalit student groups and civil liberties groups have come forward expressing their solidarity with the writer. Recalling the murders rationalist Kalburgi and journalist activist Gauri Lankesh, Dontha Prashanth, representing Ambedkar Students Association allege that there is a patten to the present death threats against Illiah.We are offended by what he has written but we don’t want him killed, it would be best that the book gets banned, C Srinivasu Murthy, a general body member of Arya Vysa community said.
Reaching out through a press release on Wednesday, Kancha Ilaiah, pointed out that the underlying point of the book dealt with the need for reservation in private sector.
“It is a researchers duty to do research on all communities. If the richest community does not have positive moral sentiment towards poorest and weakest people, hurting that sentiment in the process of writing is unavoidable. If the Vysyas that include many top industrialists take an initiative to give some token preferential treatment for the people I mentioned above the health of the national economy certainly would improve. In our view that is their nationalist responsibly,” said Ilaiah.
Arya Vysyas launch relay hunger strike agianst Ilaiah
Arya Vysya community members in Hanamkonda on Wednesday launched relay hunger strike demanding that the government ban Kancha Ilaiah’s book ‘Samajika Smugglurlu Komatollu’ and arrest him immediately. They alleged that the title of the book and some of its contents were derogatory and demeaning to the community. Moreover, their community members are always law-abiding citizens and productive group. Hence, making such comments against Arya Vysyas was completely wrong, they said. “We want the government to severely punish Ilaiah. How can he insult our community? We would not rest till he is punished,” community JAC Hanamkonda president K Ramesh said.