Threats to Kancha Ilaiah raised in U.S. Congress

Threats faced by academic and writer Kancha Ilaiah for his book on ‘Vysya’ community have reached the United States Congress, when a member of the US House of Representatives raised the issue along with the murder of journalist Gouri Lankesh in Bengaluru to bring focus on the curtailment to freedom of expression.

Harold Trent Franks, representing Arizona’s 8th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives, raised the issue on October 12, in his speech lasting over four minutes.

The speech, found online on the House’s web portal, expressed concern about the frequent infringement on individual freedom of speech across the world, drawing instances from the murder of Ms. Lankesh and threats issued to Prof. Ilaiah.

“Across the world, Mr. Speaker, individual freedom of speech is frequently infringed. A posted critique or just sharing one’s views freely on the Internet can be punishable, even by death,” Mr. Franks said, before going on to mention Ms. Lankesh’s murder and the threat issued to Prof.Ilaiah “by a Hindu member of India’s parliament” who is also “an ally of the current BJP government”.

Recalling the MP’s statement that Prof. Ilaiah should be “publicly hanged”, the subsequent threats and an incident of stones thrown at his car, and his self-imposed “house arrest”, The US Congressman wondered if his crime was significant.