3 months later, RSS offers condolences to Kalburgi’s family

Local RSS leaders visited the scholar’s residence Monday to hand over the letter of condolence, written by Vikas Telang, RSS pradhan karyalay sachiv. It stated that the members who had participated in the three-day Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal in Ranchi observed two minutes of silence to mark Kalburgi’s death.

The RSS “shares the grief of the bereaved family and prays to the all-merciful to give necessary strength to you all to bear the loss with fortitude. May God give sadgati to the departed soul,” says the letter, which was handed to Kalburgi’s wife Umadevi by Srinath Nadiger, the North Karnataka wing secretary of the RSS.

“We have sent the letter to Kalburgi’s son Srivijaya through WhatsApp since he was in Bengaluru when we visit Kalburgi’s house,” said Harshavardhan Sheelavanth, head of the RSS publicity division in Dharwad.

RSS leader Srinath Nadiger said the condolences had been delayed because the Kalburgi family had been away. “Our baithak in Ranchi ended November 1. We visited Kalburgi’s home a month ago and found that Umadevi was in Bengaluru. She returned only on November 26, so we visited her on Monday,” Nadiger said.

The RSS has also expressed condolences to the families of CPI leader Govind Pansare and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar who were killed in a similar manner in February 2015 and August 2013 respectively, Sangh official Sheelavanth said. “We respect all people in society and their thoughts. Someone recently alleged that the RSS is behind Kalburgi’s murder. We do not want the RSS to be dragged in unnecessarily when an investigation is under way. Our demand is that the investigation be expedited to arrest the real culprits,” he added.