KASARGOD/MANGALURU/UDUPI: Freedom fighter, teacher, journalist and poet Kayyara Kinhanna Rai died in Kasargod, Kerala, on Sunday. Relatives said he passed away peacefully at his house, Kavitha Kuteera, at Perdala near Badiadka, in the evening. The cremation will be held on Monday.
The poet, who turned 100 on June 8, was considered a bridge between Kannada and Malayalam literature.
He also championed the cause of unifying the Kannada-speaking areas of Kasargod with Karnataka. “He was a stalwart in fighting for the rights of linguistic minorities of Kasargod,” Kannada journalist Radhakrishna Ulliyathaduka said.