Days after noted author and rationalist KS Bhagwan was smeared with ink on his face in Bengaluru, he told TNM that the police persons who were present inside the City Civil Court Complex premises refused to act and remained mute spectators. This even as Bhagwan cried out to the police to stop the woman, he says. He also denies reports that the Mysuru police have issued a gag order to him after the incident.
“Reports that police have asked me to not speak to the media or address a gathering is not true, it is incorrect news. I have myself decided to stay quiet for a couple of days,” Bhagwan told TNM. Narrating the incident that unfolded on February 4, Bhagwan said, “I got a bail in a case and the judge said I can leave. When I was exiting, she came from behind and smeared ink on my face. There were at least ten police personnel standing there. I asked them to arrest the lady immediately but not a single person came forward,” Bhagwan added.
A video of the incident where rationalist and multiple award winning Kannada writer KS Bhagwan was smeared with ink was shared on Facebook and Twitter by the city-based lawyer Meera Raghavendra who claimed that she did that as a form of punishment. According to Meera, Bhagwan deserved this for allegedly insulting Hindu religion.
For decades, Bhagwan’s alternate perspectives on Hindu customs and mythology have earned him immense hostility from many and even several death threats. Police investigating the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh had allegedly found a hitlist, which had Bhagwan’s name right on top.
Bhagwan alleges that the police who were reluctant to take any action have not given him any update yet. “I have no idea who the lady who threw ink at me is. That day when the incident happened I was told that she is a lawyer. I don’t know even today if shehas been arrested,” he told TNM.
Since the latest incident, Bhagwan says police patrolling has increased around his Mysuru residence and that he has not received any fresh calls of threat.