September 5, 2022, marks five years since Gauri Lankesh, a fearless journalist known for speaking truth to power and calling out right-wing extremists, was killed in cold blood outside her home in Bengaluru’s Rajarajeshwari Nagar.

Gauri Lankesh was highly respected for not only her fearless journalism, but also her work in advocating for communal harmony, the rights of women, and persons from historically oppressed communities. Her killers, all allegedly affiliated to different right wing extremist organisations, wanted to silence her for her secular views and her stand against hardline groups that spread communal hate.

The void Gauri Lankesh left behind will be hard to fill, but even today, she continues to inspire newer generations of journalists.

The trial in her assassination case began on July 4 before a special Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) court. As per directions of Special Judge CM Joshi, hearings take place every second week of the month for five days. Hearings are all set to resume this month.

Gauri’s sister Kavitha Lankesh who is a poet and filmmaker was one of the first people to testify in the case. Other witnesses who have testified so far include a cable operator who arrived at the spot shortly after Gauri Lankesh’s assassination, a neighbour who saw the shooters fleeing the spot, a witness who told the court about a meeting between some of the accused, a forensic science lab technician and a police officer.

The probe, the chargesheet and the arrests

The probe was conducted by the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) who filed two chargesheets. The primary chargesheet was filed against KT Naveen Kumar, a 37-year-old member of the Hindu Yuva Sena on May 30, 2018. On November 23, 2018 the supplementary chargesheet running into 9,235 pages was filed. 18 people were named in the chargesheet, including alleged shooter Parashuram Waghmare, and alleged masterminds Amol Kale, Sujith Kumar alias Praveen and Amit Digwekar. It was in this chargesheet that the Sanatan Sanstha was mentioned for the first time. So far, 17 people have been arrested while one of the accused remains absconding.

According to the Karnataka SIT, the plot to kill Lankesh was hatched a year before the assassination. Amol Kale, a former Hindu Janjagruti Samiti (HJS) convener, allegedly hired killer Parshuram Waghmare. Waghamare was allegedly a member of the Sri Ram Sene. Kale took him to an isolated spot in Khanapur, Belgaum to practice using an air pistol. Waghmare allegedly did a recce of Lankesh’s house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in July 2017. On September 5, he and another back-up gunman Ganesh Miskin arrived outside Lankesh’s house on a black motorcycle. Waghmare fired four times at Lankesh and the duo fled the scene.

However, the group responsible came together in 2010-11 suggesting that this was a wider conspiracy planned over a longer period aiming to eliminate more rationalists, journalists and activists. In a press release the SIT had said, “The investigation so far has revealed that all the 18 accused are active members of an organised crime syndicate. This syndicate was formed in 2010-11, under the leadership of Virendra Tawade alias Bade Bhaisaab. One former editor of ‘Sanatan Prabhat’ provided financial support to this syndicate. The members of this organisation targeted people who they identified to be inimical to their belief and ideology. The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in ‘Kshatra Dharma Sadhana’, a book published by Sanatan Sanstha.” The statement further added, “In August 2016, in a meeting of the syndicate, the main members identified Ms. Lankesh as a “durjan” as told in the ‘Kshatra Dharma Sadhana’, based on her speeches and writings. They jointly hatched a conspiracy to murder her.”

On March 2, 2018, the SIT arested right-wing activist K. T. Naveen Kumar, of Maddur, who in 2015 founded the Hindu Yuva Sene. Kumar who reportedly confessed to Lankesh’s murder had previously been arrested in February 2018 in relation to a case involving illegal arms. Kumar allegedly obtained the bullets that were used to kill Gauri Lankesh, and that he allegedly supplied logistical support to her killers and directed them to her residence and office in Bengaluru.

In late May 2018, the SIT arrested four more people with ties to right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha for a January 2018 conspiracy to kill K. S. Bhagwan. The four individuals also had ties to Sanatan Sanstha’s sister outfit, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), and were also connected to Kumar, in 2017 had attended multiple HJS meetings. They were Amol Kale alias Bhaisab, an HJS activist from Maharashtra, Amit Degwekar alias Pradeep, a Sanatan Sanstha activist from Goa, Manohar Edave of Karnataka, and Sujeet Kumar alias Praveen, an activist with Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS from Mangalore.

