Journalists voice their concern over Gauri Lankesh murder, demand speedy investigation

Journalists came out in full force to protest Gauri Lankesh’s murder in Bangalore yesterday. At an afternoon meeting held at the Press Club of India in the national capital, as one speaker spoke after the other, the anger was palpable. While the murder of the journalist shocked many, it was the vitriolic assault unleashed on Twitter and social media in the aftermath of the murder that was unanimously and in no uncertain terms denounced as a direct assault on the profession of journalism itself.

“We have to speak our minds. The more we keep quiet, all such people will get emboldened. We cannot let Gauri’s death go in vain. A coward can die a thousand deaths, its only brave who die once,” said Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, the former editor of Economic & Political Weekly, whose exit from the publication was a matter of public scrutiny for his fearless reporting on the Adani empire and the weekly’s questionable stance on the matter.

Siddharth Varadarajan, editor of the news and views website, The Wire, called for scrutiny of cases of murders of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi asking what was the reason for delay in identifying the killers. “She was killed for being a journalist. The assault on her is an assault on media,” he insisted.

Raj Chengappa, president, Editors Guild of India, said, “Last night when I heard of her death, we were shocked. This murder is an assault on democracy, it’s a brutal attack on freedom of the press. We have demanded that state government initiate an investigation and have a judicial probe into the reasons behind the killing.”

Raising the question whether journalists are being targeted more today, Barkha Dutt, former NDTV anchor, said that recently while sharing a panel with Russian and Turkish journalists, she had defended India saying, “At least in India, we are not being killed.” This she said is no longer true.

Former editor of Tribune HK Dua said that by killing Gauri Lankesh, the message being given is no journalist is safe. He reminded those gathered that 11 journalists have died across the country since 2014. TK Raj Lakshmi, vice-president of the Women’s Press Club, pointed out that this was no random act, not a one-off incident. “It’s a fight of ideas. Gauri Lankesh stood for secularism, for democracy, for inclusiveness.”

Yogendra Yadav, the Swarajya Party leader, also present at the Press Club of India protest, contextualised the importance of the publication Gauri Lankesh was editing before she was brutally murdered, “Gauri was a representative of an extraordinary tradition that few of us know of. Lankesh Patrike was not an ordinary magazine. It occupies a unique position in Kannada tradition and literature. Beginning with UR Ananthamurthy, P. Lankesh (Gauri’s father, poet-turned-journalist) and P. Tejaswani – these three revolutionised the way public discourse takes place in Kannada.”

Senior editor Mrinal Pande warned of “sentimentalising the issue” in the name of gender. “This is what they want.” She also called for solidarity, asking everyone to overcome “gender divide, language or regionalism” and differences in ideological positions. “We have to be one, focus on the foundation of our profession.”

Popular anchor Ravish Kumar denounced people with lynching mentality. “They are all there on Twitter and Facebook. It has never happened before that a murder has been celebrated the way it is being done in case of Gauri. They have no shame. Yesterday, they were playing Kashmir and Kerala, today it’s Gauri Lankesh. We want to know if the Karnataka government will investigate her murder or not. They have failed in the case of Kalburgi so far. The same way, Maharashtra government has been unable to investigate Dabholkar and Pansare cases. Whatever be the government, the ‘Sarkar’ is pitted against journalists.”

The protest held at the Capital’s Press Club of India was jointly held by the Indian Women’s Press Corps, the Press Club of India, Press Association and Editors Guild of India. The statement issued jointly by the four organisations demanded speedy investigation in the murder case, drawing the attention of Siddarmaiah, the Chief Minister of Karnataka. “The murder has sent shock waves across the journalist community for its brazenness as well as it has involved the killing of a woman journalist known for her outspoken views. She was a firm believer in the Indian Constitution and the values of democracy and secularism enshrined in it. We are aware that the state government has already instituted an investigation and inquiry into the murder. We, the undersigned, urge your government to put in all efforts to nab the killers at the earliest in order to restore confidence in the journalist community as well as the people of India.”