Days after Kannada lecturer and Dalit activist Hulikunte Murthy was attacked and personally targeted with casteist slurs for his controversial post on Chandrayaan 3, the state police have registered a SC and ST ( Prevention of Atrocities) case against seven individuals. An FIR was registered on July 17 by the Kamakshipalya police station after a complaint by Murthy. The accused have been identified as Kalyan M, Sudharshan, Vikas Vickey, Mruntunjaya Hiremath, Basu Nayak, Tumkuru Kesri, and others. Murthy, who is working as a Kannada lecturer in Government PU College Malleswaram, in a Facebook post in Kannada allegedly posted: “Chandrayaan-3 will be a failure…” Using the ‘Tirupati nama’ phrase, he indicated that the moon mission will fail this time around as well. A team of ISRO scientists offered prayers at the Tirupati temple with the miniature model of Chandrayaan 3 in Andhra Pradesh ahead of the launch last Friday. According to the FIR, Murthy was targeted by hateful, casteist and threatening messages on social media. His wife, Nanda Murthy, was also dragged into the controversy. The FIR report stated that accused Vikas V Hindu called Murthy a ‘traitor pest’, Basu Naik threatened to kill Nanda Murthy with his ‘urine-coated slippers' and a post by Tumkur Kesari likened his wife to a sex worker. The cops have registered the case under various sections of SC and the ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and IPC 1860 under section 153B, 503, 506, 354 (A) (4). Speaking to Indian Express, Murthy said, “ My wife and I have been mentally disturbed by the turn of events since the last few days. I have also taught about scientific temperament. The fact that the miniature model of Chandrayaan 3 was taken to a temple by ISRO scientists, made me question the scientific temperament of the people behind the project. I metaphorically questioned, what happens if the mission fails even this time, just like last year. In hindsight, I feel I should have worded my thoughts differently.” The controversy snowballed after BJP leader and former education minister Suresh Kumar wrote to the current Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa, expressing concerns over the lecturer’s post. Calling it unhealthy, he also warned the lecturer to not repeat this ‘irresponsible behavior’. The government also sent a notice to Murthy on Wednesday seeking clarification on the post. Murthy is expected to submit his reply to the school education department on Friday. Bahutva Karnataka, a civil rights group, condemned the attack on Murthy and demanded the Karnataka government to crack down on miscreants who targeted him and his family with hateful, castetiest and intimidatory speech. In a letter to school Minister Bangarappa, the group said, “Attacks against Murthy have caused immense mental anguish to all those who avail reservation too. It shows that even after 75 years after Independence, caste continues to divide and cause an attack on dignity. These posts also show that there is a complete lack of scientific temper, rationality and even humanity.” The group also demanded that the government come up with a scheme to ensure the development of scientific temperament, reason, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry and reform.
