BENGALURU: Members of the Lingayat community, writers, rationalists and others paid rich tributes to rationalist and Lingayat scholar Dr MM Kalburgi, who was shot dead by an assassin on August 30, 2015. Many people visited Dr Kalburgi’s memorial in Dharwad, offered floral tributes and paid their respects in silence.
Well-known Lingayat scholar and Vachana literature expert Dr Veeranna Rajour, along with members of the Basava Kendra and others, paid his respects in Dharwad.
In Bengaluru, a group of students held a candlelight vigil on Thursday night. One of the students, Ramesh Police, said, “I printed out his picture, picked up some candles, and gathered some friends to remember the great scholar together.”
In Gadag, students from the Thontadarya Kannada School gathered outside their school to remember the esteemed scholar. At his residence, his family members displayed his books and a large photograph of him.
The memorial services and remembrances were not limited to India. In Keonics of Arizona in the US, a small group of people paid their respects to the scholar. They read some of his writings. Mr NS Devaravar, along with Sushma G, Inika B, and Vrish B, offered tributes to Dr Kalburgi.
Dr Kalburgi’s death followed the killings of other rationalists, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.