Four years ago, academic and activist MM Kalburgi was gunned down at his residence in Dharwad by Ganesh Miskin & Praveen Chatur, both linked to Sanatan Sanstha, a Hindutva outfit. Kalburgi was a vocal critic of idol worship and superstition, which often got him locking horns with Hindutva groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which made Kalburgi the target of their campaign during the years following up to his assassination on 30th August, 2015.

Translated by Aniruddha Nagaraj and Ali Ahsan

Image courtesy Catch News

As a tribute to Kalburgi and to the countless other pens that will not be put down, ICF presents an impassioned Kannada poem on political killings, by poet-activist Huchangi Prasad.

You cowards —
firing at us who wield pens.
You murderers —
celebrating the cold-hearted killing of innocents.

Let the sparrows
build nests
at your gunpoints.

Your guns may have wounded us.
But we are not just bodies,
                              Mute bodies.

We are children of the earth,
our mother gives us life with every letter,
strength with every word.

Look, this is not blood we shed
but ink, fresh and indelible,
writing the history of truth.

Every drop of blood now reborn
                      into a thousand truths.

Listen — I know, you Great Devotees!
I know the sword that chopped Shambuka’s head.
I know who demanded Eklavya’s thumb.
I know the truth: I know that sword.
I know you who became a gun
to kill me.

Listen — lies are not termites
                     eating away at truth.
Guns cannot destroy it either.
But these pens, these countless pens,
How they grow, tall, strong,
like a gigantic tree of many truths.

Read the original here.

Read more:
They Feared His Words: A Tribute to M. M. Kalburgi
Are there links between Sanatan Sanstha and Abhinav Bharat?
Avinash Patil on Religion, Superstition and Sanathan Sanstha​
Why Sanathan Sanstha’s Allegation is Redundant

Huchangi Prasad is a writer and activist. He currently teaches at the Government First Grade College, Davanagere, Karnataka.

Poem © Huchangi Prasad; translation © Aniruddha Nagaraj and Ali Ahsan.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

The post Firing at the Heart of Truth: Remembering MM Kalburgi appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
About a year ago, Uma Kalburgi wife of the slain academic had filed a petition concerned with the slow pace of investigation in the killing of her husband. During a hearing of the matter in December 2018, the SC had raised the issue of whether the matter should be handed over to the CBI and more, whether all four investigations should be clubbed and looked into by one agency. Before Kalburgi, Govind Pansare the senior CPI leader and writer had been shot dead on his morning walk on February 20, 2015. On August 20, 2013, rationalist and founder of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Andolan Nirmoolan Samiti, Narendra Dabholkar had been similarly killed. The four murders had generated widespread condemnation.
 
Concerned that any adverse verdict may affect the investigation into her sister’s murder, filmmaker , Kavitha Lankesh had intervened in the matter.The intervention application number 811/2019 was filed in Writ Petition (Criminal) Nos 212/2017, filed by the Uma Kalburgi, wife of Kannada academic MM Kalburgi who was similarly gunned down in August 2015, two years before Ms Gauri Lankesh. The petition of the Kalburgi’s has prayed for a Court monitored investigation and not for a clubbing of investigations.
 
 

Uma Kalburgi, in her petition had prayed for

a)   Issue a Writ of Mandamus or any other Writ, Order or Direction in the nature of Mandamus appointing Independent person retired Judge of Supreme Court or High Court and of directing Respondent No. 2 Government of Karnataka to appoint dedicated Special Investigation Team led by the Additional Director of General of Police, Karnataka, and comprising of expert officers of impeccable credentials to conduct an investigation into the conspiracy and gruesome murder of Professor M. M. Kalburgi on 30/08/2015 and to take all necessary consequential steps/actions pertaining thereto and direction to provide such Team necessary facilities as well as support. The directions also should include reporting to Hon’ble Supreme Court and no change in the team without permission of the Hon’ble Court;
b)   Direct the State of Maharashtra and the State of Goa to nominate particular police officer to provide all support and information to Special Investigating Team constituted under prayer-clause (a) immediately and share details of investigation in murder of Dr. Dabholkar and Comrade Pansare;
c)   Seek immediate report from all the Respondent States involved and especially from the National Investigation Agency seeking efforts made by them to apprehend the accused named in the said crime and accused involved in Professor Kalburgi murder case along with reports from State of Maharashtra and C.B.I.;
d)   Formulate appropriate policy for investigation of inter-state crimes and the support of agency like the N.I.A. and the C.B.I. to various State agencies whenever and wherever it is required. The said policy should mandate appointment of Nodal officer holding rank of Inspector General of Police in every State. The policy should also provide for timeframe for sharing information and coram of meetings;
e)   Monitor the investigation to be carried out by the Special Investigation Team sought to be constituted through the present Petition, till the time such investigation is reached to its logical conclusion;
f)   During the pendency of the hearing of the present petition, this Hon’ble Court be pleased to direct the Respondent to submit the periodic status report as to the progress made in the investigation in the case of murder of Professor  M. M. Kalburgi”
 
Ms Lankesh, in her intervention application had made a strong case for arguing that, “the Special Investigation Team (SIT) headed by Inspector General of Police (Karnataka) has been conducting the Investigation with great speed and urgency and moreover the entire Investigation has been committed to a Court though not yet completed.The  SIT Investigation is being carried out with great pace and from January 2018 till date, 16 accused persons have been arrested and incriminating evidences have been unearthed by the SIT. Following this, even the preliminary and subsequent Charge Sheets have been filed.” Moreover she has stated that “ if at this advanced stage of the Investigation into the matter of the cold blooded murder of the sister of the Applicant, any change is made or the Investigation is shifted to any other agency, the entire process would be de-railed.”
 
