Street artistes hail Lankesh’s fight for the landless
New Delhi, Sept. 21: A man dancing, dressed as a horse, a group of young men in red kurtas singing songs of rebellion and a crowd sitting amid dilapidated houses, clapping, raising slogans and lending their voice to the music — all in the contested land of Kathputli Colony.
The colony of street performers near the Shadipur Metro station has often been the venue for protests, with the residents caught in a longstanding land dispute with the DDA and a private builder.
But Wednesday’s programme had a different agenda. The residents had come together to pay homage to journalist Gauri Lankesh, gunned down in Bangalore earlier this month, and to connect with her campaigns for the marginalised.
Organised by the National Federation of Indian Women (NFIW), the meeting was attended by activists such as Annie Raja of the NFIW, Bhupendra Rawat of the Jan Sangharsh Vahini, a body that works for marginalised people, and All India Democratic Women’s Association leader S. Punyavathi.
“Ms Lankesh raised her voice against injustice done to labourers, poor people fighting for their land,” said Raja, juxtaposing Ms Lankesh’s campaigns with the struggles of the people of the colony, who have for years fought the authorities to retain the land where they live.
Mr Rawat noted, “Ms Lankesh’s mistakes” led to her being killed by unidentified men. “It was a message that if you speak against us, we will kill you. But we will not sit quietly,” he said.