Social activists and writers from several States will converge in Dharwad on August 30 to mark the first death anniversary of scholar M.M. Kalburgi. They will set out on ‘Dharwad Chalo’ from various districts and reach here to not only remember the slain scholar, but also demand speedy investigation into the case that has made little headway.
Kalburgi, who was known for his strong stand against superstitious practices and right-wing groups, was shot dead at his residence last year. After initial investigation by the local police, the case was handed over to the Crime Investigation Department. Barring the inference drawn on similarities between the killings of Kalburgi and two other rationalists, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare, the investigation seems to have hit a dead end.
Among the participants expected at the meeting are family members of Dabholkar and Pansare. Editor of Little Magazine Anara Dev Sen, writer and academician Ashok Vajpeyi, Malayalam writer E.V. Ramakrishnan, historian Iftikar Ahmed, Punjabi writer Atamjit Singh, economist Jaya Mehta, artist Sanjeev Khandekar, editor of The Wire Siddharth Varadarajan, Marathi writer Ganesh Visputey, Oriya poet Bishnu Mahapotra, writer Chaman Lal, and Prof. Jyotirmaya Sharma from Hyderabad are expected to arrive in Dharwad.
“The objective is to exert pressure on the government to intensify the investigation. The march also intends at seeking action against fringe elements that try to disturb social harmony,” Basavaraj Sulibhavi, event convene, told The Hindu .
The protest is
to remind the govt. to speed up the investigation. It’s also to send across a message that people cannot be intimidated into silence.
G.N. DevyLinguisthttp://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/dharwad-chalo-to-mark-kalburgis-first-death-anniversary/article9034146.ece
