Malleshappa Madivalappa Kalburgi (28 November 1938 – 30 August 2015) was an Indian scholar of

Vachana sahitya Vachana sahitya is a form of rhythmic writing in Kannada (see also Kannada poetry) that evolved in the 11th century and flourished in the 12th century, as a part of the Sharana movement. Madara Chennaiah, an 11th-century cobbler-saint who lived ...

(Vachana literature) in the

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

-language and academic who served as the vice-chancellor of

Kannada University Kannada University, also called Hampi Kannada University or Hampi University or Kannada University, Hampi, is a research-oriented public university in Hampi, Karnataka, founded in 1991 by the Government of Karnataka through the Kannada Universit ...

Hampi Hampi or Hampe, also referred to as the Group of Monuments at Hampi, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site located in Hampi (town), Hampi town, Vijayanagara district, east-central Karnataka, India. Hampi was the capital of the Vijayanagara Empire i ...

. A noted

epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

of Kannada, he was awarded the National

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

in 2006 for ''Marga 4'', a collection of his research articles. Kalburgi was a radical voice among

Lingayat Lingayatism or Veera Saivism is a Hindu denomination based on Shaivism. Initially known as ''Veerashaivas'', since the 12th-century adherents of this faith are known as ''Lingayats''. The terms ''Lingayatism'' and '' Veerashaivism'' have been ...

. Kalburgi's life work has been to provide insights and raise new perspectives into the Lingayat history and community, which have many times led to controversy and opposition from other members of the Lingayat community that he was member of. He came under criticism from his

lingayat Lingayatism or Veera Saivism is a Hindu denomination based on Shaivism. Initially known as ''Veerashaivas'', since the 12th-century adherents of this faith are known as ''Lingayats''. The terms ''Lingayatism'' and '' Veerashaivism'' have been ...

community of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, after he was accused of making "derogatory references" to

Basava Basaveshwara, colloquially known as Basavanna, was a 12th-century CE Indian statesman, philosopher, poet, Lingayat social reformer in the Shiva-focussed bhakti movement, and a Hindu Shaivite social reformer during the reign of the Kalyani Chal ...

, 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 against superstitions in Hinduism, which some people misinterpreted as being against

idolatry Idolatry is the worship of a cult image or "idol" as though it were God. In Abrahamic religions (namely Judaism, Samaritanism, Christianity, the Baháʼí Faith, and Islam) idolatry connotes the worship of something or someone other than the A ...

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. Following which a case was registered on the basis of a private complaint by an individual against Kalburgi for hurting religious sentiments. Kalburgi was shot dead in the morning of 30 August 2015 at his residence in

Dharwad district Dharwad is an administrative district of the state of Karnataka in southern India.The administrative headquarters of the district is the city of Dharwad, also known as Dharwar. Dharwad is located 425 km northwest of Bangalore and 421&nbs ...

of Karnataka by two unidentified men.

Early life and education

M. M. Kalburgi was born on 28 November 1938 in Yaragal village of the erstwhile

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

(now in

Sindagi Sindagi is a City and Taluk in Vijayapura district in the Indian state of Karnataka, about 60 km to the east of Bijapur. Geography Sindagi is located at . It has an average elevation of 500 metres (1640 feet). Sindagi is 60 k ...

taluk of Bijapur district, Karnataka) of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. His parents Madivalappa and Gowramma were farmers. He received his primary education from government schools in Yaragal and Sindagi, and high school education from a school in

Bijapur Bijapur, officially known as Vijayapura, is the district headquarters of Bijapur district of the Karnataka state of India. It is also the headquarters for Bijapur Taluk. Bijapur city is well known for its historical monuments of architectural ...

. He graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree from a college in Bijapur after which he acquired a post-graduate degree in

Kannada language Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native sp ...

from

Karnatak University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission (India), University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accre ...

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

, in 1962, with a gold medal.

