UPDATE:
A day after members of Vokkaligara Sangha protested outside Jnanapith Awardee Girish Karnad's house, the playwright has apologised saying that his statement about changing the name of the Bengaluru international airport was not intended to hurt sentiments of any community.
He said,"If anyone is hurt by my statements, I am sorry. I have nothing to gain by talking about Kempegowda like this."
Karnataka Vokkaligara Sangha protested outside Jnanapith awardee and Kannada playwright Girish Karnad's house hours after Karnad made a statement at the Vidhana Soudha seeking Bengaluru’s Kempegowda International Airport be renamed after Tipu Sultan on Tuesday.
The members of the Sangha are demanding Karnad to return his Jnanaptih award, which is one of the two most prestigious literary honours in the country.
They alleged that Karnad is an agent of Congress party and stooge of CM Siddaramaiah, who asked Karnad make such a statement. This also led to a senior BJP leader R Ashoka demanding a clarification from Congress whether they intended to change the name of the airport.
Security has been stepped up around Karnad’s house in JP Nagar 6th Block in Bengaluru.
Karnad gave a speech at Vidhana Soudha during the official celebration of Tipu Jayanti, during which he stoked up controversy by urging the state government to rename the international airport after the erstwhile king of Mysuru.
Karnad's statement on Tuesday also irked members of Sangh Parivar and leaders of Vokkaligara Sangha to which Kempegowda belongs. They demanded an apology from Karnad.