Kannada writer MM Kalburgi shot dead in Dharwad, Karnataka

Renowned scholar and writer MM Kalburgi was shot dead in Dharwad, Karnataka on Sunday morning, the News Minute reports.

According to the report two people came to Kalburgi's resident in Kalyan Nagar,Dharwad and shot him in the head and chest when he opened the door, City Police Commissioner Ravindra Prasad said.

Tv9 Kannada reports that wife and his son and daughter were in the house when the attack took place.

While his daughter Roopdarshi said that her father's enemies,who opposed what he stood for, could be behind the death, the police is also looking into property dispute as motive.

Kalburgi was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to his wounds en route.

Kalburgi has often been the target of parties such as the VHP, ABVP and Bajrang Dal. According to News Minute's report, in 2014 he stirred controversy  when he recounted an anecdote about eminent writer UR Ananthamurthy urinating on a religious idol. He was criticised in 2007 for suggesting the need for a better state anthem. 

According to the report, writer K Neela said that Kalburgi stood for the 'secular ethos of the state'

Kalburgi was a former vice chancellor of Kannada University and a member of the Advisory Board to the Kannada Sahitya Academy. He was an epigraphist and a scholar of the Vachana literature, The Hindu reports