Career

After completing his

M. A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in Kannada as a gold medalist, Kalburgi joined Karnataka University as a Kannada lecturer for post-graduate students. In 1966, he was promoted to Professor in the Kannada Department. In 1982, he became the Head of the department. He then became the chairperson of the Basaveshwara Peetha. He received a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in Kannada for his thesis titled "Kavirājamārgada Parisaradalli Kannaḍa Sāhitya" (''Kannada literature in the environs of Kavirajamarga''). Kalburgi was a noted Kannada epigraphist and a renowned scholar of the

. He was the editor of the comprehensive volumes of Vachana literature and involved in translating them into 22 languages. Kalburgi authored 103 books and over 400 articles. He is well known for his ''Marga'' series of books. Although ''Marga 1'' faced some controversies, ''Marga 4'' earned him the

Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award is an annual literary award given to literary works in Kannada by the Karnataka Sahitya Academy. Karnataka Sahitya Academy Award is given to individual books published in various genres like poetry, novel, short ...

, and the national Sahitya Academi Award in 2006. In his later years, he served as the vice-chancellor of the

, before retiring from service. As the vice-chancellor of the Kannada University, Kalburgi started several research projects including the one recording the history of ''

kaifiyat A ''Kaifiyat'' is a historical record, especially about a village or a town, from the Deccan region of India. Compiled in 18th and 19th centuries by village accountants, based on earlier records, the ''kaifiyats'' are a valuable source of local his ...

s'',

Adil Shahi The Adil Shahi or Adilshahi, was a Shia,Salma Ahmed Farooqui, ''A Comprehensive History of Medieval India: From Twelfth to the Mid-Eighteenth Century'', (Dorling Kindersley Pvt Ltd., 2011), 174. and later Sunni Muslim,Muhammad Qasim Firishta's T ...

literature, ancient poets, and lesser known royal families. His research also focused on the 12th century Sharana movement. For his research on

manuscripts A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand – or, once practical typewriters became available, typewritten – as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in ...

, he went to London, Cambridge and Oxford universities. Kalburgi was the chief editor of ''Samagra Vachana Samputa'' which was published by the

Government of Karnataka The Government of Karnataka, abbreviated as, GoK, or simply Karnataka Government, is a democratically-elected state body with the governor as the ceremonial head to govern the Southwest Indian state of Karnataka. The governor who is appointed ...

. He had also worked as chairman of the

Da Ra Bendre Dattātreya Rāmachandra Bēndre (31 January 1896 – 26 October 1981), popularly known as Da Rā Bēndre, is generally considered the greatest Kannada lyric poet of the 20th century and one of the greatest poets in the history of Kannada ...

National Memorial Trust and member of the Kannada Sahitya Academy's advisory board.

Controversies

The ''Marga 1'' controversy

In 1989, Kalburgi was forced by the Lingayat temple-chiefs to recant the allegedly derogatory references to the founder of Lingayat Sect, 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 Lingayath 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 Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

, Kalburgi cited

U. R. Ananthamurthy Udupi Rajagopalacharya Ananthamurthy (21 December 1932 – 22 August 2014) was an Indian contemporary writer and critic in the Kannada language. He was born in Thirtahalli Taluk and is considered one of the pioneers of the Navya movement. In 199 ...

's 1996 book ''Bethale Puje Yake Kuradu'', ("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 The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to ...

Bajrang Dal The Bajrang Dal () is a Hindu nationalist militant organisation that forms the youth wing of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). It is a member of the right-wing Sangh Parivar. The ideology of the organisation is based on Hindutva. It was ...

and

Sri Ram Sena The Sri Ram Sena (), or Sri Ram Sene, is a Hindutva-wing Hindu group founded & headed by Pramod Muthalik. It has received media attention for its acts of moral policing, including the 2009 Mangalore pub attack. Ideology The Sena is a right ...

against both the writers.

Assassination

Having faced death threats previously, Kalburgi had demanded security from the ruling

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

government of

, but had not been provided with it initially. On having had "special protection" for a few days, he requested the police to have them removed in August 2015. On the morning of 20 August 2013 another activist for scientific understanding,

Narendra Dabholkar Narendra Achyut Dabholkar (1 November 1945 – 20 August 2013) was an Indian physician, social activist, rationalist and author from Maharashtra, India. In 1989 he founded and became president of the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti ( ...

, was gunned down by shots to the head and chest fired at

point blank Point-blank range is any distance over which a certain firearm can hit a target without the need to compensate for bullet drop, and can be adjusted over a wide range of distances by sighting in the firearm. If the bullet leaves the barrel paral ...

range by two men who immediately escaped on a motorcycle. On 30 August 2015, two men on a motorcycle came to the residence of Kalburgi in the Kalyan Nagar locality of Dharwad and knocked on his door. Kalburgi's wife Umadevi answered the door to the two men, who posed as students of Kalburgi. She went inside to fetch coffee for them, but at 8:40 a.m.

