“Protection to Taslima Nasreen. Punishment to Narednra Modi. Full stop to export of ores and nationalising mining activities.”

These were the wishes of Jnanpith awardee Dr U R Ananthamurthy on his 76th birthday, which was celebrated in a unique way by his well-wishers in Bangalore on Friday. An interactive session with the litterateur was organised.

“Both Prime Minister Manmohan Singh-led UPA and the Communist-led West Bengal governments should be ashamed of the way in which they are treating a writer (Taslima), who has proved herself a secularist through her writings. One can agree, disagree or criticise her for her writings and thoughts, but no body has right to harass her in this manner,” said Dr Ananthamurthy, expressing his support to the Bangladeshi writer.

Dr Ananthamurthy said he is unhappy because Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, who has allegedly encouraged Gujarat riots against a particular community, was not brought to book.

Recalling communal riots - from the days of partition, through the 1984 anti-Sikh riots and till the recent Gujarat riots - the Jnanpeet awardee writer noticed that in all these cases the people who had indulged in mass violence have gone unpunished. “Now the people know that they can escape from law when they indulge in mass violence.”

Mining lobby: On export of ores from the State, Dr Ananthamurthy said mining lobby has overtaken all other lobbies, like liquor and education - and mine owners have become powerful persons in politics.

He demanded that export of ores should be stopped immediately and instead the government should produce steel and other products locally using ores.

The two-hour-long interactive session, mainly focused on politics and current affairs. Following are the selected issue-based views expressed by Dr Ananthamurthy during the interactive session:

Udupi Krishna temple  row: Pejawar mutt seer Vishwesha Thirtha swamiji should make a revolutionary declaration that any person, including a dalit, would be allowed to perform pooja to Lord Krishna on becoming a swamiji but not a person who has visited US. Such a step would be welcome as India is becoming a “victim” of Americanisation.

Religion and communalism: The Muslim community would be lost if Muslims become communal and the entire country would be lost if Hindus become communal. The country can overcome communalism when educated people with no ulterior motives read holy books of various religions and propagate real preaching. One should take a cue from Mahatma Gandhiji’ who had said- all religions are imperfect.

Politics and election: In democratic politics, there were always opponents but nowadays there are only enemies, which is evident from the language and conduct of the politicians. Voting should be made compulsory. There should be some punishment, may by in the form of levy of tax or similar method, for not casting vote in elections.

There is nothing wrong in members of a family entering politics but they should not engage in politics for the benefit of their family.

“I saw entry of former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy into politics as a move for the benefit of the family and that was not the case with Rajiv Gandhi’s entry into politics, though initially I had thought so.”

Writing an autobiography:Will take that risk only if my wife assures me that she would excuse me.