Leaders of the Arya Vysya community burnt effigies and lodged complaints with the police in Kurnool, Nandyal and Proddatur on Tuesday against professor Kancha Ilaiah alleging he denigrated Vysya community in a book he authored.
Arya Vysya Hakkula Sadhana Samithi president T.G. Bharath and members burnt an effigy of the professor, accusing him of denigrating the Arya Vysya community in his book ‘Samajika Smugglurlu Komatollu’ and demanding that the governments ban the book in AP and Telangana, on Tuesday.
Expressing solidarity with the Samithi members who burnt the effigy near the Konda Reddy fort, gold and silver merchants downed their shutters and participated in the protest. Mr. Bharath said it did not behove the stature of a professor like Ilaiah to publish books denigrating and hurting the sentiments of other communities with a view to gaining publicity and meeting his selfish ends.
Samithi members Ch. Bhaskar, Jagadeesh, Tirupal Babu, Nandakishore and Ramana were present.
Mr. Bharat and samithi members I. Lakshmaiah, Seshagiri, Vithal setty, Manjunath, Sudhakar, Padmaja and Lakshmi Devi lodged a complaint in the Kurnool II Town police station against Mr. Ilaiah and demanded his arrest.
Meanwhile, Arya Vysya men and women staged a protest rally and formed a human chain at the Gandhi centre in Nandyal town on Tuesday demanding the arrest of Ilaiah. They demanded his apology to the Arya Vysya community and banning of the book authored by him in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
In Proddatur
The Arya Vysya community members staged a protest rally from Ammavarisala to the Proddatur tahsildar office in Kadapa district and burnt Ilaiah’s effigy at Rajiv circle on Tuesday.
Arya Vysya Sabha president Busetty Ramamohan Rao and members lodged a complaint against him in the Proddatur I Town police station and submitted a memorandum to deputy tahsildar Chandrasekhar Reddy.
In Chittoor
Chittoor district unit of the AP Arya Vaisya Maha Sabha on Tuesday organised a protest demanding a ban on Ilaiah's book, which had allegedly made derogatory remarks against their community.
The protest rally led by the Arya Vysya Hakkula Sadhana Committee general secretary R.S. Madhusudana, commenced at the local Kanyaka Parameswari temple at Brahmin street and passed through the arterial junctions of the town. It culminated at Gandhi Bomma, where the forum members raised slogans demanding a ban on the publication.
Addressing the gathering, Mr. Madhusudhana said it was unfortunate that a professor like Mr. Ilaiah had resorted to objectionable remarks against the Arya Vysya community. “It is unfair on the part of the writer to call our community as social smugglers,” he said, adding that the community had nothing personal against Mr. Ilaiah, but only demanded a ban on his book.
Later, about 300 members of the forum took out a scooter rally to the Collectorate and presented a memorandum to Collector P.S. Pradyumna on their demand.
