Killing in any civilised society is condemnable. Brutal killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh by unidentified assailants at her
house in Bengaluru is a proof that there is no fear of law left in the
criminals.
Gauri Lankesh was a noted journalist, author, social
activist, supporter of left ideology and was currently associated with a Kannadiga tabloid as editor. She was also active against the so called right wing
ideology and was out on bail in defamation case against 2 BJP leaders.
Her last editorial titled “In the age of false news”
was a damning take on right wing fake news factory.
Gauri was also a prominent face of all the protests
and agitations against the BJP and to be more emphasized against PM Modi. Be it
the Kanhaiya Kumar-JNU episode or cow vigilantism and lynchings across the
nation. With all of these she was also accused of ‘selective activism’ against
one particular ideology and sparing the left wrongdoings and the Congress
within that course.
This is what we’ve known so far about the case that
also inclines anyone to think that the right wing ideology is necessarily
responsible for the killing of scribe.
Her tweets often started or ended with addressing
the comrades that is essentially used by the left wing leaders to address their
workers.
But here is the catch. One of the last tweets by Gauri Lankesh shows
that she had threat from within i.e. left wing workers as her brother also said
at her full state honours funeral.
The reason for this threat was Gauri’s efforts to work with Naxals
and bring some of them in the mainstream society.
Now, this turns you to rethink about the possible
cause of her murder and also to decide on the ideology responsible for this
killing.
Left or right, does that matter at all? What matters
is that Gauri Lankesh has been murdered and the culprits must be brought to the
books.
The killing invited nationwide protests with
authors, scribes and politicians actively participating demanding justice.
Politicians? Yes, politicians as well.
Here also you have both the wings right and the left
criticising the killing and asking the government to take strict action against
those who are responsible for this killing.
Despite disagreeing with Gauri Lankesh and her
inclination towards an ideology which made her justify the killing of 72 CRPF
jawans by Maoists in the line of duty, as a fellow journalist I decided to visit
the Press Club in Delhi to protest against her killing.
Why did I go there? Because I do not follow any
ideology and more importantly as a human being I can’t justify anyone’s
killing.
The scene at the Press Club was even more pathetic. What was supposed to be a meeting of the journalists condemning the
killing of a fellow scribe, the stage was occupied by politicians with a few wannabe
politicians like Kanhaiya Kumar standing behind them.
And the real stakeholders of the Press Club, journalists
were seated in front of them to listen to the utter non-sense spoken by the
politicians in search of yet another opportunity to set their agenda against a government
of the opposing ideology.
With such state of affairs I decided not to waste
any time at the Press Club I decided to take a walk back to my work. As a
journalist it was really painful for me to see scribes taking refuge of
politicians to seek justice for killing of a fellow journalist. But to take
refuge of that system which is actually responsible for this killing and will
do everything possible to delay the justice in the case as per their
convenience.
This also made me think if the journalists are
themselves responsible for downgrading their noble profession and making
themselves vulnerable to the fight of the political ideologies.
I am a firm believer of an old saying, ‘The Pen is
mightier than the Sword’ and it amazes me why the journalists don’t have the
courage to fight for the cause on their own and don’t get vulnerable to
politicians and the political parties in the name of any ideology.
I don’t believe in opportunist protests, nor do I
believe that the real culprits of this murder will ever get caught. But I
definitely feel pity for my profession and really hope that someday journalism
gets the tag of ‘noble’ yet again.
As for the murder of Gauri Lankesh, the political
circus of protest will continue for a few coming days till another incident
related to one of the ideologies takes over the nation.
It seems her own ideology backfired on her, however condemn her killing..nice write-up..
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