Writers, activists oppose show-cause notice served on Shivamogga KSP president Manjunath

Shivamogga

Writers and activists of Shivamogga on Sunday resolved to oppose Kannada Sahitya Parishat president Mahesh Joshi’s show-cause notice served on D. Manjunath, president of the Shivamogga district unit of Kannada Sahitya Parishat, asking him why his (Manjunath’s) membership should not be suspended.

The participants in the meeting, a majority of whom were members of the sahitya parishat, maintained that Mr. Joshi had no rights to suspend a member, who had been elected as president of the parishat’s unit from lifetime members of the parishat, and such acts were against democratic principles on which the organisation should function.

On March 28, Mr. Joshi served a notice on Mr. Manjunath and asked him to give a reply within seven days. Mr. Joshi, in his notice, alleged that Mr. Manjunath had continued with indisciplined conduct despite repeated opportunities, and the executive committee of the parishat, which met on March 21, resolved to suspend his membership. Allegations against Mr. Manjunath include that he shared the proposed bylaws with outsiders and leaked the letter signed by district presidents on social media platforms.

However, Honnali Chandrashekhar, who convened the meeting, said that Mr. Manjunath was not facing any serious charge that deserved suspension of his membership. Mr. Joshi’s action was uncalled for, and his attempts to remove a district president by suspending his membership should be opposed. He also stressed the need for holding a meeting of writers in Bengaluru in this regard.

Socialist Puttaiah Peraduru, writer J.K. Ramesh, Padmanabha, advocate K.P. Sripal, Thirthahalli taluk Kannada Sahitya Parishat president T.K. Ramesh Shetty, poet and publisher Akshata Hunchadakatte, and others attended the meeting.