Background of Ms Gauri Lankesh Murder:
The incident of the cold blood killing of the sister of the Applicant, Ms. Gauri Lankesh took place on September 5, 2017, between 8:00 pm and 8:30 pm, at her residence No. 473/A, 14^th Cross, Ideal Homes Extension, Rajarajeshwari Nagar, when unidentified assailants committed the murder of senior journalist and activist, Gauri Lankesh by shooting seven shots in cold blood. The said incident came under the jurisdiction of Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station of Bangalore City and on the same day an FIR was registered under Sections 302, 120(B), 114, 118, 109, 201, 203, 204, 35 of I.P.C. and Sections 25(1), 25(1B), 27(1) of the Indian Arms Act, 1959 and Sessions 3(1)(i), 3(2), 3(3) and 3(4) of the COCA Act, 2000 ( Order No.C.R.M./01/158/BC/2017-18 dated 06-09-2017 of the  D.G. and I.G.P.) as Crime No. 221/2017. Gauri lankesh’s sister, Kavitha Lankesh is the first informant in the case.
 
The Karnataka State Government announced the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was constituted the day after the ghastly incident itself. Since then the Investigation has been carried on by the said SIT. Kavitha Lankesh also states that “through the numbing shock of her sister’s brute assassination, she and her family were also compelled in the interests of justice and truth-telling to participate in the process to identify the killers of this dastardly act. Through this process, despite the national and international attention on the case, it is the applicant’s humble and most considered experience that the SIT constituted by the Karnataka government and police, went about its job methodically to the best extent possible gathering evidence crucial to the investigation.” Detailed reports of the investigation have shown that under the aegis of the SIT that links and connections to the other cases and murders committed before the killing of the applicant’s sister, Gauri Lankesh have been and are being made. Accused hitherto linked and connected to other crimes even outside the killings of the four rationalists along with the applicant’s sister have been unearthed through the investigations of the SIT, Karnataka.

“The Investigation has also apparently unearthed details of arms trainings and trainings in killings and violent acts that point to a broader based organizational set up that goes beyond the killing of the Applicant’s sister, Ms Gauri Lankesh. That details of these criminal acts and trainings appear to be taking place in both Karnataka and Maharashtra and Goa at the very least”

She had further stated that, if at all therefore any investigations have to be clubbed or transferred it ought to be to this body constituted of the senior echelons of the Karnataka police.”
 
Details of Ms Kavitha Lankesh’s intervention application can be read here.
 
Ms Uma Kalburgi’s petition may be read here.
 

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The Texts Lived by Basava and Kalburgi

 
Basava, Kalburgi. Neither was an atheist; but both believed in, and practised, a radical form of religion. Their words—indeed, their lives—were texts that challenged the powerful status quo.

If the reformer and poet Basava were alive today, we would call him an activist, or even a radical. Back in the twelfth century, when he spearheaded a movement in Karnataka, this is how he described the plethora of demanding gods who keep common people in their thrall:

Certain gods
always stand watch
at the doors of people.
Some will not go if you ask them to go.
Worse than dogs, some others.
What can they give,
these gods,
who live off the charity of people
O lord of the meeting rivers?
(Speaking of Siva, 83)
It was not just the gods who “lived off the charity of people” or were, sometimes, “worse than dogs”. There were also the places where these gods lived―the temples―and more important, the men who ruled this temple culture, fattening themselves in the name of religion. The rich temples that allowed priests to be powerful doorkeepers of orthodoxy kept people in their miserable places. Basava’s ideas and words criticised both temple and priest, the entire conservative and exploitative system, as “static”. And he insisted that there was a “dynamic” alternative:
The rich
will make temples for Siva.
What shall I,
a poor man,
do?
My legs are pillars,
the body the shrine,
the head a cupola
of gold.
Listen, O lord of the meeting rivers,
things standing shall fall,
but the moving ever shall stay.
(Speaking of Siva, 19)

Basava went further than a just path to spiritual salvation. Why, he asked, can’t reason and spirit co-exist? Why should spiritual experience be devoid of reason? Basava scorned the irrational ritual:

They plunge
wherever they see water.
They circumambulate
every tree they see.
How can they know you
O Lord
who adore
waters that run dry
trees that wither?
(Speaking of Siva, 85)

Basava took his critique of the establishment to its logical end. Building on reason, on the dynamic, on the opposition to man-made ritual, priesthood, temples and their gods, Basava issued the most powerful challenge: all men are equal, regardless of caste; and all women are equal to men. When King Bijjala questioned him about the radical inter-caste marriage planned by Basava’s colleagues in the movement, he asked the king, “Are we not all born of the same source, a woman’s womb? No man ever came out of his mother’s ears.”
Basava did not merely mouth platitudes against caste oppression. Just as he ate with the lower castes and welcomed them into his movement, he insinuated himself into the lineage of those considered inferior by the orthodox. Basava may have been born a Brahmin; but he shed the sacred thread, the agrahara culture of the Brahmins, the priests and temple culture. He became a child of butchers, water-carriers, fodder-gatherers. He became a child of the lower castes, of the lowest “untouchables”. This is how he made himself human.
Nimbavve’s my mother: she lives

By fetching water,
Cennayya is my father:
He fetches fodder for the royal stable…
(Basava Vachanajali, 352)

                                       Or:

The son of the slave in Untouchable Channayya’s house,
The daughter of the maid in Butcher Kakkayya’s house.
Those two went to the fields to gather dung
and fell in love.
I’m the son born of these two;
the lord of the meeting rivers is my witness.
(The Lord of the Meeting Rivers)
Was Channayya’s son superior to Kakkayya’s daughter? They are equal in our movement, said Basava. When his men had trouble learning to live this equality, Basava used word and image to remind them of the rational basis of equality. He sang words, for instance, by the weaver poet, Devara Dasimayya:
Suppose you cut a tall bamboo
in two;
make the bottom piece a woman,
the headpiece a man;
rub them together
till they kindle:
tell me now,
the fire that’s born,
is it male or female,
O Ramanatha?
(Speaking of Siva, 110)

Basava’s own poem about men and women used a bisexual image to say that gender equality is only natural:

Look here, dear fellow:
I wear these men’s clothes
only for you.
Sometimes I am man,
sometimes I am woman.
(Speaking of Siva, 87)
So Basava’s text, in its search for a meaningful life, whether of the individual or the community, fore-grounded equality and reason:
How can I feel right
about a god who eats up lacquer and melts,
who wilts when he sees fire?
How can I feel right
about gods you sell in your need,
and gods you bury for fear of thieves?
(Speaking of Siva, 84)

Equality and reason, but also confluence. The dynamic, the ever moving instead of the static and stagnant. It has to be emphasised that even the spiritual in Basava’s philosophy included the social, political and economic aspects of the community. Unlike other Bhakti or devotional movements which put individual salvation first, Basava’s sharana movement, and the Lingayatism he founded, advocated a more egalitarian Bhakti―eschewing traditional temple worship, idol worship, meaningless rituals, and even renunciation. The spiritual was firmly located in people’s lives in the real world of society. Anyone, regardless of caste, gender or community could become a sharana. The movement gave the common people of the Kalyana kingdom a sense of their human value, while moving them from the periphery toward the mainstream. The weapon of the movement was a body of literature: poems called vachanas―“what is said”―in language that connected to the common people.

