Intolerance at Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan? BJP's Malavika Avinash booed

Hubballi: There was pandemonium during the second day of the 84th Akhila Bharat Kannada Sahitya Sammelan on Saturday as a section of the audience raised objections to the speech of actor and BJP leader, Malavika Avinash.

Participating in the session on 'Rationality and Intolerance,' she raised the issue of the Sabarimala row and lynching incidents reported across the country and wondered why people were quiet when 3,000 Sikhs were massacred or when Hindu activists in the state were killed.

Targeting atheists, she asked why they did nothing when women were denied entry into the Sabarimala temple.

This angered a section of the audience, which alleged that she was trying to politicise issues. As a heated exchange of words followed, the police deployed outside the auditorium rushed in to calm the agitators. Others in the audience demanded that the police throw the agitating group out and wanted Ms Avinash to continue her speech. But she voluntarily stepped down from the podium as the situation escalated.