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Murder of Dissent




The murder of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh is yet another tremor that has shaken the pillars of democracy in India.  Two years ago, the scholarly rationalist M M Kalburgi was killed under similar circumstances.  Referring to that murder, Gauri Lankesh later said that “we are living in such times when Modi Bhakts and the Hindutva brigade welcome the killings and celebrate the deaths (as in the case of U.R. Ananthamurthy) of those who oppose their ideology”.  Today the social media is replete with celebrations of Lankesh’s murder.  Anyone who goes through the gloating comments will understand who killed the journalist and why.

Gauri Lankesh dreamt of an egalitarian society in India.  That was her crime.  The right wing in the country has always been opposed to anyone who questioned what it projected as the nation’s ancient culture and tradition.  People like Gauri Lankesh decoded what passed off as “culture and tradition” and questioned its very foundations.  She was a serious threat to the right wing.

By eliminating people like Gauri Lankesh, the message that is conveyed in unequivocal terms is: Don’t dare to question the authority.  A monolithic authority founded ostensibly on an equally monolithic national culture is what is emerging as the most serious threat to India’s pluralist democracy.  This brutal authority has blatantly displayed its fangs in various shapes and forms many times.  Those who dared to question it have been subjected to various kinds of assaults like raids in their offices and homes, humiliating trolls in social networks, and even dastardly murders. 

Gauri Lankesh was openly opposed to what the right wing stood for.  She was opposed to the caste system, the oppression of the Dalits and other poor sections of the society, the creation of a false notion of a homogeneous national culture, and so on.  So the right wing called her a “Hindu hater.” 

Thousands of people have come out in protest against the murder of this activist-journalist.  The protests are a healthy sign that the whole of the country has not been caught in the tentacles of bigotry and hatred.  The gentle lights of reason and dissent have not been doused yet.  Let the lights burn brighter dispelling the darkness of bigotry and hatred. 



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Comments

  1. जितेन्द्र माथुरSeptember 7, 2017 at 8:41 AM

    The sacrifice of Gauri Lankesh is not going to go in vain Sir. Poet Benjamin Moloise was executed by the pro-apartheid Botha government in South Africa on 18.10.1985 and within a few years, apartheid in South Africa met its death with Nelson Mandela's taking over the realm. Similar thing had happened decades ago in India when the British had to finally leave this land and pave the path of India's political freedom. Whatever is happening around is also bound to come to an end because change is the only permanent thing, everything else has a life-span which cannot continue till eternity. The present Indian premier and his 'army' is not able to realize that they can fool some people for all the time and all the people for some time but they can't fool all the people all the time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 8, 2017 at 10:19 AM

      The way people took to the streets in protest against the murder gives me hope too. Yes, no one can fool all the people all the time. Sweet words like Mann ki Baat won't hoodwink people for long. The govt has to belong to all the citizens, not just the bhakts.

      Delete
  2. Ranjana's craft blogSeptember 7, 2017 at 9:46 AM

    This is really sad. She had helped society , by inspiring the naxalites to surrender and lead a peaceful life.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rajeev MoothedathSeptember 7, 2017 at 5:43 PM

    The trend is very disturbing! Gauri Lankesh was a respected, fearless journalist.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 8, 2017 at 10:21 AM

      Good people are strong enemies when the system is wrong. That's why such people have to be eliminated. Let's hope the system will change.

      Delete
  4. Antonina K. September 10, 2017 at 1:35 PM

    This is incredibly sad and such cases are not limited only to India - in many countries, the "uncomfortable" people are a threat which ends up being removed one way or another.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalSeptember 10, 2017 at 4:15 PM

      India was open to dissent until recently. As Nobel laureate Amartya Sen argued in his book, 'The Argumentative Indian,' Indians always loved debate and dissent. Atheism was also an integral part of the ancient Hinduism. But the situation has changed alarmingly.

      Delete

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