Write Comment     |     E-Mail To a Friend     |     Facebook     |     Twitter     |     Print

The brutal killing of Professor M.M. Kalburgi is yet another moment in the unmasking of a society which believes in the comfortable myth that it is a modern, globalising society and even boasts of being the spiritual mentor to the rest of the world.

That a 77-year-old scholar, who had contributed five decades of research and writing to reconstruct the Kannada literary and cultural tradition, was silenced in this manner is a cruel irony. Even though it is yet to be conclusively proved who was behind Kalburgi’s killing, we should remember  that conservative forces had earlier forced Kalburgi to retract parts of his writing as it was considered offensive, an act which he had poignantly described as a forced intellectual suicide. Professor Kalburgi’s earlier silencing in the late 1980s was for raising questions about a twelfth century Bhakti tradition of Vachanakaras who in their vachanas had frequently teased and quarrelled with God! That such “argumentative” traditions should be silenced in a democracy built on a Constitution which is so passionate about freedoms of every kind is a matter of serious concern.

These elements have used the threat of brute force consistently to thwart the voices of several noted academics and writers who question their ideology and the social and religious myths they propagate. While a murder is extreme, the silencing of expression and thought by threat of violent retribution is an equally extreme form of intolerance. It destroys intellectual freedom and the freedom of expression that keeps a democracy alive. Forces behind this act are totally alienated from the extraordinary inclusive tolerant and intellectually vibrant traditions of our country.

Closer home, the concern is about the society in Karnataka becoming forgetful of the great tradition of free intellectual enquiry which shaped modern Kannada culture. Kuvempu’s call for absolute intellectual freedom (Nirankusha Mathi), defiance of moribund traditions and re-examination of the cultural past created the discourses which have shaped modern Kannada sensibility. Shivarama Karanth was, for thousands of young men and women, a mentor who taught the importance of a secular, agnostic and rational attitude. There were hundreds of individuals influenced by Mahatma Gandhi, Ram Manohar Lohia and socialism who openly questioned all dogmas. This was the leavening of Kannada intellectual culture which saw its mature expression in the people’s movements of the 1970s and the eighties. The anti-Brahminical, Shudra literary movement, the Dalit movement, the farmers’ movement, the anti-Emergency movement and the unheralded workers’ movement were all grounded in the discourse and practice of intellectual freedom. Every tradition, icon and belief was subjected to utmost searching scrutiny. More important was the consent given by the entire Kannada society to the public expression of dissent and resistance. I am talking about parents, teachers, neighbours and the ordinary citizens of the time who showed exemplary tolerance towards all forms of defiance and protest. The peoples’ movements were not confined to a limited agenda or constituency. Farmers` organisations supported inter-caste marriages; Dalit organisations joined hands with leftist groups to stop nude worship at Chandragutti temple.

In contrast to the earlier tradition is the extreme intolerance these days that finds public expression in the media. I am convinced that the modern tech-savvy English educated Indian sending hate-mail to dissenting voices is a just representative of a democracy which has ceased to function. The media has been turned into a wrestling ring in which everything is trivialised and intellectual debate is debased into a loud slanging match. Whistleblowers are murdered, rationalists are maimed and killed and academics are hounded, but it doesn’t turn into a  burning issue. This proves that the class in India that has benefited the most from capitalism is extremely conservative and deeply communal. Unlike the capitalist class in the West, which had encountered strong democratic traditions and a responsible legal system, the Indian capitalist class is making an aggressive push towards an authoritarian political regime which can remove any obstacle to its rapid growth.

This can happen only if the spirit of aemocracy, which is the same as the spirit of intellectual freedom, expression of dissent and enquiry, is destroyed. And this can be achieved by encouraging the new fundamentalism which in the name of religion, caste and community becomes the instrument of silencing democratic voices. The police ensure that only those representing select forms of ideological and religious extremism are eliminated, while the killers of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and Kalburgi get exonerated.  In several cases, the legal system has failed to punish the murderers of Dalits and women for want of evidence.

What is more frightening is that the civil society in Karnataka seems to be less than perturbed. It is not worried that the present culture of violence and intimidation will increasingly diminish the intellectual class. Contrary to the illusion that this class does not matter, it is this class which can ensure the health and sanity of the society. Mass protest, in which every citizen has a stake, against the killing of Professor Kalburgi is necessary, above all, because we should not tolerate intolerance of any kind.

(Rajendra Chenni is professor at the Department of Post Graduate Studies and Research in English, Kuvempu University, Shivamogga)