NK'S POST

NK SINGH The Madhya Pradesh Government appears to have forgotten that way back in December it had announced, with much fanfare, a judicial inquiry into the Bhopal gas leak disaster that had claimed over 2.000 lives. The terms of reference of the inquiry were announced on December 6, three days after the tragedy, and the single member commission, headed by Justice N. K. Singh of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, was asked to submit its report by March 15. The commission's report is no where in sight. In fact, it is yet to start its work in right earnest and its term has been extended till the end of June.  Justice N. K. Singh has accused the state government officials of non-cooperation. Earlier, when the press had criticized the delay in commencement of the inquiry, he had issued a statement pointing out that it was the delay on the part of the Government in providing the necessary working facilities which had hampered the functioning of the commission. On Wednesday, as the commission...

NK SINGH The Bhopal police on Sunday registered a case against Mr B. V. Karanth, director of the Madhya Pradesh Rangmandal, the state Government- backed repertory, in connection with the alleged attempt to murder a young and pretty actress of his troupe. The case, registered under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information), has caused a sensation in the town, particularly in cultural circles. Mr Karanth, a prominent theatre personality, once headed the prestigious National School of Drama. He is also chairman of the MP Film Development Corporation, a state government undertaking. The actress, 27-year-old Ms Vibha Mishra, received near-fatal burns at her residence in the exclusive Professors' Colony on Saturday afternoon. Mr Karanth was allegedly present in the house when the incident took place, eyewitnesses and neighbours told the police. Ms Mishra, whose condition was described by doctors, as "precar...

NK SINGH With the Vibha-Karanth affair taking a backseat over time, attention is now shifting toward Bharat Bhawan, the sprawling lakeside cultural complex that employed both principal figures in last month’s highly charged controversy, which left Miss Vibha with 80% burns. On Saturday, the Bharat Bhawan management formally announced an inquiry into the institution, to be conducted by one of its trustees, Mrs. Pupul Jayakar. However, several cultural organizations in the city strongly opposed this decision, likening it to “asking a thief to catch a thief.” A press note issued on behalf of the Bharat Bhawan Trust stated that any person or organization wishing to file complaints against Bharat Bhawan could send them “directly in a sealed cover” to Mrs. Jayakar by June 15.  Around two dozen cultural and literary organizations in the city have reacted sharply to the decision, criticizing the appointment of a trustee to investigate the trust’s affairs. These groups have been demanding a...

                                       NK SINGH The Bharat Bhawan Trust has requested Mrs Papul Jayakar, the government of led nominee on the trust, to inquire into the allegations against the functioning of Bharat Bhawan, the multi-arts complex at Bhopal, and the trustee secretary, Mr Ashok Vajpeyi, a senior IAS officer. Disclosing this here on Thursday, the trust's chairman, Mr Arjun Singh, AIC- CIT) vice-president, told newsmen that Mrs Jayakar would conduct the in-house inquiry into the allegations level. Led in the wake of the Karanth affair, B. V. Karanth, one of the Bharat Bhawan trusters and director of its repertory, was arrested last month by the Bhopal police on the charge of trying to burn to death an actress of his drama troupe. Mr Arjun Singh, who came here on Thursday to attend an organisational meeting, also visited the lake-side bouse of arts and addressed a gathering of ...

                                    NK SINGH The dramatic arrest of the prominent 57-year-old theatre director, B. V. Karanth on a charge of attempting to burn to death Vibha Mishra, the pretty 27-year-old heroine of his drama troupe at Bhopal last week has rocked the world of art. He had joined Bharat Bhavan, the lake-side House of Arts' at Bhopal, four years ago.  Although Karanth has dabbled in films and produced nationally-acclaimed works like "Chomana Duddi" and "Kedu", he is better known as a theatre director and playwright. A diploma-holder from the National School of Drama, Delhi, and the Asian Theatre Institute, he started his career with the famous "Gubbi" company in his native Karnataka. He has directed world classics not only in, Kannada and Hindi, but also in Punjabi, Gujarati and Sanskrit. He was director of the prestigious National School of Drama from 1977 to 1981 when he was p...

NK SINGH The Bharat Bhawan controversy has taken a political turn, with one of its life trustees, noted painter J. Swami Nathan, launching a thinly veiled attack on the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Motilal Vora. The bearded painter said in a press interview that he apprehended a conspiracy by some "politically influential persons' behind the current "smear campaign" against Bharat Bhawan in the wake of the sensational Vibha-Karanth affair. In an obvious reference to the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr Swaminathan said the "conspiracy" was aimed at Mr Arjun Singh, the AICC-I vice-president and Bharat Bhawan Trust chairman, and Mr Ashok Vajpeyi, the culture secretary of Madhya Pradesh and Bharat Bhawan's trustee-secretary. Mr Swaminathan, who was 'lured' to Madhya Pradesh during the regime of Mr Arjun Singh, is considered a supporter of the former chief minister. "We will quit the trust," he had earlier told newsmen when asked wha...

NK SINGH Ms Vibha Mishra, the stage actress who suffered serious burns in Bhopal, under controversial circumstances. Involving top theatre personality, B. V. Karanth, was on Saturday admitted to Safdarjung Hospital. Ms Mishra, who sustained severe burns and who has developed serious complications, was brought to Delhi by a special Madhya Pradesh Government aircraft on Saturday. Doctors who attended to her at Safdarjung Hospital described her condition as serious. However, they were making all efforts to save her life. Medical experts, however, wondered whether it was wise to transport a burns patient in such a serious condition from Bhopal to Delhi. In such cases, the journey could lead to deterioration in the patient's condition. Doctors attending to Ms Mishra at Safdarjung Hospital refused to comment on this issue. In an unprecedented gesture of generosity to a private citizen, the Madhya Pradesh Government provided the state plane for shifting the 27-year-old actress from Bhopal...

NK SINGH A wave of anger seemed to sweep through Bhopal, in the wake of the exposure of what appeared to be the tip of a sensational sex scandal involving, among others, Mr. B.V. Karanth, Director of Madhya Pradesh Rang Mandal, the State Government- backed repertory, and Chairman of the M.P. Film Development Corporation. The 57-year-old bearded and renowned theatre director, a recipient of Padma Shree in 1981, was arrested on Sunday night on the charge of attempting to burn to death 27-year-old Ms Vibha Mishra, the heroine of his drama troupe. The pretty Vibha's condition is reported to be critical. The town's indignation at the "sex-ploitation of female artists" at Bharat Bhawan was reflected on Tuesday in the forms of a day-long dharna by women in front of the State Government's prestigious multi-arts complex, a rally brought out by artists, writers, poets and female activists and a flood of statements issued by scores of social, cultural and women's organis...

NK SINGH The renowned drama director and chairman of the Madhya Pradesh Film Development Corporation, Mr B.V. Karanth, who was arrested on Sunday night on a charge of attempting to bum to death Ms Vibha Mishra, the heroine of several of his plays, was on Monday remanded to judicial custody till June 10. Karanth, who is one of the foremost theatre personalities in the country, reportedly broke down and "admitted his guilt" after the police intensively interrogated him for a couple of hours on Sunday night. In a tape-reconded statement on Monday morning, he also admitted his "illicit relationship with the victim who is on her death bed with 80 per cent burns in a local hospital," according to the police. "Yes, I have indeed admitted my guilt in a tape-recorded statement to the police", a calm and composed Karanth told ENS at Vibha Mishra's house, where he was brought by the police on Monday to help in the recovery of a rope with which the actress had all...