Void remains but relatives and friends ‘happy’ with SIT inquiry

For slain journalist Gauri Lankesh’s family and friends, the void left by her brutal murder outside her Bengaluru home last September has been difficult to fill.

As they continue to grieve her passing, the smallest everyday details dredge up memories of the good times they spent together.

The only consolation has been the arrest of 12 suspects by the special investigation team (SIT) probing her murder, the inquiry also throwing up clues that have led to arrests in the August 2013 killing of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar.

Kavita Lankesh, Gauri’s sister and a filmmaker, said she had been in touch with the SIT from the beginning and was very happy with its progress.

“It was a very meticulously planned murder but the SIT has done an amazing job. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is coming to them for help to solve the Dabholkar case, which proves how good the investigation has been,” she said.

Kavita said she was almost certain that there was an ideological link between the murders.

“I feel vindicated at having stuck to my stand that the SIT should probe the case, even though there were suggestions that the CBI should take over,” she said.

“They went in without any bias and it turned out well. I hope now that this can be proved fast in the court and doesn’t run into years.”

But the vacuum left by Gauri’s death has been hard to plug and painful to bear. “My daughter misses her very much and wants her back,” Kavita said. “I have a sense of pride that my sister is getting so much solidarity from across the world.”

Gauri’s close friend and comrade KS Vimala, state general secretary of the All India Democratic Women’s Association, said her friend was taken from her at a time when many of their plans were yet to fructify. “It was a tragic loss and we had plans to do so many things together. She was taken away too soon,” she rued.

Vimala said the past year had shown the levels to which some groups could go to silence the voices of dissent. “It was clear from the beginning that Right-wing elements were behind the murder because only they were affected by her speeches and writings,” she claimed.

The SIT had done a great job by nabbing the alleged culprits, she said, but it was necessary to go beyond that now. “These people are only the masks of a larger Hindutva organisation. The SIT must nab the people responsible for spreading the poison of this hatred, those who misled gullible youth into believing that they had to kill these thinkers,” she alleged.

Poet Chandrashekhar Patil, known by his pen name Champa, alleged that in the year since Gauri’s murder, it had become clear to all that there were some Right-wing organisations with very sinister designs. “There is now the hope that at least these elements are getting exposed,” he claimed.

“The larger victory, though, will only arrive if the people see these violent elements for who they are and reject them,” Champa said.

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