It didn’t last, of course. The crisis point for the movement came when the sharanas organised an inter-caste marriage. The fathers of the bride and groom were executed, dragged by an elephant. The king of Kalyana was killed; anarchy followed. Basava was forced to leave the city, and his end is shrouded in mystery.

Over the years, the movement which had equality at its heart became another caste. Today, the Lingayats form a considerable number in Karnataka. They are somewhere in the middle of the caste hierarchy, but wield economic and political power. And, in a sad irony, Basava’s legacy has been appropriated by conservative elements supportive of the new right wing in India.

For someone who is inspired by Basava’s text today―his words, his ideas and his life―what is the way forward? How do you combat the distortion of Basava’s ideas and words, the casteism born out of an anti-caste movement? How do you keep his challenges alive today, and challenge both old and new temples, priests and gods? The old inequalities that persist, and the new inequalities that create deeper division?

Malleshappa Madivallapa Kalburgi, known as M.M. Kalburgi, was that rare scholar who had multiple personas. There was the folklorist; the teacher; the researcher; the vice-chancellor of a university; the public figure. There was the poet, the playwright, the translator. His research interests ranged from ancient to medieval literature, from grammar to poetics, from inscriptions to cultural studies. There was the prolific scholar; but there was also the outspoken critic of contemporary religious, cultural and political practice. He used his scholarly research and speculation to intervene boldly in matters of contemporary cultural politics, including the distortion of history to gain or maintain political dominance. Vikram Visaji, writing on “the tireless scholar and fearless critic”, quotes Kalburgi:

Of late artificial changes are being introduced instead of genuine ones in society thanks to religious and political leaders. The researcher needs to unravel actual history in order to stop the exploitation caused by such false history. Research is not a purely historical exploration but a struggle with those who invoke false history to profit from the present (Visaji 2016, 74).

What guided Kalburgi in this struggle he speaks of?
Kalburgi knew intimately, through years of work, the extraordinary flowering of people’s literature during a movement against orthodoxy in twelfth-century Karnataka, and the man who led this movement, Basava. Kalburgi’s research and writing were inspired by Basava’s idea of equality, his insistence on putting an end to caste and gender discrimination, and upholding the dignity of labour. Kalburgi was also a leading authority on the vachanas.

Kalburgi was a Lingayat too. But his interpretation of this literature and current Lingayatism, as well as his application of Basava’s ideas to the social and political scenario today, angered the community’s establishment. The struggle of the researcher that Kalburgi spoke of was the need to resist “those who invoke false history to profit from the present”. For Kalburgi, these peddlers of false history included the growing new right wing in India; but first and foremost, the Lingayat establishment that had lost Basava’s radicalism—the essence of the movement he spearheaded.

It was 8:40 in the morning on Sunday, August 30th, 2015, in Dharwad, a place rich in cultural tradition, from literature to music. Seventy-seven-year-old Kalburgi was at home in Kalyan Nagar―an apposite address for a man who read and wrote so much about Basava’s Kalyana. Kalburgi was talking on his cell phone. There was a knock at the door. Kalburgi opened the door; two men shot him at close range; the bullet pierced his head. The men apparently sped away on a motorcycle; there were no eyewitnesses. When the family rushed to the verandah, Kalburgi lay dead on the ground.

There was widespread outrage over the assassination, and citizens from writers to scientists protested the fatal censorship of a scholar and writer. Kalburgi’s murder was an addition to a list: the murder of anti-superstition and anti-caste activist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune, and that of anti-caste and anti-false history activist Govind Pansare. This linked list―which has grown with the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengalaru—is important to those who seek to challenge the offensive against freedom of expression and dissent.

In the case of Kalburgi, there is a clear textual link between his scholarly dissent and his murder. There are specific texts which the conservatives in the Lingayat community objected to. His collection Marga 1, had two articles perceived as “derogatory” of Basava, his wife and sister. On the basis of several vachanas, Kalburgi had concluded in the first article that Basava’s relationship with his second wife Neelambike was platonic. In the second article, he argued that the veerashaiva poet and leader Channabasava could have been the son of Nagalambike, Basava’s sister, and a cobbler poet, Dohara Kakkaya. Such a birth, the product of an inter-caste marriage, said Kalburgi, had been obfuscated by false history.

The Lingayat temple chiefs brought immense pressure to bear on Kalburgi to recant―very much like their counterparts did with Basava centuries back. Kalburgi did recant, saying later that “I did it to save the lives of my family. But I also committed intellectual suicide on that day.” (interview for India Today, quoted in Narayan 2015). It was not just these and similar “controversial” incidents that earned Kalburgi the enmity of the current Lingayat orthodoxy. It was his holding the religious and politically powerful in the community up to the radical standards of Basava’s ideas, and finding them, and their reinvented Basava in contemporary cultural politics, miserably wanting. In a tribute to Kalburgi, Shivanand Kanavi wrote in Outlook Magazine:

In today’s India very few would of course stand Basavanna’s test. This led Prof. Kalburgi to not only take on casteist and conservative forces in general but also some powerful conservatives among Lingayats.[…]
For example a remark he had made about superstitions in a public meeting in Bengaluru which had been organised to discuss the draft Anti-superstition bill prepared by Karnataka Government led to screaming headlines in one of the newspapers leading to death threats and cowardly acts of vandalism at his residence last year.

