Kancha Ilaiah allegedly attacked with slippers and stones, files police complaint

Writer and social scientist Kancha Ilaiah was allegedly attacked with slippers and stones on Saturday, as he was heading towards Hyderabad, after attending a function in Bhupalpally in Telangana.

Kancha filed a police complaint accusing four people of attacking his vehicle and trying to kill him.

Arya Vysya organisations have been holding protests in parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh and burning the writer's effigies, seeking a ban on his book 'Komatollu Samajika Smagglarlu' (Komatollu are social smugglers). 

Speaking to PTI, a police official said around 200 members of the Arya Vysya community held a demonstration after they spotted Kancha's vehicle, following which the writer's driver diverted the car to Parkal Town police station.

The protesters also reached the police station, after which the writer's followers and members of the Dalit community, also reached the spot. 

"Members of both the communities raised slogans against each other," the police official told PTI.

"Ilaiah was in Parkal to attend a function when Vysya community members stopped him. Some people allegedly threw chappals at him and he ran into the police station for protection. The protesters were dispersed and he has returned to Hyderabad," Parkal police station inspector J Narsimhalu told The Indian Express.

According to reports, members of the Vasavi Kanyakaparameshwari Temple Committee and Arya Vysya Yuvajana Sangham demanded that the police arrest Kancha, for writing the book. 

However, the police managed to bring the situation under control.

Meanwhile a criminal case was registered by the Saidabad police in Hyderabad, after an advocate filed a complaint claiming that Kancha's books contained a lot of objectionable content.

"Further, the book mentions that Mahatma Gandhi, a Vysya, was killed by Nathuram Godse, a Brahmin. This promotes hatred between the two communities. Also, this is not the first instance where Kancha Ilaiah has spewed venom at Hinduism, its Gods and religious sentiments," the complainant was quoted as saying.

This comes the same week that Arya Vysya community members resorted to a bizarre protest, and in an attempt to humiliate the writer, created door-mats with Kancha’s photo imprinted on it.

They have distributed these door-mats at temples and to shopkeepers belonging to the Arya-Vysya community to dust their feet and footwear.

Kancha has defended his book, telling reporters earlier, "Social Smuggling is a phrase. It is the economic process of exploitation, which means earning in business but not investing back into society."

Kancha is presently the Director, Center for the Study of Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy at Maulana Azad National Urdu University (MANUU) in Hyderabad.