The cold-blooded murder of the fearless and outspoken journalist Gauri Lankesh sent shock waves throughout the country, with people and particularly the media fraternity and social activists expressing outrage at this yet another attempt at silencing free speech and rational thought in India. Gauri, a vociferous critic of bigots and zealots, particularly of the saffron brigade, was always on the wrong side of the right wing. A sympathiser of the Naxalite movement, she was, however, instrumental in bringing some of them into the mainstream, on specific assignment by Karnataka Government. Her unwavering stand on these controversial issues earned her many enemies.
Her only brother, Indrajit, claims that she had received threats from naxals, unhappy with her moves to make them surrender to the authorities and join the main stream but her sister strongly disagrees. Gauri and Indrajit had, at one time, misunderstandings, which led to police complaints and counter complaints and even property disputes. Earlier on, Gauri, who edited, after her father’s death, his Kannada weekly “Lankesh Patrike” gave it up due to differences with her brother, and eventually published her own “Gauri Lankesh Patrike”. Last year, Gauri was convicted for defamation in cases filed by two BJP leaders.
Parallels have been drawn between this murder and those of Narendra Dabholkar in 2013 in Pune, Govind Pansare in Kolhapur and M.M. Kalburgi in Dharwad in 2015 with similar 7.65 mm country made pistols used in the crimes and with Ramachandra Guha saying that her murder is “part of a pattern that links the deaths of Dabholkar, Kalburgi and Pansare”.
Gauri’s assassination could be treated just as another one, in a country where murders are everyday occurrences with little or no respect for humans. But the murder of Gauri, who spoke her mind, fearlessly and without mincing words and thus angered and displeased many, who wield power and money, cannot be treated lightly. She was a fierce critic not only of the BJP but also of the Congress rule in Karnataka; she strongly condemned communal behavior by fringe elements, specifically those which occurred sometime ago in Mangalore. Lamenting on how Karnataka had moved from secularism to communalism, she once described it as “an interesting and crippling trajectory” adding that “we have no dearth of Yogi Adityanaths in Karnataka” and that “abnormality has become the new normal in Karnataka”. However, it would not only be premature but also unfair and even mischievous to try to jump the gun and prejudge, assigning the blame for this cowardly and dastardly act to any particular group or organisation. Other aggrieved people could also hire goons or use “supari” to settle scores and eliminate adversaries.
India’s poor record of protecting media personnel, gives it the dubious distinction of being for them, the third deadliest country in the world, only next to Syria and Iraq. It accounted for 64 murders of journos in the last 25 years, mostly hunted for exposing corruption and organised crime. This number may not be large for a country as vast as ours, but what is of immense concern is the climate of intolerance, hate and violence that prevails in the country, which is indeed frightening and which has led to murders and lynching of several innocent people. There is today growing tendency in instilling fear in opponents, assuming aggressive postures, suppressing the truth and treating with bias cases of assault and violence. To err is human but BJP assumes an attitude that their Government is and can never be wrong. Ministers and Government spokespersons refuse to acknowledge glaring faults or be amenable to any corrections. Every wrong action or inaction is being rationalised or justified. At the most, comparisons will be drawn with the previous regime. The electronic media, with perhaps one exception, seems tilted towards the establishment. One, in fact, appears to be the spokeschannel of the BJP. The atmosphere pervading the country is surely not healthy for a democracy.
The police intelligence may not always be effective in avoiding violent incidents, but the least we can expect is efficient follow up action to serve as deterrent. However, what is observed is casual and biased approach, with politicians often dictating the course of investigations. This leads to recurrence of such incidents, with criminals emboldened by Police inaction or flawed investigations.
Gauri’s boldness and courage in speaking out, which eventually led her to a cruel end, must, instead of dampening our spirits, stir us, irrespective of the consequences, to stand up for truth and justice, which we often opt to ignore or brush under the carpet for fear of reprisals, displeasing someone close or influential or unpleasant consequences. Despite the rigours of dictatorship, our elders and ancestors displayed far more courage and dignity than we do today. We, Goans, must stop being silent spectators to the plunder and destruction of our land by the Centre, which is treating Goa as a colony of Delhi, in active connivance with local rulers. We need to stand up, confront and even chase them, if need be, at every level and support activists, who are selflessly fighting for Goa in the Courts and in the streets. The pen must continue to be mightier than the sword and no gun shall ever silence our voices and stifle our writings. Above all, let us be counted. Our presence in large numbers, whenever need arises, is our might, always bearing in mind the memorable words of Martin Luther King that “the greatest tragedy of our social transition is not the actions of bad people but the appalling silence of good” and that “our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter”.
(The author is a retired banker).