IST Ist or IST may refer to: Information Science and Technology * Bachelor's or Master's degree in Information Science and Technology * Graduate School / Faculty of Information Science and Technology, Hokkaido University, Japan * Graduate School ...

, one of the men fired two rounds at

range, striking Kalburgi's chest and forehead, while the other waited outside keeping the motorcycle running. Immediately following the shooting the assassins fled the scene on the motorcycle. An ambulance was called and attempts were made to resuscitate Kalburgi. He was first taken to a private hospital and then to the District Civil Hospital of Dharwad, where the doctors declared that he had died en route. His body was cremated in Dharwad on 31 August.

Reactions

Kalburgi's assassination was condemned by many political leaders and social activists. The Karnataka Chief Minister

Siddaramaiah Siddaramaiah (born 3 August 1947), also referred to by his nickname Siddu, Siddaramaiah served as Chief Minister of Karnataka from 13 May 2013 to 17 May 2018 and currently serving as the leader of the opposition in Karnataka Legislative Assembl ...

reacted to the murder calling Kalburgi "progressive thinker" and said that the government had treated the incident "very seriously", and that culprits would be traced soon and "strictest punishment" would be meted out in accordance to law. Protests by a group of writers following the murder took place in

, led by playwright

Girish Karnad Girish Karnad (19 May 1938 – 10 June 2019) was an Indian actor, film director, Kannada writer, playwright and a Jnanpith awardee, who predominantly worked in South Indian cinema and Bollywood. His rise as a playwright in the 1960s marked the ...

. Protests led by pro-Kannada organizations, students and activists took place in other parts of Karnataka subsequently. Also, as a mark of protest, noted writers

Uday Prakash Uday Prakash (born 1 January 1952) is a Hindi poet, scholar, journalist, translator and short story writer from India. He has worked as administrator, editor, researcher, and TV director. He writes for major dailies and periodicals as a freelance ...

and

Chandrashekhar Patil Chandrashekar Patil (18 June 193910 January 2022), popularly known as Champa, was an Indian poet, playwright and public intellectual writing in Kannada. Patil was a recipient of the Karnataka Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry in 1989 and the Kar ...

decided to return their Sahitya Akademi Award and

Pampa Award The Pampas (from the qu, pampa, meaning "plain") are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all of Uruguay; and Brazil ...

s. In October 2015, writer

Nayantara Sahgal Nayantara Sahgal (born 10 May 1927) is an Indian writer who writes in English. She is a member of the Nehru–Gandhi family, the second of the three daughters born to Jawaharlal Nehru's sister, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit. She was awarded the 1986 S ...

also returned Sahitya Akademi Award citing his murder among other incidents with people being "killed for not agreeing with the ruling arty'sideology." Shashi Deshpande, K. Satchidanandan, P.K. Parakkadvu, and Aravind Malagatti resigned from the Akademi office. A number of Kannada writers also returned their Karnataka Sahitya Akademy Awards in October 2015. About forty national Akademi awardees returned their awards, upon which the Akademi requested the recipients to keep their awards. Kalburgi, was a progressive voice among

. Kalburgi's life work has been to provide insights and raise new perspectives into the Lingayat history and community, which have many times lead to controversy and opposition from other members of the powerful Lingayat community that he was member of. K. M. Marulsidappa states "Kalburgi’s murder is less likely to implicate conventional Hindutva groups, and more likely to involve the fine rivalries and high political stakes within Lingayat caste politics." Writer H.S Anupama says "His research work on the Lingayat community, the Vachanas and the Shaiva-Vaishnava clash had created ideological enemies to him within the community."

Investigation

Investigations began on 30 August, the day of the murder. A special team of five

inspector Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

s, 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 Improvised firearms (sometimes called zip guns, pipe guns or slam guns) are firearms manufactured other than by a firearms manufacturer or a gunsmith, and are typically constructed by adapting existing materials to the purpose. They range in qu ...

with 7.65 mm

caliber In guns, particularly firearms, caliber (or calibre; sometimes abbreviated as "cal") is the specified nominal internal diameter of the gun barrel Gauge (firearms) , bore – regardless of how or where the bore is measured and whether the f ...

bullets was used in the murder. Having not found any leads, the police, on 31 August, decided to hand over the case to

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the premier investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and governmen ...

