A day after senior journalist Gauri Lankesh was murdered in Bengaluru, a number of protest meetings were held in Delhi decrying the incident as a murder of an ideology and criticising the government for its silence.
"Lankesh was killed and even after death, attacks on her continued on social media. People who carry such kind of attacks, that kill elderly ladies in darkness, are rewarded with plum posts in the party and are followed by prime leaders," said Prashant Bhushan, senior Supreme Court advocate, addressing one such meet outside the Press Club.
Referring to unsavory comments about Gauri Lankesh emanating from BJP followers on social media, author and former journalist Ajay Bose said: "There seems to be no rule of law now. Earlier, such acts would be punished. But in the age of social media, a dangerous precedent is that people are getting away with it."
Bose and Bhushan said that they will take this forward with law makers and legal luminaries, to ensure that this incitement for killing and violence on social media becomes a punishable offence. "Those who incite violence on social media cannot be allowed to get away any longer," said Bhushan.
Recalling Lankesh's contribution in Karnataka, Githa Hariharan, author and editor, said her friend was killed for her involvement with popular mass movements targeting BJP in the state. "She was killed for being a non-conformist. This is not a political murder but murder of an ideology."
Senior journalist and author Paranjoy Guha Thakurta was another friend of Lankesh, who was seen attending almost all the protest meets held in the city in her name.
"Gauri had worked in the Sunday magazine. She chose to work in the regional language space and helped uplift the Karnataka society out of caste bias. She was talking about a secularism that is ingrained in our ancient societies, which was making the Hindutva brigade uncomfortable. That is the reason she was targeted," said Guha Thakurta.
Gauri Lankesh was editing and publishing Lankesh Patrike which was founded by her father P. Lankesh, an English lecturer, litterateur and film maker, who decried caste system and other ill-conceived religious practices in the state.
"This is an attempt to silence the society and to throttle their voices. This is an attempt to scare journalists. Defamation remains a criminal offence in India though all other 190 countries have made it a civil offence. Politicians of a particular ideology are resorting to this as a weapon to silence any dissenting voice," said Guha Thakurta.
In a joint protest meet hosted by the Indian Women Press Corps, Press Association, Press Club of India, Kerala Union of Working Journalist, Indian Writers Forum, Editors' Guild, National Broadcasters Association and a number of other rights based organisations, a gathering of around 10,000 people assembled at Press Club of India.
Speaking at the occasion, T.K. Rajalakshmi, vice president of IWPC, said that the attack on Lankesh was not an isolated incident but was a pre-planned one. "This is a battle of ideas and we must chose our sides now. Irrespective of our gender and position we must think if we will tolerate such attacks on our profession in future as well."
Political activist and psephologist Yogendra Yadav said that the attack on Gauri was an attack on anti-communalism. It was on similar lines to attacks on rationalists like Dabholkar, Pansari, Kalburgi and victims from the minority community like Pehlu Khan, Ahklaq and Junaid who were lynched by the same people, said Yadav.
Noted TV anchor Ravish Kumar urged journalists to ensure that they do not just meet at such meetings to mourn, but find future course of action.
"Prime Minister Modi should unfollow such people who cannot speak either for the dead or an elderly woman with respect on social media. He should send a strong message to those who are murdering Lankesh's reputation on social media after her death," said Kumar, adding that such 'social media murderers' are on everyone's timeline.
"It is our defeat that we are getting together only for obituaries," Kumar told the gathering. After today's meet the journalists, broadcasters, writers bodies and social activists passed a resolution seeking punishment for the killers at the earliest.
Other initiatives which are being chalked out include dicriminalising defamation charges and framing punishments for those who incite violence on social media.
"This is not going to end with one protest meet. This is a brutal assault on press freedom, of which Gauri was a strong supporter. Over the next two days we will be meeting with various bodies who are present here to formulate a five-point list of demands, which will be sent to the government," said Jaishankar Gupta, president of Press Association, a body of accredited journalists.
