Kannada Sahitya Parishad decides to suspend Rohith Chakratirtha

Bengaluru: District Kannada Sahitya Parishad in Bengaluru has decided to immediately suspend textbook review committee chairman Rohith Chakratirtha on the allegations that he insulted poet laureate Kuvempu and the state anthem (Naadageethe) written by him.

The decision was taken at the meeting of the Parishad held at Chamarajapete on Thursday. The meeting was chaired by the Kannada Sahitya Parishad’s – Bengaluru district president Prakash Murthy.

However, Charatirtha has vehemently refuted the allegations. In a statement issued on Tuesday, he said that the Facebook post with the distorted lines of the state anthem was not posted by him. The post, which dates back to 2017, was a “forwarded WhatsApp message” that he had reposted, he claimed.

“While reposting it, I had clearly mentioned that it was not mine,” he said.