Senior journalist Gauri Lankesh shot dead at her residence in Bengaluru
Bengaluru (PTI): Senior Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh, who last year lost a defamation case against a BJP MP, was shot dead by unidentified assailants at her residence here today, police said.
Karnataka police chief R K Dutta said Lankesh was shot dead by unidentified assailants at the entrance of her residence in Raj Rajeshwari Nagar.
She took more than one bullet and died instantaneously. Lankesh, said to be in her 50s, edited a Kannada tabloid ‘Lankesh Patrike’ besides owning some other publications, and was known for her forthright views against hardline Hindutva politics.
Quoting police, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the journalist was shot dead by unidentified assailants soon after she had alighted from her car. “She was returning from Gandhinagar after attending some official work,” he added. The chief minister said three police teams have been constituted to probe the killing. Instructions have been issued to crack the case and bring the culprits to book at the earliest, he said.
Siddaramaiah also said he has asked police to get in touch with their Maharashtra counterparts probing the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar. Parallels were being drawn between the gunning down of Lankesh and rationalists Narendra Dabholkar and M M Kalburgi, allegedly by fringe Hindu groups. Dabholkar was shot dead in August 2013, while Kalburgi was gunned down in August 2015.
Police have cordoned off the area around Lankesh’s house. Senior police officials, including Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) M N Anucheth, rushed to the spot to supervise investigation. Dutta said Lankesh had not voiced apprehension about any threat to her life during a couple of meetings he had with her.
Asked about who could be the possible suspects in the killing, the officer refused to hazard any guess, saying “let the investigation proceed first.” Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy said it would be premature to say who could be behind the killing.
“It will not be appropriate for me to make any comments as to who is behind the incident. It could be for personal reasons or for ideological reasons,” he said. Veteran BJP Leader K S Eshwarappa rapped the Siddaramaiah government for “failing” to protect the lives of people, including those of noted writers like Kalburgi and Lankesh. Lankesh was convicted in a defamation case filed by BJP MP Prahlad Joshi over a report published in her tabloid against some saffron party leaders.
Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore took to twitter to denounce the incident. “Terrible news from Bengaluru about the heinous murder of Gauri Lankesh. I condemn all acts of violence against journalists,” he said.
Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said “truth cannot be silenced” and demanded that the culprits be tracked down and punished. “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,” his office said in a twitter post.
BJP national general secretary P Muralidhar Rao said, “The murder of #GauriLankesh is condemnable outright. Onus is on Siddaramaiah to ensure proper investigation.” “If it is BJP ruled state, Liberals would have cried for emergency, Intolerance, Fascism,” tweeted National Conference leader and former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah.
Lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan tweeted: “Shocking & tragic! Brave journalist Gauri Lankesh who exposed the BJP has been shot dead in her home in Bangalore!”
Journalist Gauri Lankesh shot dead
Bengaluru (Agencies): Senior journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead at her residence in Rajarajeshwari Nagar here on September 5.
According to reports, three unidentified persons shot at Gauri and wounded her fatally before escaping from the scene.
The assailants knocked on the door of her residence and shot her as soon as she opened the door. The shots penetrated her chest killing her on the spot.
Gauri was the daughter of writer, translator and journalist P Lankesh. She was a vocal critic of the right wing. She wrote columns for various newspapers in Karnataka.
Karnataka’s new Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy, who rushed to the spot with the city Police Commissioner, told reporters that the assailants probably fired seven rounds.
“Within minutes, seven rounds were fired at close range. She was attacked outside her residence. As she had not sought police protection, no security was provided to her,” Reddy said.
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condemned the crime. “Absolutely shocked to learn about the murder of renowned journalist Gauri Lankesh. I have no words to condemn this heinous crime,” he tweeted.
“Gauri was an advocate of secularism. She fought against injustice,” he told the media here.
“Police has formed three teams and begun investigations,” Siddaramaiah said, adding that he had directed police to nab the killers at the earliest.
A prominent Left thinker and a staunch critic of Hindutva politics, Lankesh was convicted last year in a defamation case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party lawmaker Pralhad Joshi.
The manner in which Lankesh was shot dead was reminiscent of the way Kannada progressive thinker and researcher M.M. Kalburgi was shot dead in August 2015 at his residence in Dharwad in the state’s northwest region, about 400km from Bengaluru.
Reacting to the murder of Gauri Lankesh Prof Narendra Nayak said, “I strongly condemn the dastardly act of murder of Gauri Lankesh. I knew her since three decades right from the days she was a reporter for Sunday a magazine published from Kolkata. More than a journalist she was a social activist raising her voice for the oppressed and exploited of the society.”
“The elimination of voices of reason by silencing them through murder is the hallmark of those cowardly dunces who do have no arguments to counter those put forward by us. As a fellow member on the hit list of these organizations, I feel sad that I have lost a good friend and a supporter. She was one of those who was not afraid to speak her mind on any issue which she felt was important.”
“It is a shame to all the citizens of our country that we have tolerated such a sorry state of affairs here that even voices cannot be raised against the forces of irrationalism and communalism. Let those forces clearly understand that such acts by them are not going to silence us. They are only going to become stronger.”
