Indian film actor and theatre personality Girish Karnad passed away earlier today at his residence in Bengaluru, Karnataka. He was a Kannada playwright and Kannada writer and was awarded the Jnanpith award, the highest literary honour, in 1998.
He also served as the director of the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) from 1974-1975. In 2015, he along with Prof. U.R. Ananthamurthy formed a group called “Samakaleena Vichara Vedike” with the sole intention of opposing Modi and extending full support to the Congress in Lok Sabha elections.
He was also mired in controversies. Karnad had said that the Kempegowda International Airport should have been named after Tipu Sultan.
In 2018, a complaint was filed against him for wearing the ‘Me Too Urban Naxal’ placard around his neck at an event organised on journalist Gauri Lankesh‘s death anniversary.