Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi

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Geburt:: 28.11.1938
Tot:: 30.08.2015
Kategorien:: Akademiemitglied, Schriftsteller
Friedhof:: Geben Sie den Friedhof

Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi (Kannada: ಮಲ್ಲೇಶಪ್ಪ ಮಡಿವಾಳಪ್ಪ ಕಲಬುರ್ಗಿ; 28 November 1938 – 30 August 2015) was an Indian scholar of Vachana sahitya (Vachana literature) and academic who served as the Vice-Chancellor of Kannada University in Hampi. He was awarded the National Sahitya Akademi award in 2006 for Marga 4, a collection of his research articles. He was also a noted epigraphist of Kannada. He came under criticism in the 1980s from the lingayats community of Karnataka, after he was accused of making "derogatory references" to Basava, a 12th-century philosopher who is revered by the community, Basava's wife and sister, in his Marga 1, a work on Kannada folklore, religion and culture. In 2014, he had spoken openly against idolatry in Hinduism in support of another Kannada writer U. R. Ananthamurthy.

A rationalist, Kalburgi had run-ins with right wing Hindutva groups over the years. He was shot dead in the morning of 30th August 2015 by 2 gunmen at his residence in Dharwad district of Karnataka.

Early life

M.M. Kalburgi was born on 28 November 1938 in Yaragal village of the erstwhile Bombay Presidency (now in Sindgi taluk of Bijapur district, Karnataka) of British India. His parents Madivalappa and Gowramma were farmers. He received his primary education from government schools in Yaragal and Sindgi, and high school education from a school in Bijapur. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from a college in Bijapur after which he acquired a postgraduate degree in Kannada language from Karnatak University, Dharwar, in 1962, with a gold medal. He received a PhD in Kannada for his thesis titled "Kavirajamargada Parisaradalli Kannada Sahitya" (Kannada literature in the environs of Kavirajamarga).

Career

In 1966, Kalburgi was promoted to Professor in the Kannada Department at Karnatak University. In 1982, he became the Chairperson of the Kannada Department the University. Later, he served as the Vice-chancellor of the Kannada University, Hampi, before retiring from service. He was a noted Kannada epigraphist and a renowned scholar of the Vachana literature.

The Marga 1 controversy

In 1989 Kalburgi was forced by the Lingayat temple-chiefs to recant the allegedly derogatory references to the founder of Veerashaivaism, Basava, his wife and sister. The controversy was about two articles in his book Marga 1. In the first, Kalburgi examined several vachanas (poems) written by Basaveshwara's second wife Neelambike and concluded that her relationship with her husband may have been only platonic. In the other article, he pointed out the obfuscation by historians of the birth of Channabasava, another Virashaiva poet. Kalburgi, relying on historical records, argued that Channabasava could be the product of Basava's sister Nagalambike's marriage to Dohara Kakkaya, the cobbler-poet. After recanting his views Kalburgi had said, "I did it to save the lives of my family. But I also committed intellectual suicide on that day."

Idol worship controversy

In June 2014, addressing a seminar on Anti-superstition Bill in Bangalore, Kalburgi cited U. R. Ananthamurthy's 1996 book Bethale Puje Yake Kudadu, ("Why nude-worship is wrong") in which the writer narrated his childhood experience of urinating on idols as an experiment to see whether there would be divine retribution. This led to protests from the right-wing groups, Vishva Hindu Parishad, Bajrang Dal and Sri Ram Sena against both the writers. The Kannada critic, Nataraj Huliyar, alleged that Kalburgi had actually misquoted Ananthamurthy by calling his "evil-spirit stones" (devvada kallu), "stone idols" (devara kallu).

Murder

Having faced death threats previously, Kalburgi had demanded security from the government of Karnataka, but had not been provided initially. On having had "special protection" for a few days, he requested the police to have them removed in August 2015.

At 8:40 am IST, on 30 August 2015, Kalburgi was shot by an unidentified gunman at the former's residence in the Kalyan Nagar locality of Dharwad. The men, posing as his students reached his residence on a motorcycle and knocked at the door when his wife, Umadevi, answered. As she went inside to fetch coffee for them, one of the men fired two rounds at Kalburgi from a point blank range on his forehead and chest, while the other waited outside. Immediately afterwards, they fled on a motorcycle. An ambulance was called and was given repeated resuscitation manoeuvres. He was first taken to a private hospital and then to the District Civil Hospital of Dharwad, where the doctors declared that he died en route.

Investigation

Investigations began on 30 August, the day of the murder. A special team of five inspectors, headed by an Assistant commissioner was formed by the Hubli–Dharwad Police. Initial investigations revealed that there were no eyewitnesses to the incident. A CCTV footage retrieved from the area found "two youths aged between 24 and 28, wearing black clothes and riding a motorcycle". The police retrieved two empty cartridges from the crime scene and said an improvised firearm with 7.65 mm caliber bullets were used in the murder.