But he carried on and when I asked him once about such threats he quoted me a vachana by Basavanna himself:

“Let what could happen tomorrow come to us today,
Let what could happen today come to us here and now,
Who is afraid of this?
A person born will also die
Neither Hari nor Brahma can override what my Koodala Sangama Deva has written.”
(Kanavi)

The “contested text” today is the body of Basava’s ideas, his demands for political, economic and social change; combined with the interpretation of Kalburgi and his historical findings based on scholarship. Basava’s movement, and Kalburgi’s internalisation of the ideas and words behind this movement: together they present a challenge to the powers that be, whether the powerful religious institution of the mathas or their friends, or their preferred political ally, the new right wing exemplified by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Sri Ram Sene groups. The link between Basava and Kalburgi was apparent to many.

The overarching concern expressed at the Town Hall in Bengaluru was that a culture of lethal violence might overwhelm the hallowed culture of discussion and questioning in Lingayat society. Indeed, one of the first victims of the temptation to violence was Basava himself―martyred at the end of the celebrated period of social reform, when he was thought to have gone too far by marrying a Brahmin girl to a Dalit boy. One protestor on the Town Hall steps had evidently thought of this: “Yesterday Basavanna,” his sign read, “Today Kalburgi”. (Karnad 2015).

Perhaps the text that brings all these strands together is a play by Kalburgi called Kettithu Kalyana, translated into English as “The Fall of Kalyana”. The play is about the struggle led by Basava for caste and class equality. But it also reflects the loss of the gains made by this struggle, centuries later in our times, through “false history”. 

The play begins with a powerful scene in the Brahmin agrahara of Bagewadi where Basava lived with his parents. It was full moon, and time for Brahmins to change their sacred thread. Fifteen-year-old Basava refused a new thread; in fact, he was about to tear off his old one. Two priests held on to his hand, telling him that being Brahmin meant access to “the prestige of being called gods on earth” (Fall of Kalyana, 2). Basava resisted. His thread snapped, hung loose. “I don’t want this sacred thread which makes me a Brahmin instead of a human being,” he said.

A man becomes a Brahmin as soon as he wears the sacred thread. From that day, he starts classifying society into Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra… the sacred thread divides society… (21).

Basava dashed to the ground the text which exemplifies the traditional practice of division, the Manusmriti. Basava and his family were excommunicated.

(Kalburgi too was threatened, and with more than excommunication. The conservatives among the Lingayats took offense when he suggested that Basava’s nephew, the sharana Channabasava, was a leather tanner. Kalburgi was threatened with death; he was summoned to a Lingayat matha in Dharwad and forced to recant (Narayan)).

From the first setting of Kalburgi’s play―the powerful Brahmin village culture―Basava moved to the second stage of his life, his exploration of temple culture. Basava went to Kudala Sangama, the centre of monasteries and temples, hoping to learn from the “literature of ideas and freedom of expression”. But here too he found the same authoritarian, close-minded priestly culture, empty ritual, the mechanical reading of texts and reciting of mantras. The Shaivas’ intelligence was also tarnished, he found, like the Brahmins, “by the smoke of the sacrificial fire” (Fall of Kalyana, 12). Superstition was pervasive, resulting in irrational, often cruel practices: “barking like dogs after worshipping God Mailara, walking about naked after worshipping God Bhairava, walking on cinders, torturing the body, sacrificing women…” (26) In addition to the wasteful practices of libation, palanquin processions, religious ritual such as grand pujas, the poor ended up borrowing from the rich to offer their devotion to deities, and “pots and bowls, roadside stones and trees enjoy the status of gods” (25). 

(Kalburgi too was critical of the Brahmin-like practices followed by a section of the present day Lingayat community, who pay lip service to Basava as a saint, but turn his ideas on casteless equality upside down. Kalburgi also supported writer U.R. Ananthamurthy’s ridiculing of idol worship. And Kalburgi criticised the Lingayats’ celebration of festivals such as Ganesh Chathurthi (Nayak 2015)).

Basava moved on from Kudala Sangama. In Kalyana, his father-in-law introduced him to King Bijjala and Basava was given a job in the royal treasury. His honesty was so exemplary that he was soon made finance minister. This was when Basava’s idea of equality led to practical action. He cut grants to temples and Brahmins, redirecting resources to the poor and marginalised to whom, he announced, the treasury really belonged.

These days, the kings have been exploiting the subjects; the priests have been exploiting the devotees and the men have been exploiting the women… society has been divided into two streams, the exploiters and the exploited (Fall of Kalyana, 33).

Basava took cognisance of both divisions of class and caste:
The caste differences between the privileged and the underprivileged is born out of “religion” whereas the difference between the poor and the rich is born out of labour (40).
(Basava in Kalburgi’s words: Basava’s ideas and his times meet Kalburgi’s reading and times seamlessly.)

The movement grew; there were followers from all castes, potters, weavers, boatmen, and both men and women. Many sharanas other than Basava became leaders in different ways. All of them had to face, of course, stiff opposition from priests, Brahmins, the rich, and finally the king himself. The crisis came when an inter-caste marriage took place, between the daughter of a Brahmin and the son of a cobbler. Then king, city, Basava, the movement―all collapsed into anarchy. The king was assassinated; Basava driven out of the city. Many sharanas were slaughtered. Vachana manuscripts were seized and burnt.

The status quo crept back over time. The Lingayats became a caste. Basava became a saint, rather than the bearer of a more just world. Many of his “descendants” lost all connection with his legacy. But there were, there are, others who search for it, find it in text, word, idea and action. They bring Basava back to our times, times which see both old and new manifestations of caste, community, gender, ritual, superstition, hypocrisy and unreason. And the same big gap between the powerful and the powerless.

Kalburgi was one such man. He saw the gaps, the hypocrisy, the betrayal of Basava’s rational, egalitarian and rational approach to both social life and the life of the spirit. Kalburgi saw all this. And he was not just a scholar mining old words; he wrote, he spoke, he challenged. He was a practitioner of Basava’s thought. His claim that the Lingayats are not Hindus angered the powerful Lingayats. In addition, his exploration of the positive aspects of Muslim rule in Karnataka, as well as Persian and Urdu texts, antagonised the Hindutva groups in India today. 

