11 Karnataka intellectuals under right wing fire

Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah appears powerless as right wing extremists publicly threaten and harass the state's intellectuals. In his recent public statement, his media advisor Dinesh Amin Mattu, revealed at an event organised to condemn the killing of Dharwad-based rationalist M M Kalburgi, that the CM was angry with the police for letting off Sri Rama Sene activists who had threatened to burn down the houses of Kannada writers Chennaveera Kanavi and Giraddi Govindraja. The writers had signed a memorandum seeking a probe into the role of the Sene in Kalburgi's killing. Mattu also revealed the chief minister couldn't do much other than show rage when police officials told him the Sene activists were let off on bail a few hours after their arrest.