A group of people belonging to different religions have extended their contribution to repair an old house belonging to Vishwanath Shetty, who was murdered in a communal clash in Shivamogga seven years ago. Among those who worked for the last two days included Muslims, Christians and Hindus.
Vishwanath Shetty, a Hindutva activist, was murdered by a group of people near Gajanur on February 19, 2015. He died in the clash that erupted following a rally by the Popular Front of India in the city on the day. People returning from the rally allegedly attacked him. He was survived by aged parents, wife and son. Over the years, his father passed away and his wife also died due to health issues. His mother, Meenakshamma, has been taking care of her grandson Aditya (Vishwanath Shetty’s son). Now, the boy is studying in a residential school at Koppa. The old woman earns a meagre amount by collecting plastic waste.
Following the murder of Hindutva activist Harsha on February 20, many politicians visited his family at Seegehatti and extended financial aid. This prompted a few people to enquire about the status of Vishwanath Shetty’s family. M. Srikanth, Shivamogga district president of Janata Dal (Secular), traced Vishwanath Shetty’s house at Alkola in the town on Saturday. “We were shocked to know that the old woman has been living in the house without power supply for two years. She had not cleared the pending bills for two years and hence the power supply was disconnected. It was restored the same day”, said Srikanth.
Later a team of workers, led by D. Shyam, who takes painting contracts, took up the cleaning and painting work. “When people of my team reached the place on Sunday, they came to know the house belonged to Vishwanath Shetty. The workers voluntarily expressed their wish to do the job without payment. Our team is diverse with people from all major religions of the country. Gnan Prakash, a Christian, Jabiulla and Naushad, Muslims, and Karthik and Manjunath, Hindus, worked for two days,” he said. Shyam said he was happy for being part of the service rendered to an old woman. “We are all humans first and religion has no place in our group,” he added.
A few personalities and a few organisations have shown interest in helping the family and help Vishwanath’s son complete his studies.
