Gunmen shoot, kill journalist inside her home in Bengaluru
BENGALURU: Gauri Lankesh, a senior Kannada journalist known for her criticism of Hindu extremism, was shot dead at her home on Tuesday evening.
According to police, at least three suspects were involved and Lankesh was found dead on her verandah around 8pm with bullet wounds to her head and chest.
Lankesh, 55, was the daughter of famous poet-turned-journalist P Lankesh. She was the editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, writing often against Sangh organisations and communal violence in the country.
“This is not the death of a journalist, but the death of democracy and constitutional values. She had raised her voice against communal violence with us and we know that all our lives are in danger. But we did not expect this,” said KL Ashok of the Karnatakabased Komu Souharda Vedike (Communal Harmony Forum), who worked closely with Lankesh. Ashok said there “was no doubt” that Lankesh’s killing was part of a larger conspiracy to kill rationalist ideas. “Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, MM Kalburgi and now Gauri Lankesh. They were all rationalist thinkers, and that is why they have been murdered,” he added.
In 2015, Left ideologue and Kannada author Prof MM Kalburgi was shot dead in a similar manner by an unidentified gunman at the doorstep of his home.
Bengaluru deputy commissioner of police MN Anucheth confirmed her dead. “It is too early to comment on the issue, we cannot reveal any further details at the moment.”
People began gathering outside her residence as news of her murder spread and protests started at the Corporation Circle in the heart of Bengaluru and near her home.
In November, Lankesh was convicted by a court of defaming two BJP leaders for articles published in her periodical in 2008. She was sentenced to six months in jail and asked to pay Rs. 10,000 penalty. Lankesh had been granted bail.
Shortly after the murder, Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah expressed shock in posts on Twitter: “In fact, this is an assassination on democracy. In her passing, Karnataka has lost a strong progressive voice, and I have lost a friend”.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi too spoke out against the murder. “The truth will never be silenced. Gauri Lankesh lives on in our hearts. My condolences &love to her family. The culprits have to be punished.”
Two months after Kalburgi’s murder, a young Dalit writer of a book critiquing the Hindu caste system was abducted and assaulted by goons in Karnataka. Writer Huchangi Prasad said his assaulters kept calling him a traitor.
Before Kalburgi, Maharashtra rationalist and communist leader Govind Pansare was shot along with his wife during a morning walk on February 16, 2015, near their home in Kolhapur. He died in hospital four days later.