Siddalingaiah will be first Dalit writer to chair Sahitya Sammelana

Writer Siddalingaiah

Siddalingaiah has been nominated to chair the Akhila Bharata Kannada Sahitya Sammelana slated to start on February 1 in Shravanabelagola. He will be the first Dalit writer to chair the event in the 100-year history of Kannada Sahitya Parishat. The Parishat had resolved to choose a Dalit for the chair but its first choice, Devanuru Mahadeva, had declined the offer citing ideological differences on making Kannada the medium of instruction in schools.