A group of lawyers from Mysuru, Mandya and Chamarajanagar called upon Kannada writer and rationalist K.S. Bhagavan at his residence in the city on Sunday and denounced the attack on him by a lawyer in Bengaluru last week.
The lawyers, under the aegis of Karnataka State unit of All India Lawyers Union (AILU), met Prof. Bhagavan and expressed solidarity with him. They will hold a programme called ‘Prof. Bhagavan avarondige vakeelaru’ (Lawyers with Prof. Bhagavan) in Mysuru next week. The date and venue are yet to be finalised.
Lawyer Meera Raghavendra confronted Prof. Bhagavan at the City Civil Court complex in Bengaluru last Thursday and threw ink on his face while accusing the writer of being critical of Hinduism.
While condemning the act, AILU, in a statement, said the incident taking place on the court premises made it more grave. “It is not important whether we are in agreement with Prof. Bhagavan’s views. Our country has laws that accept freedom of expression. Our Constitution is supreme. Hence, Prof. Bhagavan has the right to express his views. This should be respected,” the AILU said in its statement, and also claimed that the lawyer had brought shame upon the entire fraternity of lawyers with her actions.
Contending that the lawyer had violated the Advocates’ Act, 1961, the AILU urged the Karnataka Bar Council to immediately take suitable action against her.
