Gauri Lankesh’s Murder Angers Me, But I Still Believe in Dialogue

Is murder the new norm for dealing with anyone you disagree with?

Gauri Lankesh was killed outside her home in Bengaluru on 5 September.

(Photo: The Quint)

Bullets pumped into your body for speaking your mind. And then, the murder is celebrated on Twitter. Lets call these people out!

Yes, Gauri Lankesh was a journalist and an activist with strong political views. But, is this the new norm for dealing with anyone with strong views? Anyone you disagree with?

She wrote. She shouted slogans. She spoke out. But, she never a fired a bullet at you for disagreeing with her, she never even threw ink at someone, not even a shoe.

But, she got her final reply in a hail of bullets.

So is that the new norm?

Also Read: LIVE: K’taka CM Calls Emergency Meeting Over Gauri Lankesh Murder

Line up every journalist, activist you disagree with against a wall. Call in a firing squad, get rid of them all at one go?

This was not a momentary lapse of reason on the part of her killers. No sudden road-rage violent fit here. This was as premeditated as it can be.

They knew where she lived. They knew when she would be at home. And they came prepared. They had their loaded guns. They knew they would ring that doorbell... that feisty 60-year-old woman would unsuspectingly open her door… and they would pump her with bullets. They would shoot her dead!

And yes, they knew their troll friends would celebrate this cold-blooded murder!

A strong sense of helplessness rages inside several journalists right now. Is my pen truly mightier than the sword, mightier than the bullet? Someone just shot dead my faith in that axiom!

Also Read: Eliminated at Point Blank: Gauri Lankesh, a Journalist of Courage

Here’s what those killers would have me do... descend to their level… grab the tools of their trade. I feel the trolls egging me on… They want me to trade my pen for a gun… go rogue… give it right back!

“The moment a b*t** died a dog’s death her litter started whimpering.”

But no, even as I mourn a murder, despite the rage I feel right now, I place my faith in dialogue. I place my faith in the good sense that emerges from engaging with informed dissent, I place my faith in my pen and in the power of democracy!

And that faith, no one can murder!

Also Read: Gauri Lankesh, the Voice of Dissent, Stood for Free Speech

Video Editor: Mohd Ibrahim

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