Former Hampi varsity V-C killed by gunman at his door
BENGALURU: Left ideologue and former vice-chancellor of Hampi University, Prof MM Kalburgi, was shot dead on Sunday by an unidentified gunman at the doorstep of his home in Karnataka’s Dharwad city.
Like Maharashtra- based rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, killed in August 2013, 77- yearold Kalburgi too had his runins with right- wing Hindutva groups for his strong independent views on social and religious matters.
“There was a threat to my father from groups that couldn’t digest his views on caste and communalism. The role of these groups should be probed,” daughter Roopadarshi said.
Nagaraj S Thigadi, a relative and next- door neighbour who took Kalburgi to hospital after the attack, said a stocky man shot the professor between his eyes and quietly walked off.
“Armed police posted outside his house were withdrawn three months ago at the professor’s request,” he said.
News of the assassination triggered protests across the state. The demonstrators alleged right-wing groups were behind the killing and pointed to a Bajrang Dal leader from Mangalore, Bhuvith Shetty, who tweeted: “Then it was UR Ananthamurthy and now MM Kalburgi. Mock Hinduism and die dogs (sic.) death. And dear KS Bhagwan you are next.”
Shetty laughed off the allegations, although Mangalore police registered a case against him for promoting enmity between communities and criminal intimidation.
“I vented my anger spontaneously but that doesn’t mean I or people from my organisation have killed Kalburgi. As for Bhagwan, he should know he too can be targeted for his antiHindu statements. That doesn’t mean my organisation or I want to kill him.”
Relative Thigadi said a man knocked on Kalburgi’s door around 9am and asked for him when his wife opened it. “The moment Kalburgi came to the door, the man shot him from close range, got on to a motorbike parked outside and escaped.”
Chief minister Siddaramaiah, an admirer of Kalburgi, rushed to Dharwad, 430km north of Bengaluru, to pay his respects. “It is true there was a threat to Prof Kalburgi’s life from some groups. No effort will be spared to find the killers,” he said.
The threat goes back to June 2014 when a case was registered on a complaint by a Hindutva activist against Kalburgi and the late writer UR Ananthamurthy for hurting religious sentiments. Kalburgi had made a public statement criticizing idol worship by quoting a section from Ananthamurthy’s 1996 book Bettale Puje Yake Kadadu (Why offering prayers in the nude is wrong). Kalburgi was a noted epig raphist and a Sahitya Akademi award-winning writer of old Kannada literature.