Basava, Kalburgi. Neither was an atheist; but both believed in, and practised, a radical form of religion. Their words—indeed, their lives—were texts that challenged the powerful status quo. Basava’s end in exile is shrouded in mystery. Kalburgi’s murder remains an ongoing “case”. 

But Basava’s words remain:
Earth is one and the same
For pariah street
And Shiva temple;
Water is one and the same
For washing shit and ritual cleaning;
All castes are one
For a man with self-knowledge…
(I Keep Vigil of Rudra, 59)
And Kalburgi’s words too, the ones he put into the mouth of an old “untouchable”:

You fear words. Men who fear words exult in human blood. You can silence me, but you cannot silence truth. Truth and fire are ever inextinguishable. They will always keep burning somewhere. One spark is enough to create a conflagration (quoted in Satchidanandan 2015).
Basava and Kalburgi. Their words are sparks that will not die.
 

References
Basava. Speaking of Siva, translated with an Introduction by A.K. Ramanujan, Penguin Classics, 1973.
Basava. The Lord of the Meeting Rivers, Devotional Poems, translated by Kamil V. Zvelebil, Motilal Banarsidass-UNESCO, 1984.
Vikram Visaji, “M.M. Kalburgi, the Tireless Scholar and Fearless Critic”, Words Matter, Writings against Silence, ed. K. Satchidanandan, Penguin Books India 2016, pp. 71-79.
Nayantara Narayan. Interview to India Today, quoted by Nayantara Narayan, “Kalburgi’s scholarship got him into trouble with Lingayats, and with Hindutva forces too”, Scroll, August 31, 2015,
Shivanand Kanavi, “Prof M.M. Kalburgi, A Tireless Researcher”, published first on the author’s blog and also in Outlook Magazine.
Raghu Karnad, “Murder in the Academy: M.M. Kalburgi’s Dangerous Literary Studies”, The Wire, 30/08/2015.
M.M. Kalburgi, The Fall of Kalyana, A Play, translated by Basavaraj Naicker, Basava Samithi, 2003.
N. Dinesh Nayak, “Kannada writer was at the centre of controversies”, The Hindu, August 31, 2015.
I Keep Vigil of Rudra, The Vachanas, Translated by H.S. Shivaprakash, Penguin Classics, 2010.
K. Satchidanandan, “They Feared His Words: A Tribute to M.M. Kalburgi”, Indian Cultural Forum, October 21, 2015.

Githa Hariharan is a writer and a Founder Member of the Indian Writers Forum.

This essay was first written for Text Wars, ed. Hilda David & Francis Jarman, 2018.

First Published on Indian Cultural Forum

The post The Spark in Their Words appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Poster of Narendra Nayak’s workshop at Baghpat/ Image courtesy Narendra Nayak
 
Recently, I conducted a three-day workshop on the exposure of so-called miracles for primary school teachers in a place called Baghpat, about 50 kms from Delhi. Baghpat remains a small town though it is the district headquarter; and a rural area, despite its proximity to the national capital. One of the trainees was a devotee of some baba — probably the recently convicted rapist Ram Rahim. He was desperately trying to cling to every so-called supernatural phenomenon I demonstrated and debunked. He tried his best to perform something I could not expose, and failed miserably every time. Finally, on the last day, he admitted defeat and said, he would try to think rationally, and expose those who claimed to possess supernatural powers. At the valedictory function, he made a grand declaration to that effect before the guests, who included the revenue and education department officers.
 

Audience at Narendra Nayak’s workshop at Baghpat/ Image courtesy Narendra Nayak
 

I went back to the first time I met her, in connection with the investigation we had conducted together in 1992 or 1993. It was the case of a man from a village called Dyamalapura near Tumkur, about 50 kms to the north of Bengaluru on the highway to Pune. This man was allegedly blessed with a sort of super power by Shani. The claim was that he could read playing cards by looking at the reverse side. It was said he acquired this ability sometime before Independence, and had been using it since to earn huge amounts by playing in clubs and casinos. He had been “tested” by a number of journalists and certified to be genuine.

 
This brought to mind one of the most powerful tendencies of rural/ semi-urban India — the claim of some phenomenon out of this world. Since I have been conducting workshops for more than 25 years, and have gone to hundreds of such places, I come across many such examples. My familiarity with magic tricks and my rational approach make it relatively easy to reproduce or expose these phenomena. Discreet warnings have also put a stop to many of these.
 

Narendra Nayak demonstrates a ritual practised in coastal Karnataka and elsewhere that involves burning of camphor on tongues and palms/ Image courtesy The Hindu
 
On the last but one day of the Baghpat program, at 9 pm, I got the news that my old friend Gauri Lankesh had been shot dead. The next few hours I spent on press interviews, notes and reactions. But once the news sank in my mind, I went back to the first time I met her, in connection with the investigation we had conducted together in 1992 or 1993. It was the case of a man from a village called Dyamalapura near Tumkur, about 50 kms to the north of Bengaluru on the highway to Pune. This man was allegedly blessed with a sort of super power by Shani. The claim was that he could read playing cards by looking at the reverse side. It was said he acquired this ability sometime before Independence, and had been using it since to earn huge amounts by playing in clubs and casinos. He had been “tested” by a number of journalists and certified to be genuine. I was on a tour of Karnataka at that time. Wherever I went, I was asked how the man did it. This made me announce an award of Rs. 10,000 if he could read, from the reverse side, nine of the ten cards that I would deal him. I got a call from Gauri, who wanted me to conduct the test at Bengaluru in her presence, because she had tested him and found that the powers were genuine. She was categorical that it was not sleight of hand because he could correctly read the cards she had dealt him. She said it was up to me to expose him as she was sure no one else could. She was then working as a reporter for Sunday, published by the Anand Bazar Patrika group of Kolkata, and she wanted to write an exclusive report.

