There are similarities between the murders of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, M.M. Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh that cannot be dismissed as merely coincidental.
THE CRIME, CHILLING AND MACABRE, WAS A challenge to the sovereignty of the state and to the freedom of thought and expression and individual activism. The gruesome, premeditated shooting of Gauri Lankesh on the evening of September 5 outside her home at Rajarajeshwari Nagar in south-west Bengaluru raises worrying questions about the growing intolerance of independent voices.
The 55-year-old publisher and editor of the Kannada tabloid Gauri Lankesh took on with courage the political establishment and Hindu right-wing forces through the three decades of her journalistic life. She attempted to bring naxalites to the mainstream and batted for the rights of Dalits, farmers and minorities. Certainly, she had detractors. But who would gun her down with such brutality? What was the motive, and who will gain from her death? To put it more simply, was the murder (clearly a professional hit job by as yet unidentified assailants) meant to send out a chilling message to those supporting her views?
The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) D.N. Jeevaraj, who represents the Sringeri Assembly constituency, actually insinuated that she might have been killed for her statements against the Hindu right wing. At a rally in Koppa taluk in Chikmagalur a day after the murder, Jeevaraj, a former BJP whip in the Karnataka Assembly, criticised the language that Gauri Lankesh used in her writing and quoted the headline of one of her articles: “Chaddigala Maaranahoma” (Death to wearers of shorts), a reference to the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS). “If she had not written ‘chaddis’ maaranahoma’ in her paper that day, would she still be alive today?” he asked his audience. Later, he claimed that he had been misquoted.
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
