Mangalore, Aug 23: After the city witnessed a few youth purported to be Hindutva activists indulging in bursting crackers and celebrating the untimely death of Jnanapith awardee U R Ananthamurthy on Friday, it sparked outrage among several people in the society including academicians and scholars, who voiced their displeasure on social networking sites.
Reacting to the celebration by Hindutva extremists following news of the award-winning Kannada writer, members of Dakshina Kannada units of Congress committee, Youth Congress and National Students Union of India (NSUI) staged a demonstration at the Clock Tower junction near Town Hall in the city condemning the celebrations.
Coming down heavily on Hindutva groups such as Bajrang Dal, KPCC general secretary and MLC Ivan D'Souza said that celebrating the death of writer Ananthamurthy while the state was mourning his loss was a huge insult to the district. Instead of paying tribute to the writer, so-called activists from Bajrang Dal are in jubilation at his death. They should be exiled from the district and a case should be registered against those who indulged in such celebrations, he said.
Speaking on the occasion, Congress district committee member K Taranath Shetty urged that Goonda Act should be invoked on the ones who had committed the disrespectful acts. He also urged that saffron groups such as Bajrang Dal should be banned in this regard.
The demonstrators paid their tributes to the late Kannada writer and observed a minute of silence to pay homage, before igniting an effigy symbolizing the saffron group to which the ones who had indulged in celebrations reportedly belonged to.
Youth Congress district president Mithun Rai said that the activists of Hindutva groups who were disrespectful to the great writer should be severely dealt with. They are a black mark to the entire district and should apologise to the people of Dakshina Kannada for their cowardly act, he said, demanding that they should be exiled from the district.
NSUI district president Ashith Pereira, Congress members Ibrahim Kodichal and several others participated in the demonstration.
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