On June 11, 2018 the sixth accused in the case, 26-year-old Parashuram Waghmare, was arrested. On Thursday, June 14, police reportedly interrogated Waghmare and the previously arrested Amol Kale. Waghmare had allegedly claimed that Kale instructed him to carry out the killing, and gave him a country-made pistol.

Sharad Kalaskar was arrested on August 10, 2018 by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) after a tip off from the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case. The ATS claims that Kalaskar was also one of the two gunmen who shot and killed Narendra Dabholkar in August 2013. According to the ATS, the weapon used to kill Gauri Lankesh and other rationalists was also procured and manufactured by Kalaskar.

A note on how to make bombs was also recovered from him. Kalaskar was arrested along with Vaibhav Raut and Sudhanwa Gondhalekar from the Nallasopara home of Raut who is the convener of the Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti. 20 crude bombs and two gelatin sheets were recovered during this raid. Meanwhile, Gondhalekar is a member of Shiv Shivapratishthan Hindustan, an organisation run by none other than Shambhaji Bhide, one of the two main accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence.

In July 2019, Uma Devi, wife of slain rationalist MM Kalburgi identified the gunman who shot her husband. Earlier the SIT had arrested Praveen Chatur, a Belgavi resident who had allegedly ferried this gunman in the Kalburgi murder. While police had initially suspected Amit Baddi, a friend of Ganesh Miskin, of being the biker, sketches prepared by police artists did not match eye witness descriptions. When the SIT probed the matter again, interrogation of Amol Kale pointed them towards Chatur. Chatur was also wanted in a petrol bomb attack on a theater screening Padmavat in Belgavi in January. He has now turned state’s witness in the Gauri Lankesh case. In his statement he has reportedly admitted to attending training camps in Jalna and Mangaluru.

Rishikesh Dewarkar was the last one to be arrested in the case so far. Dewarkar who also went by the alias Rajesh was arrested from Katras town in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand in January 2020. He had been on the run ever since the assassination and had been laying low, working at a petrol pump in Katras for several months under an assumed identity.

Proceedings at previous hearings

As SabrangIndia had reported previously, Gauri Lankesh’s sister Kavita Lankesh, who is a filmmaker and poet, made her statement before the court when the hearings began on July 4, and said that just days before her murder, Gauri Lankesh had seen some men “loitering suspiciously” near her home in Bengaluru. She also said that it was she who discovered Gauri’s bullet ridden body in a pool of blood.

But the counsel for the defence wanted to spin an entirely different narrative. During her cross examination, Kavita was asked about family feuds instead. She was also asked about Gauri’s alleged “Naxalite connections”. At one point the defence counsel also mentioned Gauri Lankesh’s connections to the activists who have been dubbed the “tukde-tukde gang”, namely Jignesh Mewani and Kanhaiya Kumar. But this line of questioning was shot down by the court.

In July, the court also examined other witnesses including a cable operator who had been called to rectify the cable in Lankesh’s home, but found her dead outside her door instead. Another eye-witness, a mason whose wife was employed as a security guard in the building opposite Lankesh’s residence was also examined. He told the court, he heard gun shots when he came back home from work that day, and rushed to the spot, reported The New Indian Express. 

When the hearing ended on July 8, the counsel for the accused told the court that they had not been given footage from CCTV cameras outside Lankesh’s residence yet. It was this footage that had helped the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to identify and apprehend the shooters. On Monday, July 18, the Special Public Prosecutor handed over the footage from two CCTV cameras outside slain journalist Gauri Lankesh’s house to the legal team of the accused. 

