Lankesh’s fate awaits you, Hindu leader warns writers
Kerala Hindu Aikyavedi leader KP Sasikala, notorious for her inflammatory speeches, threatened secular writers on Sunday saying the fate of murdered Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh also awaits them.
Addressing a meeting in North Paravur in Ernakulam district, 250 km north of the state capital, she urged such writers to perform a “Mruthunjaya Homam” (a ritual to escape from the clutches of death) at Lord Shiva temples if they did not want to meet the fate of Lankesh who was shot dead in Bangaluru last week.
“One more has fallen, this time in Karnataka. All are chanting that if a Keechakan (demon) has died, the killer has to be RSS. There is a tendency to put all blames at the doors of the Sangh. Lankesh’s murder is one such,” she said while giving a clean chit to the Sangh Parivar.
“Nobody can contain the growth of RSS. It did not have to commit such a murder. The Congress government has to be blamed for it. If you want to live longer I urge the so-called secular writers to visit nearest Shiva temples and perform Mruthunjaya Homam soon,” she said.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan has condemned the speech and directed the police to take action.
“The attempt to divide people on the lines of religion and caste will be viewed seriously. It is sad such utterances also reached Kerala,” he said.
Opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala urged the government to book her under non-bailable provisions of IPC.
Sasikala launched a damage control exercise, saying she only blamed the Karnataka government that failed to provide enough security to Lankesh.