Writers resign from literary trusts, slam Bommai govt

A coterie of writers and academics is deserting the Basavaraj Bommai administration at a time when controversies, including the alleged affront to poet laureate Kuvempu, are rocking the BJP’s boat with elections just a year away.

On Monday, senior scholar Hampa Nagarajaiah, who is also known as Hamapana, resigned as president of the Rashtrakavi Kuvempu Pratishthana (Trust), set up in 1992.

Also, GS Shivarudrappa Pratishthana president SG Siddaramaiah resigned along with its members HS Raghavendra Rao, Nataraj Budalu and Chandrashekhar Nangali.

Hampana resigned in protest against the government’s inaction towards textbook review committee chairperson Rohith Chakratirtha for an old social media post in which the nada geethe (state anthem) penned by Kuvempu was recast with words to mock the Congress.

“Instead of taking action, the government has given a responsible position to a person who insulted Kuvempu, the community he was born in and mocked the nada geethe. It’s difficult for me to remain quiet,” Hampana stated in his resignation letter to Bommai.

“I am a direct student of Kuvempu. I can't tolerate the humiliation of my teacher and reading at him through a caste lens. He transcended beyond caste,” Hampana told DH. He became the president of Kuvempu Pratishthana in 2009 when the BJP was in power.

The threat of Chakratirtha’s dated social media post being used to anger the Vokkaligas, the community Kuvempu belonged to, is a worry for the BJP given the party’s attempts to woo this caste group.

Siddaramaiah and members of the Shivarudrappa Pratishthana resigned in protest against the government’s “inaction and silence over people creating communal hatred, which has resulted in an atmosphere of fear and panic”. The Shivarudrappa Pratishthana was constituted in 2017 when Congress was in power.

“I have also withdrawn consent for the use of my poem in the Class 9 textbook (second language). It should not be taught,” Siddaramaiah said.

Meanwhile, educationist VP Niranjanaradhya announced that he would boycott a meeting scheduled on June 3 to congratulate a committee that prepared the position paper on NEP. Niranjanaradhya headed this panel.

“Children’s right to education was snatched in the name of Hijab and the government is targeting one community. Then, the likes of Bhagat Singh, Murthy Rao and Sara Aboobacker were dropped and constitution-hater KB Hedgewar was included. This is an attempt to communalise and saffronise education,” he said.