The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Khandre raises pitch for ban on book on social reformer Basaveshwara

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Wednesday, Jun 20, 2007
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Khandre raises pitch for ban on book on social reformer Basaveshwara

Special Correspondent

Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha threatens to lay siege to Vidhana Soudha

Author’s claim not based on proper research: Khandre
Ban will be against democratic rights: writer

Bangalore: The Akhila Bharata Veerashaiva Mahasabha has raised the pitch for a ban on Banjagere Jayaprakash’s research work “Aanu Deva Horaganavanu” on the 12th Century social reformer and philosopher Basaveshwara. It has threatened to lay siege to the Vidhana Soudha on July 5 if its demand is ignored.

Mahasabha president and former Minister Bheemanna Khandre told presspersons here on Tuesday that the author had committed an “unpardonable crime” by raising questions about the parentage of Basavanna, an icon of the Veerashaiva community. The author’s claim that Basaveshwara was from the Madiga community and was not a Shaivite Brahmin, as conventionally believed, was not based on proper research, he said.

Asked if seeking a ban did not amount to suppressing the freedom of expression of a researcher and writer, Mr. Khandre said: “People cannot say just anything in the name of freedom of expression.” The book, he added, had “indirectly insulted” B.R. Ambedkar and Kuvempu as well.

On the proposal by the Government to set up a committee to investigate the claims made in the Dr. Jayaprakash’s book, Mr. Khandre said it would serve no purpose and there was nothing to investigate.

‘Intolerance’

Reacting to the controversy and the demand for a ban, Dr. Jayaprakash expressed concern about the “atmosphere of intolerance”. He said it was an attack on the democratic right to do research and initiate debates. “I am not asking anyone to agree with my point of view. People are free to disagree and debate. But there should be an open mind on it,” he said.

‘Great respect’

Dr. Jayaprakash said he had written the book with great respect for Basavanna’s poetry and his egalitarian vision.

The great philosopher did not need a “protectionist policy”, and stifling debate on him would amount to “limiting a great personality”, he said.

The agitation against the book was characterised by “unnecessary aggression”, which went against the spirit of Basaveshwara’s philosophy, he said.

The ban was being sought by only a section of the community, which was seeing it as a “threat to the social hegemony”.

Dr. Jayaprakash said “research could only be opposed through counter-research” and not by means of a ban. He dismissed the charge that the book insulted Ambedkar and Kuvempu as “completely unfounded”.

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