Hulikante Murthy, a 42-year-old lecturer at a Bengaluru-based government college, took down the Facebook comment a day after posting it.
Published Jul 20, 2023 | 11:10 PM ⚊ Updated Jul 20, 2023 | 11:10 PM
LMV Mk-3 lifting off from SDRC SHAR. (Screengrab)
Hulikante Murthy might have had an inkling that what he was posting online might ruffle some feathers.
That was why, on 14 July, he deleted his post from a day earlier that took a contrarian view of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) scientists taking a miniature version of Chandrayaan 3 to Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh for divine blessings.
However, the damage had been done by then: The 42-year-old Dalit lecturer from a Bengaluru-based government college was being targeted by trolls and cyber-bullies — especially from the right-wing ecosystem — for his comment.
The professor’s family was also dragged into the arena, and he even received death threats, prompting Murthy to lodge a complaint based on which 30 people have been booked under various sections of the law.
Murthy, it may be noted, is an accomplished teacher and writer whose published works include Paranjyoti on Manteswami’s legacy, an anthology of poems called Neeligayana, and a collection of articles called Hoobitta Kannu.
Neeligayana won the 2013 state government’s Basavaraj Kattimani Yuva Sahitya Award.
He has written songs for dramas and campaigns, and composed music for the movie Kaudi, for which he won the Karnataka state award for Best Lyricist in 2014.
In 2018, the Prerana Institute of Bengaluru honoured him with the Mahatma Jyotiba Phule and Savitribai Phule Best Teacher Award.
The Kuvempu University has made his Anna Katha a prescribed text for a graduation class.
Screenshot of an abusive troll on Hulikante Murthy
Murthy on 13 July — a day before the Chandrayaan 3 launch — posted in Kannada on his Facebook account: “What if the Chandrayaan fails this time as well?”
By the time he took it down on Wednesday, he had not only been massively trolled and cyber-bullied but also received death threats.
Some miscreants managed to find his wife’s account as well, and abused and trolled her.
“Even though I deleted my post, people online had taken screenshots of it, shared it widely, and started abusing me in vulgar language, reposting what I had deleted,” Murthy told South First.
“Not only that, they also hurled casteist slurs and abuses at me. There were multiple threats to kill me, while my wife was vulgarly abused,” he added.
One of the trolls called the lecturer anti-national and posted: “Please kill him on the spot itself.”
Screenshot of an abusive troll on Hulikante Murthy
Another user posted: “While the country is headed for a successful venture, there are anti-national worms like him. Wonder what kind of a lecturer (he is) with a government college.”
Another online user posted: “When the entire country is praying for the success of Chandrayaan 3, and thousands of scientists are putting in all their efforts, this worm is eager for it not to succeed.”
The user added: “I appeal to the Bengaluru Rural SP to book him for anti-national activity and arrest him. The police should also identify which foreign forces are making him indulge in such activities.”
Meanwhile, former BJP minister Suresh Kumar, who learnt about the lecturer’s Facebook post on 17 July, wrote a letter to Karnataka Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa and the Pre-University (PU) Board, asking them to take action against him for allegedly mocking Chandrayaan 3.
ಭಾರತೀಯರ ಹೆಮ್ಮೆಯ ಚಂದ್ರಯಾನ 3 ನ್ನು ಕೆಟ್ಟದಾಗಿ ಅಣಕಿಸಿರುವ ಸರಕಾರಿ ಪದವಿಪೂರ್ವ ಕಾಲೇಜಿನ ಕನ್ನಡ ಉಪನ್ಯಾಸಕ ರ ಕುರಿತು ಶಿಕ್ಷಣ ಸಚಿವರಿಗೆ ನಾನು ಬರೆದಿರುವ ಪತ್ರವಿದು. pic.twitter.com/fTVcDIFtSv
— S.Suresh Kumar (@nimmasuresh) July 18, 2023
Soon after Suresh Kumar tweeted this letter, trolls unleashed a deluge of posts targeting Murthy and urging the Karnataka government to register a case against the lecturer.
Murthy, meanwhile, asserted that he had posted his comment on Chandrayaan 3 keeping in mind the teachings of poet Kuvempu and noted physicist Hanumanthappa Narasimhaiah — both of whom were rational and had a scientific temperament.
As a teacher, Murthy felt that it was not appropriate for scientists to take the miniature of the Chandrayaan 3 to the Tirupati temple.
His post on Facebook was meant to emphasise a scientific temper, but was misconstrued, he said.
Casteist slurs and abuses with threatening messages continued to be hurled at Murthy to the extent that he had to approach the Kamakshipalya police in Bengaluru on Wednesday, 19 July, and file a complaint.
There was also a threat call made to him claiming that he would be eliminated soon, he said.
Based on his complaint, the local assistant commissioner of police (ACP) filed an FIR against 30 online trolls, booking them under sections of the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act as well as sections under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for criminal intimidation and breach of peace, among other sections.
Bahutva Karnataka, a prominent civil society group, came out in support of the Dalit lecturer and his family, and strongly condemned the attacks.
It said that, at the outset, the vicious attacks constituted serious offences under sections of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
It added that this campaign also constituted hate speech under Indian law as it clearly violated Section 153(B) of the Indian Penal Code.
Bahutva Karnataka members have written to the Education Minister Madhu Bangarappa, requesting the Education Department to take action against those who were harassing Hulikunte Murthy and his family, and also demanding a special scheme to ensure scientific temper.
“These posts insult, demean and have caused immense mental anguish to not just Hulikunte Murthy and his family, but to all those who avail reservation. They also constitute a threat to his life,” said the group in a statement.
“Hulikunte Murthy belongs to the Dalit community and is vocal about defending the Constitution and its values, and this has led to such kinds of attacks against him,” the statement noted.
“We urge the competent authorities to ensure that strict action is taken against all persons who have indulged in hateful, casteist, and intimidatory posts. We also demand that the government come up with a scheme in the name of late Rohith Vemula to ensure the development of scientific temperament, reason, humanism, and the spirit of inquiry and reform,” the statement added.