He could tell whether it was a six or a seven or an ace or a king. But he could not say whether it was a diamond, a club or a heart. Dr. H.N. Narasimhaiah was taken aback. He told me that this man appears to be demonstrating supernatural powers. He called Dr. C.R. Chandrashekar, a psychiatrist, to examine the man. Those were the days of landlines only; by the time CR reached the phone I told HN that I had solved the case!

The test was conducted in the chambers of Dr. H. Narasimhaiah, the former Vice Chancellor of Bangalore University who had, three decades back, constituted the first committee for the scientific investigation of paranormal powers by a university in India. The committee met with stiff resistance, with a number of so-called godmen scheming to get rid of him from his post. Now, at the test, to pre-empt any fraud with a marked deck, I had specified that I would bring the card pack. But the “miracle man” Hanumantarayappa went a step further. He said I had to bring a particular brand of commonly available playing cards, and I could open the seal before dealing the cards. At the appointed time, we went to Narasimhaiah’s chamber. Gauri was also there. I showed the man the seal of the card pack, then tore it open. He asked me to deal the cards. I did it very carefully so that he could not peek under the cards. But just by staring at the reverse side, he could identify them easily. As I dealt the cards, he called them, and he was correct every time. But he had a limitation. He could call only the denomination but not the suit. He could tell whether it was a six or a seven or an ace or a king. But he could not say whether it was a diamond, a club or a heart. Dr. H.N. Narasimhaiah was taken aback. He told me that this man appears to be demonstrating supernatural powers. He called Dr. C.R. Chandrashekar, a psychiatrist, to examine the man. Those were the days of landlines only; by the time CR reached the phone I told HN that I had solved the case!

Everyone was surprised. I opened a brand new pack and asked Hanumantarayappa to check the cards, which he did diligently. I asked him to deal the cards, and I began calling out the denomination along with the suit. Hanumantarayappa was flabbergasted! He came to my side of the table, prostrated at my feet before I could react, and called me his guru. He said I had much greater powers than he did because he could not tell the suit of the cards while I could tell both. He predicted a great career for me (I wonder how that turned out to be a damp squib). He also revealed his trick: he was identifying cards by some microscopic markings at the back which would be hard to point out as deliberate.

He had become so famous that he was not allowed to play cards in any club. Whenever he entered a club, he would be given refreshment, a few hundred rupees and sent away. He was also very curious about how I had powers superior to him!

He also confessed that all the tall tales of his prowess at five-star hotels and casinos were fabrications. He got the idea from a Hollywood movie he had seen, and the story of the powers of Shani was to mislead people. The legends that he had made crores from this business were also false. He had earned a few lakhs and was leading a comfortable life with a farm and pump set. He had become so famous that he was not allowed to play cards in any club. Whenever he entered a club, he would be given refreshment, a few hundred rupees and sent away. He was also very curious about how I had powers superior to him! As magicians do not reveal their tricks, rationalists too do not reveal theirs, though they will expose others. So, I told him I would not tell him.

Once the reports of the secret behind his alleged claims of supernatural powers appeared in the media, those who had lost money to him became active. They began writing to the editors of the publications about how they had lost their hard-earned money to a cheat, and how they wanted revenge.

What was to be a confrontation turned out to be a friendly meeting and exchange of notes. Gauri made a full page write up for Sunday magazine. There were photos of both of us holding playing cards. Hanumantarayappa was around seventy five at that time but looked quite fit for his age, and he could read without glasses. After that, I made it a point to go to the office of every newspaper and magazine which had reported his supernatural powers, and impressed upon them that they needed to give equal space and prominence to the exposure too. But what followed was an unintended tragic end. Once the reports of the secret behind his alleged claims of supernatural powers appeared in the media, those who had lost money to him became active. They began writing to the editors of the publications about how they had lost their hard-earned money to a cheat, and how they wanted revenge. As a result, whenever Hanumantarayappa tried to enter any club to play cards, they would decline to admit him. With the choicest of rural Kannada abuses, they would tell him that they all knew about his powers and there was no place for him at their establishment. His reputation was in tatters, and many of them thanked me for exposing him.

Thus came the end of a legend who made news all over Karnataka for his alleged supernatural powers of card reading. But the take-home message for all those who would like to gamble is that commonly available playing cards may have markings on their reverse side which sharp players can read and cheat the gullible. As for my secret: I was using a deck called grandmaster which is used by magicians to do to various types of “psychic readings”!

In fact, when an attempt was made to “get rid” of me on the 15 March, she called me and asked me to be careful. When I asked her about herself, she said “Adella namage agolrappa” – “We can’t have all that!”

That was the beginning of my association with Gauri. We were closest in the last few years of her life. In fact, when an attempt was made to “get rid” of me on the 15 March, she called me and asked me to be careful. When I asked her about herself, she said “Adella namage agolrappa” – “We can’t have all that!” Even before the attempt on my life in March, I had been provided with a gunman who was with me during the day. Despite his warnings, I used to go to the swimming pool near my house early in the morning before he came. Then some miscreants, who had been keeping a close watch on my moves, tried to attack me, and my security was upgraded to 24 hours. Would Gauri still be with us if she had accepted security? The same question could be asked about my friend Narendra Dabholkar. He had refused security, saying that if he had security, they (the killers) would get the next one in line. Better me than someone else, he said. And those words turned out to be prophetic.
 
Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

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A Moving, 3.50 minute (Audio) Musical Tribute to Gauri Lankesh: Shehla Rashid

And to the Martyrs Since Gandhi, to Safdar (Hashmi), Narayan Dabholkar, Govind Pansdare, MM Kalburgi who have fallen Victim to Hate and Bloody Bulets

The post Ek Nazm Gauri Lankesh Ke Naam: Shehla Rashid appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Image: PTI
                                                            
The celebrated German playwright, poet and fierce anti-Nazi critic Bertolt Brecht once wrote:
“in the dark times,
will there also be singing?
yes, there will also be singing
about the dark times”.
 
Apt words, as we remember the celebrated journalist and human rights defender Gauri Lankesh, who was brutally gunned down exactly a week ago on the night of September 5^th in Bengaluru. Her murder has resulted in an unprecedented outrage of anger, shock and sadness from concerned citizens all over the world over.
 Gauri represented the very best of a free and fearless India, which respects the rights of her citizens, which celebrates pluralism and above all, defends the highest values of democracy! Gauri had the courage to take on the Sangh Parivar and all communal-minded people, she abhorred the caste system, she fought for the emancipation of women, she took up cudgels for the poor and marginalized and she was a relentless crusader for the freedom of speech and expression! She spared none, when injustice was the issue!