In August, four witnessed deposed before the court. A neighbour (names of witnesses withheld as per directions of the court) of Lankesh testified that he was cooking at home when he heard the gunshots. Times of India quoted excerpts from his testimony: “I ran to the front door and opened it. When I was near the gate, I saw two men riding away on a black Passion Pro motorbike in Subhash Park direction. The rider and the pillion were wearing full-face helmets.” The neighbour also identified the bike used by the assailants that had been seized by the police. He told the court that when he and his roommate rushed outside the bike borne assassins fled, but that’s when a cable operator arrived. This is the same cable operator who had deposed before the court previously.

Another witness told the court that he had met key accused KT Naveen Kumar (A-17) at a park in Vijayanagar, and that two of the accused – Naveen Kumar and Sujith Kumar – had discussed a plan to murder the journalist, reported Hindustan Times.

Other witnesses to depose before the court included a woman staffer from a lab in Shantinagar and two policemen. The lab technician told the court that the police had given them CCTV footage on a DVR on September 6, and the lab downloaded the visuals and returned the DVR the same day.

Another witness to depose before the court was Head constable Shivaswamy H, who reportedly told the court that it was “police inspector Shiva Reddy took a written statement from Kavita Lankesh at the spot” and then gave it to him. He then handed it to sub inspector Laxman who drafted the First Information Report (FIR).

Related:

Gauri Lankesh case: Neighbour identifies bike used by shooters

Gauri Lankesh case: Hearings to resume before KCOCA Court today

Gauri Lankesh case: CCTV footage shared with counsel for the accused

Gauri Lankesh case: Why is the Defence harping on alleged “Naxalite connections”, family fued?

Gauri Lankesh case: SC restores KCOCA charges against Mohan Nayak

Gauri Lankesh case: SC reserves order on plea to keep KCOCA charges against accused

Gauri Lankesh case: SC to decide on keeping KCOCA charges against accused

Gauri Lankesh case: CJP assists sister Kavitha move SC

‘Meticulous’ investigation yet little headway in Gauri Lankesh murder case

The post Five years since we lost Gauri Lankesh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

On Monday, August 8, a special Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) court is all set to resume hearings in the trial surrounding the assassination of Gauri Lankesh, a fearless journalist known for speaking truth to power and calling out right-wing extremists. 

When hearings began on July 4, Special Judge CM Joshi had set some ground-rules according to which hearings will take place every second week of the month for five days. As SabrangIndia had reported previously, Gauri Lankesh’s sister Kavita Lankesh, who is a filmmaker and poet, made her statement before the court, and said that just days before her murder, Gauri Lankesh had seen some men “loitering suspiciously” near her home in Bengaluru. She also said that it was she who discovered Gauri’s bullet ridden body in a pool of blood.

But the counsel for the defence wanted to spin an entirely different narrative. During her cross examination, Kavita was asked about family feuds instead. She was also asked about Gauri’s alleged “Naxalite connections”. At one point the defence counsel also mentioned Gauri Lankesh’s connections to the activists who have been dubbed the “tukde-tukde gang”, namely Jignesh Mewani and Kanhaiya Kumar. But this line of questioning was shot down by the court.

Last month, the court also examined other witnesses including a cable operator who had been called to rectify the cable in Lankesh’s home, but found her dead outside her door instead. Another eye-witness, a mason whose wife was employed as a security guard in the building opposite Lankesh’s residence was also examined. He told the court, he heard gun shots when he came back home from work that day, and rushed to the spot, reported The New Indian Express. 

When the hearing ended on July 8, the counsel for the accused told the court that they had not been given footage from CCTV cameras outside Lankesh’s residence yet. It was this footage that had helped the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to identify and apprehend the shooters. On Monday, July 18, the Special Public Prosecutor handed over the footage from two CCTV cameras outside slain journalist Gauri Lankesh’s house to the legal team of the accused. 

Brief background of the case

Journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was snatched away from friends, family and her fellow journalists when the fearless journalist was gunned down outside her home on September 5, 2017. Since then, 17 people have been arrested in connection with the case, and one accused is still missing.

