No need to worry about freedom of expression: Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah

BENGALURU: Chief minister Siddaramaiah on Saturday said citizens needn’t worry about freedom of expression during his government’s tenure in Karnataka. Felicitating writers and publishers at an event in Bengaluru, he said: “We will safeguard individual freedom and no citizen, including writers, should worry or fear about expressing their opinion.”
Participating in the 20th anniversary of Karnataka Kannada Writers’ and Publishers’ Association, Siddaramaiah said: “I respect and honour writers and littérateurs as they guide the society we are living in.Writers’ thoughts must be socially oriented and highlight inequalities in society...”
He recalled his friendship with many writers. “I may not be a writer, but I have/had lots of friends among littérateurs, including UR Ananthamurthy, Poornachandra Tejasvi, Devanur Mahadeva and others.”
Siddaramaiah felt several people have been deprived of education due to caste and other factors.
“This will lead to socio-economic inequalities in society. If we overcome these inequalities, there will be peace and harmony. I’m happy that many of our writers are working in this direction. If both writers and publishers are active, book culture will witness further growth,” CM added.