An unfazed Girish Karnad on Thursday said that he did not fear the "death threat" against him that was posted on social media and subsequently deleted.
"Tweets don't worry me," he told India Today during an interview today. "If people tweet, it almost certainly means that they don't have the guts to do anything."
He also wished the person "good luck" for warning Karnad that he "will meet the same end like Kalburgi" for his praise of Tipu Sultan. "What can one say? One can only say either good luck or bad luck I suppose," he said, adding that Kalburgi had been shot twice between the eyebrows, and that kind of murder is only done by a contract killer for millions of rupees.
"That kind of person doesn't tweet," he said.
'Did Not Ask Airport To Be Renamed'
The Jnanpith Award-winning playwright also clarified that he had never asked the Bengaluru international airport to be renamed.
"It is ridiculous to say that you should change the name of the international airport," he said. "But people, media, I don't know who it is spread the word that I had said that the name of the airport should be changed and there were many people upset of that. The whole interpretation is so ridiculous... You can't change the name of the international airport that easily."
Karnad said that he had suggested to the Karnataka government two or three years ago that the airport should be named after Tipu Sultan, and that it had again come up during the Tipu Jayanti celebrations on Tuesday as a point of reference.
Meanwhile Union Urban Development Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said today that people have welcomed the naming of the Bengaluru International Airport after Kempe Gowda and there was really no need to add fuel to fire by considering the option of renaming it after Mysore King Tipu Sultan.
"Kempe Gowda was the founder of Bengaluru, people respect him immensely. The name of Bangalore International Airport has been kept after him. People have welcomed that. Now, there is no point discussing after once the airport is named after a great person, who was instrumental in creating Bangalore city initially. You cannot be selective. Nobody should add fuel to the fire," Naidu told journalists.
"The Karnataka government must also keep in mind the public sentiments. There is no point in hurting the public sentiment. The people who are criticising should also think before speaking," he added.
(with PTI inputs)
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