HUBBALLI: After Magsaysay awardee journalist P Sainath announced he was returning the Basavashree award, conferred by the Chitradurga Murugha Mutt in 2016, several other recipients of the award are said to be thinking of following suit.
Sainath’s decision to return the award comes in the wake of sexual assault charges and a case under the Pocso Act against Shivamurthy Swami, pontiff of the Chitradurga mutt. It is said many writers and activists are now trying to persuade other recipients to return the award.
The Basavashree award was established in 1997 and has been conferred on many national and international personalities like Malala Yousafzai, Dalai Lama, Anna Hazare, Medha Patkar, Shabana Azmi, PT Usha, Kiran Bedi amongst others. One Basavashree awardee, who asked not to be named, said he is “traumatised” by what the pontiff had allegedly done and goings on in the mutt.
“But I need more time to make a proper decision on returning the award,” he said. GN Mohan, editor-in-chief Avadhimag.in, said he was on the dais when Sainath was given the award. “Returning the award is a conscious action of achievers to boost the social movement of contemporary time,” Mohan said. “Sainath has responsibly responded to current untoward incidents and all others should follow suit. Even achievers of other awards conferred by the mutt should join in this campaign.”
Veteran novelist Kum Veerabhadrappa, who returned the Sahitya Akademi award after the murder of rationalist MM Kalburgi, urged Basavashree awardees not to return the Rs 5 lakh cash component of the award to the mutt. “It is the hard-earned money of devotees and should instead be handed over to survivors of the incident,” he said.
Purushothama Bilimale, former head, Kannada Study Chair, JNU Delhi, said until now, only those who received government awards have returned them. “But that is changing now,” Bilimale said. “The Swamiji is a spiritual and cultural face of the state but his alleged actions are an embarrassment to Basavanna himself. It will have an impact on the whole mutt culture in the state.”
Sainath’s decision to return the award comes in the wake of sexual assault charges and a case under the Pocso Act against Shivamurthy Swami, pontiff of the Chitradurga mutt. It is said many writers and activists are now trying to persuade other recipients to return the award.
The Basavashree award was established in 1997 and has been conferred on many national and international personalities like Malala Yousafzai, Dalai Lama, Anna Hazare, Medha Patkar, Shabana Azmi, PT Usha, Kiran Bedi amongst others. One Basavashree awardee, who asked not to be named, said he is “traumatised” by what the pontiff had allegedly done and goings on in the mutt.
“But I need more time to make a proper decision on returning the award,” he said. GN Mohan, editor-in-chief Avadhimag.in, said he was on the dais when Sainath was given the award. “Returning the award is a conscious action of achievers to boost the social movement of contemporary time,” Mohan said. “Sainath has responsibly responded to current untoward incidents and all others should follow suit. Even achievers of other awards conferred by the mutt should join in this campaign.”
Veteran novelist Kum Veerabhadrappa, who returned the Sahitya Akademi award after the murder of rationalist MM Kalburgi, urged Basavashree awardees not to return the Rs 5 lakh cash component of the award to the mutt. “It is the hard-earned money of devotees and should instead be handed over to survivors of the incident,” he said.
Purushothama Bilimale, former head, Kannada Study Chair, JNU Delhi, said until now, only those who received government awards have returned them. “But that is changing now,” Bilimale said. “The Swamiji is a spiritual and cultural face of the state but his alleged actions are an embarrassment to Basavanna himself. It will have an impact on the whole mutt culture in the state.”