Jumping on the bandwagon of writers stepping down from the Sahitya Akademi, Kannada writer and researcher Dr. Aravind Malagatti resigned from Akademi’s General Council on Sunday, accusing it of inaction over the killing of rationalist and scholar MM Kalburgi.
According to an Indian Express report, Dr. Malagatti, who is among 20 representatives from various Universities in the General Council of the Sahitya Akademi, told PTI that he resigned from the post and has sent a letter to the President and Secretary of the Akademi.
“I have resigned condemning the killing of Kalburgi and silence of Akademi over the issue. It should have spoken out and expressed its condemnation against such acts,” he said.
Seventy-seven-year-old rationalist Kalburgi was killed by two unidentified men at his residence at Dharwad in north Karnataka which is considered the state’s cultural capital on August 30.
The scholar’s murder and Dadri killing, where a man suspected to have consumed beef in Uttar Pradesh was killed, has triggered a series of resignations in Sahitya Akademi, the premiere literary council of the nation.
Over 15 writers, including Shashi Deshpande, K Satchidanandan, P K Parakkadavu have either resigned from Sahitya Akademi or returned their awards given by prestigious academies and government.
READ: List of fifteen authors who have risen in protest against Kalburgi murder and Dadri lynching
The Hindu reported Malagatti saying, “Killing of personalities like Kalburgi, (Govind) Pansare and incidents like Dadri lynching are an attack on the Constitutional rights in this country. They are highly condemnable.”
Malagatti’s works in Kannada literature include poetry, prose, essays, criticism and folklore study. He was given the prestigious Ambedkar Fellowship Award by Karnataka government.
He got the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award for his work “Government Brahmana” which is the first Dalit autobiography in Kannada.