Bengaluru, Jan 10: The Karnataka Sahitya Academy presented its annual awards to rationalist-writer K.S. Bhagavan, who had received threats from right-wing groups, and others amid unprecedented security on Saturday, which was a first in the five-decade history of the academy.
Some persons had threatened the academy of dire consequences if they honoured Prof. Bhagavan with the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2013, in the light of his controversial comments on Hindu epics.
The event saw two award winners — Rahamat Tarikere and T.K. Dayanand — not turning up in protest against the government’s inability to make any headway in the MM Kalburgi murder case.
Though filmmaker B. Suresh received the award, he donated the cash prize towards organising a symposium on contemporary concerns of writers and to bring out a volume of papers presented there. Noted scholar and writer S. Shettar could not attend the function reportedly because of ill-health.
“Dr. Tarikere told me over phone that he had not recovered from the shock of Kalburgi’s death, and was not in a position to receive another award and celebrate,” said Malathi Pattanshetty, Chairperson of the academy.
Prof. Bhagavan, along with B.N. Sumithra Bai, Rajendra Chenni and Mogalli Ganesh, received the award at Ravindra Kalakshetra. Speaking on behalf of the award winners, Prof. Chenni said he was accepting the honour in solidarity because the award was being conferred on rationalist Prof. Bhagavan despite threats by right-wing groups.
Writer Baragur Ramachandrappa said he was participating in the award ceremony with “mixed feelings” at a time when some writers were returning awards condemning Kalburgi’s murder.
Expressing regret over the trend among some writers of mixing myth, history and ritual practices and getting themselves entrapped in contradictions, Prof. Ramachandrappa said writers need to look at Ramayana, Mahabharata, Manusmriti and Bhagavad Gita in different prisms.
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