(CBI). However, till the time the formalities would be completed, the police said that investigations would be carried out by Crime Investigation Department (CID). The investigations stretched to include a property dispute within Kalburgi's close family circle which had been successfully settled after he had intervened. On 2 September,

Karnataka Police The Karnataka State Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Karnataka. The department is headed by the Director General and Inspector General of Police. Organization The District Police administration is headed ...

released sketches of the two suspects to the press, based on accounts by Umadevi, Kalburgi's wife, and "another person who had a glimpse of them." The sketches as published in ''

The Hindu ''The Hindu'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper owned by The Hindu Group, headquartered in Chennai, Tamil Nadu. It began as a weekly in 1878 and became a daily in 1889. It is one of the Indian newspapers of record and the secon ...

'' reveal the two faces with an almost photographic clarity.

Works

Kalburgi is the author of over 20 publications, including: * ''Kavirajamarga Parisarada Kannada Sahitya'' * ''Marga'' (in 6 volumes) * ''Neeru Neeradisittu'' * ''Sarangarshi'' * ''Kettitthu Kalyan'' * ''Republic of Reason: Words They Could Not Kill – Selected Writings of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi.'' (2015), Sahmat

Awards

(2006) for ''Marga'' 4 * Kendra (Central)

* Janapad Award *

Yakshagana Yakshagaana is a traditional theatre, developed in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Shimoga and western parts of Chikmagalur districts, in the state of Karnataka and in Kasaragod district in Kerala that combines dance, music, dialogue, ...

Award *

Nrupatunga Award The Nrupatunga Award is an award for excellence in Kannada literature in the Indian state of Karnataka. The award was instituted by the Kannada Sahitya Parishat and is sponsored by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation Bengalu ...

Ranna Ranna may refer to: *Ranna, a subdivision of the town Auerbach in der Oberpfalz in Bavaria, Germany * Ranna, Estonia, a village in the former municipality Pala Parish, Estonia * Ranna (Danube), a river of Bavaria, Germany and of Upper Austria, trib ...

Award * Basava Puraskara (2013) * Nadoja Award

In popular culture

Kalburgi's assassination is featured along with those of other anarchists such as

, Govind Pansare and journalist

Gauri Lankesh Gauri Lankesh (29 January 1962 – 5 September 2017) was an Indian activist and former journalist from Bangalore, Karnataka. She worked as an editor in ''Lankesh Patrike'', a Kannada weekly started by her father P. Lankesh, and ran her own wee ...

in the documentary mini-series ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

'' by

Anand Patwardhan Anand Patwardhan (born 18 February 1950) is an Indian documentary filmmaker known for his socio-political, human rights-oriented films. Some of his films explore the rise of religious fundamentalism, sectarianism and casteism in India, while oth ...

. A short film, ''The Bookshelf'', was produced in memory of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi by three Indian publishing houses

Tulika Books Tulika Books is a New Delhi-based independent publisher of scholarly and academic books in the humanities and social sciences, with a "broadly left perspective." The Chennai-based Tulika Publishers is a sister company of Tulika Books. History ...

Perumal Murugan Perumal Murugan (born 1966) is an Indian author, scholar and literary chronicler who writes in Tamil. He has written twelve novels, six collections of short stories and four anthologies of poetry. Five of his novels have been translated into Eng ...

's publisher Kalachuvadu and Deshabhimani Book House.

References

External links

Homepage

Basavanna and the royal treasury
excerpts from an essay by M.M. Kalburgi
The Future of Folk in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction
an essay by M.M. Kalburgi

by S.Settar. EPW, Vol-L, No. 38, 19 Sep 2015.
Prof M M Kalburgi: A Tireless Researcher
by Shivananda Kanavi {{DEFAULTSORT:Kalburgi, M. M. Kannada-language writers 1938 births 2015 deaths People from Bijapur district, Karnataka Scholars from Karnataka Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Kannada Indian rationalists People murdered in India Deaths by firearm in India Indian murder victims Freedom of speech 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Karnatak University faculty 20th-century Indian educational theorists Assassinated Indian people