Murder of Gauri Lankesh: A black day for Indian journalism

Popular journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was murdered in Bengaluru on Tuesday. She was 55 years old. Her murder has been widely condemned.

Bengaluru, Sep 6: In her life, Gauri Lankesh always spoke about what we are usually scared to talk about. A staunch secular and supporter of causes of minorities and women, the 55-year-old slain journalist and activist from India's IT hub Bengaluru was one of the rarest journalists who always spoke truth to the power.

For her admirers, Lankesh, the editor of Kannada tabloid Gauri Lankesh Patrike, was a bold voice for the voiceless. While her supporters adored her, her critics did not limit themselves from just examining her opinions, but perhaps were scared of her upright and bold views that they had initiated several smear campaigns against her. In fact, because of her opposition to communalism, she was convicted in a criminal defamation case filed by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders.

On Tuesday evening, the brutal murder of Lankesh by unidentified miscreants at the entrance of her house in Bengaluru, Karnataka, left everyone shocked and evoked strong condemnation from across the country. Some reports said she was shot three times, others claimed four bullets were pumped into her, one on the forehead.

Lankesh's colleagues from the journalism fraternity termed her assassination an attempt to silence the voices of dissent. Bengaluru-based senior editor and writer, Krishna Prasad, changed the profile and banner image of his Twitter account to black and his Twitter name to Gauri as a mark of tribute to the slain journalist.

pic.twitter.com/PzfpTY1ag9

— gauri (@churumuri) September 5, 2017

Prasad, who runs the popular blog, Churmuri, wrote, "Tonight is the night every decent Indian should worry deeply about the kind of India we are welcoming, by applauding hatred and bigotry."

Tonight is the night every decent Indian should worry deeply about the kind of India we are welcoming, by applauding hatred and bigotry.

— gauri (@churumuri) September 5, 2017

The black Twitter image of Prasad is symbolic of the state of Indian journalism and democracy as a whole. Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani said Lankesh's murder marked "a black day for Indian democracy."

In a series of tweets, Mevani said the killing had established that this country has become "unbearable."

Gauri Lankesh, a journalist is killed by hindutva forces at her place today evening : black day for Indian democracy

— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) September 5, 2017

Brutal murder of Gauri Lankesh has once again established that his country has become unbearable. I m disturbed like hell.

— Jignesh Mevani (@jigneshmevani80) September 5, 2017

Although we still don't know the real motive behind Lankesh's killing, her murder has been suspected to be the result of her professional work in the field of journalism. India is considered to be an unsafe country for journalists, especially those who are into investigative journalism like Lankesh was.

In May, this year, non-profit media watchdog, The Hoot, released a report looking at India's press freedom. The report stated that between January 2016 and April 2017, there had been 54 reported attacks on journalists, three instances of television news channels being banned, 45 internet shutdowns, and 45 sedition cases against individuals and groups.

The report added that seven journalists had been killed in that period, with at least one of the deaths clearly attributable to the journalists' work.

"Journalists are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by the most radical nationalists, who vilify them and even threaten physical reprisals," said Reporters Without Borders in its 2017 World Press Freedom ranking.

The report put India at 136 in a list of 192, based on measuring the amount of freedom journalists in the country have.

The report stated that journalists in India are facing threats from Hindu nationalists.
"With Hindu nationalists trying to purge all manifestations of 'anti-national' thought from the national debate, self-censorship is growing in the mainstream media," the report says.

If all these reports bring to light the risky nature of the profession of journalism in India, the brutal murder of Lankesh indicates that those who dare to speak the truth have to pay a heavy price.

OneIndia News