The bullets of the assassins that fateful night carried some clear messages: that it is they who ‘apparently’ control the destiny of the nation; that the likes of Gauri, had no place in their scheme of things, that they brook no dissent, that they are cloaked with immunity and can obviously get away with murder.  .

The murder of Gauri provides other insights into her assassins and the powers behind them too; these include: 
 

• They are spineless cowards; masked in anonymity,  they gunned down an unarmed defenseless woman
• They are violent; they have the muscle, the money and the clout to do away with violently anyone who does not subscribe to their fascist agenda. ‘Ahimsa’ obviously  means nothing to them 
• They lack the intelligence, the conviction and the staying power to debate or write objectively on critical issues plaguing the country and our people today. Gauri consistently wrote and spoke about these issues.
• They are afraid of the Truth; when courageous and upright journalists like Gauri expose their evil deeds and other nefarious activities, they are just unable to accept them, leave alone swallow the facts 
• They are adept in defocusing and divisiveness; Gauri’s estranged brother conveniently speaks about ‘Naxalite’ involvement. Some TV channels with their stooge anchors vomit the same possibility The Central government in a manipulative manner asks the state government as to why Gauri was  not given protection from the Naxalites! 
• They are good in sweeping other issues under the carpet. Gauri’s chilling murder is naturally headlines; but at the same time other major issues are quickly turned from the pages of people’s memories like the deaths of children in UP, the official report of the fiasco of demonetization, the institutionalization of corruption, the thousands affected by floods in several parts of the country and the official inability and apathy to respond to those affected, the crimes of ‘godmen’ against women like the Dera Chief and Asaram Bapu, the mob lynching of people; the list is endless.
• They do not care about the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Constitution of India; for them, journalists who speak truth to power, human rights defenders, right to information activists and for that matter, any one from civil society who dissents, is termed as ‘anti-national’; and needs to be done away with. The trolling and the venom spewed on Gauri in social media by the ‘bhakts’ of PM Modi is a clear indication that  freedom of speech and expression is not something that they cherish. Gauri believed in the Constitution and passionately defended the rights of citizens until the very end!

The above are just some ways fascist forces in India operate today. There is no denying the fact that the cold-blooded, pre-mediated murder of Gauri has political patronage at the highest level. All this has been witnessed before, in the Gujarat Carnage of 2002; the ‘fake encounters’ which followed; in the gruesome killings of rationalists and intellectuals like Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi; in the murders of several other journalists, human rights and RTI activists all over the country.

That there is an overwhelming outrage over Gauri’s murder from several sections of society, speaks volumes that all is still not lost for the country. Gauri’s death has brought together women and men from all walks of life in a show of strength and unity against the emerging fascist forces. Rallies, demonstrations and public meetings have been held in practically every major city and town. Her murder has found significant space in some of the most respected newspapers and magazines in India and abroad. On September 12^th, more than 50,000 people gathered in Bangalore in a rally to protest the killing of Gauri.Shouts of “Gauri Lankesh amar rahe!”(Long Live Gauri!) rent the air.

This visible and vocal unity must continue. Many people are convinced that though they ‘killed’ her, Gauri’s spirit will never die! The greatest tribute one can then pay to this courageous woman is to ensure that the rich legacy she has left behind will never die; that all will be done to protect the democratic and pluralistic fabric of our great country! Above all, to be reminded of the words of Pastor Martin Niemoller, who during the Nazi Regime wrote:       
                                                                                 
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out—
because I was not a Socialist.
Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out— 
because I was not a Trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out— 
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me”. 
 
LONG LIVE GAURI!!!!
                                                                                              
(Fr. Cedric Prakash sj is a human rights activist. Contact:cedricprakash@gmail.com)
 
 

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wo years ago, on this day, Govind Pansare, was shot when he was returning after a morning walk with his wife in Kolhapur in the morning. He died four days later, on 20th February, 2013. He was vocal in his support for the rationalist, Narendra  Dabholkar, and, who was killed a year and a half earlier, on 20th August, 2013. On that same day, Pansare had come to pay his final respects. The next day he told the Times of India that the attack was not personal, but ideological. Dabholkar, founder of the Maharastra Andhashraddha Nirman Samiti (Maharashtra Blind Faith Eradication Committee), and Pansare, a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI), were both rationalists targeted for their beliefs. A year later, M.M. Kalburgi, would also be killed in Dharwad.After Dabholkar's murder, Avinash Patil, his long time associate, was elected to carry the activities of MANS forward. Patil, currently in Delhi, explains the current status of the investigations in an interview with the Indian Cultural Forum.

The post Why are the Murderers of Dabholkar, Kalburgi and Pansare Still Absconding? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Writers, artistes and activists from different parts of the country came together in Dharwad for a protest march on August 30th to mark the passing of a year since the assassination of Dr M.M. Kalburgi. The protesters set a deadline of one month for the Karnataka government to arrest the persons involved in the assassination.

Expressing solidarity with the family members of slain thinkers and activists Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar, secularists attending the public meeting condemned the Karnataka government’s slow investigation of the case. They also threatened to gherao the upcoming assembly session to be held in Belagavi in November.

In his keynote address, linguistic scholar Ganesh Devy said the event was an answer to the fascist forces taking over the nation that are intolerant to different kinds of thought. Kannada critic Narahalli Balasubrahmanyam termed the convention a historic event.

A rally was taken out from residence of slain scholar Dr M. M. Kalburgi in Kalyan Nagar, Dharwad on Tuesday, in which over 5,000 students and commoners of Karnataka were present.

Filmmaker Anjum Rajabali said the three martyrs continued to remind us of the significance of liberalism and freedom of expression, which were under threat in the current atmosphere. "It is the right time for us to become capable of respecting freedom of expression. We have also gathered here to protect our secularism. Let the rule of law prevail in the nation," he added.

