Karnataka - Bangalore   

Harikrishna Punaroor assaulted

By Our Staff Reporter

Harikrishna Punaroor

BANGALORE, JAN. 21 . A group of people, claiming to belong to the Rakshana Vedike, a pro-Kannada organisation, on Wednesday assaulted the President of the Kannada Sahitya Parishath, Harikrishna Punaroor, and attempted to disrobe him after he refused to apologise for his statement on "naada geete".

The incident took place at a function organised by the Parishath at its premises to present a literary award instituted by the film artiste, B. Saroja Devi, for women writers.

As soon as Mr. Punaroor stood up to speak, a group of people rushed to the podium and demanded his apologies and asked him to clarify "whether he was the president of the Kannada Sahitya Parishath or Madhwa Parishath". Mr. Punaroor urged the group to listen to his address as he would again clarify his position and his reported statement was not intended to belittle Kuvempu, the author of "naada geete". After having a heated exchange, the group assaulted him.

Mr. Punaroor told The Hindu that it was an insignificant melee at the function. He had not lodged any police complaint.

Speaking at Puttur taluk Kannada Sahitya Sammelan recently, Mr. Punarror reportedly said that " why only Kuvempu's poem should be adopted and why one should try to placate Kuvempu". In a sharp reaction to this, the President of Bangalore Urban district unit of the Parishath, Ko. Vem. Ramakrishna Gowda, in a release on January 13, said: "Holding a responsible position it was wrong on the part of Mr. Punaroor to take sides in favour of any caste. Besides, he had no befitting stature to comment upon Kuvempu. It was Mr. Punaroor who created a controversy over the naada geete and had committed a big crime by making light hearted remark for which he should apologise".

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• No takers for science, humanities
• Hearing impaired artist plans 26-hour session
• Motorcyclist killed in hit-and-run case
• `Blinking speed-breakers' to prevent accidents
• Crackdown on liquor manufacturing
• Water adalat
• Krishna's stand on Assembly elections hailed
• Transport adalat
• `We felt like visiting a relative'
• Harikrishna Punaroor assaulted
• Around The City
• In Bangalore Today

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu