Kannada writer Dayananda TK has declined to accept the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award on account of the state government’s “neglect to find even the smallest of clues” that would lead to the killers of scholar MM Kalburgi.
In a letter written to the Akademi on Friday, Dayananda said he could not bring himself to accept an award from the academy for his work Rasthe Nakshatra against the backdrop of “intolerance which is rising by the day” in the country. “It is (impossible) to remain silent in such troubled times.”
However, he said that the main reason for his decision to decline the Akademy award was the government’s inaction on the Kalburgi case.
“Most importantly, it has been four months since the unjust murder of our own intellelctual MM Kalburgi and yet there is no sign of even the minimum progress in the investigation so far. When the whole world has responded to the murder of Kalburgi who was pro-people, it is shocking that there has neither been any major development in the case nor have investigators found any major clues in solving the case.
He added: “A pro-people elder of the house was murdered in broad daylight and yet there is no justice. An atmosphere of a funeral prevails in the houses of pro-people individuals while people who question wrongdoing are threatened and assaulted. I cannot bring myself to accept an award in a government shamiyana and savour the payasa served on the day of the award ceremony while the government hides in a cocoon of silence.”
Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara told The Economic Times that the government was pursuing the case and that Kalburgi’s killers would definitely be apprehended.