Prof Rajendra Chenni, a writer from Karnataka, said freedom of expression stood threatened in many countries of the world. "Fascist forces are grabbing the rights of farmers, labourers, and selling them to corporate interests. If we don't raise our voices against this trend, we will all become slaves of one thought and religion."

He asserted that Kalburgi had revived truth by capturing facts in his scholarly output of about 4,000 pages in Kannada. "His researches always concentrated on truth and life. However, the government is insulting the scholar by delaying the investigation into his death. It does not have the moral courage to show its face to the martyrs' family members. Having waited one full year, we have lost faith in the government, and are dispirited by its readymade assurances," he lamented.

Linguistic scholar Ganesh Devy and Punjabi writer Atmajit Singh meet Umadevi, widow of slain scholar Dr M. M. Kalburgi on his first death anniversary on Tuesday in Dharwad.

Prof Chandrashekhar Patil, who was a classmate and colleague of Kalburgi's, said Kalburgi, Pansare and Dabholkar were synonymous with a revolution. "Today’s convention is not only about offering condolences, it is a platform of pain, protest. The government should crack the mystery of the murder at the earliest. There is an opinion that communal forces have been a hurdle in expediting the investigation. Chief Minister Siddaramaiah should clarify… whether his government has also bowed before fascism," he demanded.

Megha Pansare, daughter-in-law of Govind Pansare, demanded that the conspirators be brought before the people to maintain their faith in the administration. "Though governments have mechanisms like the CBI and CID, they are not doing effective work in cracking these assassination cases. At the other end, different thoughts are being suppressed and silenced using weapons."

Mukta Dabholkar, daughter of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, demanded to know how Kalburgi was killed even though his residence was located in a posh area of Dharwad, right in the heart of the town. Calling him an asset to the nation, she blamed the Congress- and BJP-led governments for their failure to protect scholars and intellectuals. Goan writer Damodar Manjo echoed her words, adding, however, that he was glad to see fellow Indians fighting against fascists now targeting dalits in Gujarat and other states.

Kalburgi's son Srivijaya said the wounds created after his father's assassination were still fresh. He recounted, "My father used to tell us to work for society and humanity. He always fought for social equality and a healthy society. I feel that it is those who murdered him who are the anti-nationals. They killed an aged person; they are not brave, but cowardly." He concluded that even after their death, Kalburgi, Pansare and Dabholkar were still alive.

Aravind Malagatti, a dalit writer from Karnataka, questioned the state and central governments over the rise of moral policing and vigilante justice. He reminded the gathering of the need for a Gandhi nation, even as fascists attempt to convert India into a Godse nation. Claiming that progressive thinkers were the real patriots, Malagatti suggested that in order to discover the reality of India, the prime minister "should come face to face in a discussion with commoners rather than addressing citizens through his Mann Ki Baat show on the radio." Several speakers questioned the social developments that have led to increasing attacks on secular and rational thought.

Veteran Kannada writer Guruling Kapse noted that Basavanna, a social reformer of the 12th century, and Kalburgi were both from the Vijayapura district of Karnataka. "As a scholar, Kalburgi spread Basavanna’s teachings and revived them with his truth based research," he remarked. Noted scholar of Bhagat Singh's writings Prof Chaman Lal likened Kalburgi’s murder to the murder of the Vachanas ordered by the Sharanas of the 12th century, and placed his work in the tradition of thinkers like Guru Nanak, Kabir and Akkamahadevi.

Marathi writer Anand Karandikar observed that "assassinations of anti-brahminical and anti-caste movement leaders have been common in India." In the same vein, activist K. Neela from the Janwadi Mahila Sangathan, related the struggle against authoritarianism to the growing dalit movement in Gujarat as well as farmers' rights movements in other parts of the country.

Others in attendance included Noor Sridhar, Marathi writer Kumar Ketkar, veteran playwright Siddhaling Pattanseti, senior journalists Siddharth Vardarajan and Antara Dev Sen, economist Jaya Mehta, CPI leader Siddanagouda Patil, and TUCI state president R. Manasayya. Attendees voiced the urgent need to recast public discourse so as to protect India's multi-cultural, multi-linguistic heritage, and called attention to the repressive diktats around food, religion and thought issued during the Modi regime which have led to several incidents of mob violence. Several speakers attested that the struggle would continue until an end was put to atrocities committed on the basis of cultural and ideological differences.
 

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Statement from the Indian Writers' Forum

On August 30, it will be a year since scholar MM Kalburgi was murdered. Over the year, there have been innumerable responses of outrage, as well as demands from academics, cultural practitioners, activists and citizens that

a) the Karnataka state government complete the investigation and arrest the murderers; and

b) the central government, and all state governments, take adequate steps to ensure that there are no more attacks on Indian citizens because of what they write, think, eat, their religion (or the lack of it), caste or gender.

It is a matter of grave concern to us that such attacks continue, and in newer forms every day. Discrimination against dalits and minority communities has only become more brazen and open. Freedoms – of thought and expression, of scientific enquiry and of rational dissent – continue to be stifled. More and more, it appears that only those who subscribe to the ruling ideology are safe to practise their daily lives as Indian citizens.

On this occasion of a rally and silent march on August 30th, we recall the words in one of Kalburgi’s plays: “You can silence me, but you cannot silence the truth.”  We call on all citizens of conscience to join their voices to ours when we demand that never again will one of our people be attacked for their work, beliefs, lifestyles, or the community they belong to. Ensuring this is the government’s job, not policing Indians’ lives. 

For the Indian Writers' Forum
Nayantara Sahgal
Githa Hariharan
K. Satchidanandan
Keki Daruwalla
Romila Thapar
Gulammohammed Shiekh
Indira Jaising
Shyam B. Menon
Shashi Deshpande
 
A silent walk and public meeting is to be held in Dharwad on August 30 to mark a year of Dr. MM Kalburgi's brutal murder. The walk will begin at 8.30 AM at Dr. Kalburgi's residence and end at the Art Gallery, about 2 kms away. The public meeting will begin by 11.00 and will continue till about 3 PM. There will be a press meet at 4 PM.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

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