The said incident came under the jurisdiction of Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station of Bangalore City and on the same day an FIR was registered under Sections 302, 120(B), 114, 118, 109, 201, 203, 204, 35 of I.P.C. and Sections 25(1), 25(1B), 27(1) of the Indian Arms Act, 1959 and Sessions 3(1)(i), 3(2), 3(3) and 3(4) of the COCA Act, 2000 (Order No.C.R.M./01/158/BC/2017-18 dated 06-09-2017 of the D.G. and I.G.P.) as Crime No. 221/2017. Gauri Lankesh’s sister, Kavitha Lankesh is the first informant in the case.

The Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) began probing the case. Two chargesheets were filed in the case. The primary chargesheet was filed against KT Naveen Kumar, a 37-year-old member of the Hindu Yuva Sena on May 30, 2018. On November 23, 2018 the supplementary chargesheet running into 9,235 pages was filed. 18 people have reportedly been named in the chargesheet. These include shooter Parashuram Waghmare, masterminds Amol Kale, Sujith Kumar alias Praveen and Amit Digwekar. It was in this chargesheet that the Sanatan Sanstha was mentioned for the first time.

The chargesheet also mentions 26 other people who were on a hit list of sorts. These are eminent journalists, educationists and intellectuals who are perceived to be anti-Hindu by the Sanatan Sanstha. These include Siddharth Varadrajan (Editor, The Wire), journalist Antara Dev Sen, JNU professor Chaman Lal, Punjabi playwright Atamjit Singh among others.

According to the Karnataka SIT, the plot to kill Lankesh was hatched a year before the assassination. Amol Kale, a former Hindu Janjagruti Samiti convener, allegedly hired killer Parshuram Waghmare. Waghamare was allegedly a member of the Sri Ram Sene. Kale took him to an isolated spot in Khanapur, Belgaum to practice using an air pistol. Waghmare allegedly did a recce of Lankesh’s house in Rajarajeshwari Nagar in July 2017. On September 5, he and another back-up gunman Ganesh Miskin arrived outside Lankesh’s house on a black motorcycle. Waghmare fired four times at Lankesh and the duo fled the scene.

However, the group responsible came together in 2010-11 suggesting that this was a wider conspiracy planned over a longer period aiming to eliminate more rationalists, journalists and activists. In a press release the SIT had said, “The investigation so far has revealed that all the 18 accused are active members of an organised crime syndicate. This syndicate was formed in 2010-11, under the leadership of Virendra Tawade alias Bade Bhaisaab. One former editor of ‘Sanatan Prabhat’ provided financial support to this syndicate. The members of this organisation targeted people who they identified to be inimical to their belief and ideology. The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in ‘Kshatra Dharma Sadhana’, a book published by Sanatan Sanstha.” The statement further added, “In August 2016, in a meeting of the syndicate, the main members identified Ms. Lankesh as a “durjan” as told in the ‘Kshatra Dharma Sadhana’, based on her speeches and writings. They jointly hatched a conspiracy to murder her.”

The arrests

On March 2, 2018, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) investigating Lankesh’s assassination made its first arrest, apprehending right-wing activist K. T. Naveen Kumar, of Maddur, who in 2015 founded the Hindu Yuva Sene. Kumar who reportedly confessed to Lankesh’s murder had previously been arrested in February 2018 in relation to a case involving illegal arms.

On May 30, 2018, when the SIT filed a 650-page chargesheet in the Lankesh murder case, KT Naveen Kumar was named in it. Kumar allegedly obtained the bullets that were used to kill Gauri Lankesh, and that he allegedly supplied logistical support to her killers and directed them to her residence and office in Bengaluru. It alleges that the bullets were from an ammunition store called Bangalore Armoury, and that Kumar purchased them around eight years ago. Syed Shabeer, who works at City Gun House in Kalasipalya, claimed to the SIT that he sold Kumar 18 bullets for Rs. 3,000 about eight years ago.

The SIT, in the chargesheet, stated, “The accused were angry with her for speaking against Hindu dharma, Gods of Hindu dharma and insulting Hindu dharma”. Kumar’s wife, Roopa C. N., gave the SIT a statement, which indicated that Kumar was associated with the Sanatan Dharma Sanstha, largely in 2017.

In late May 2018, the SIT arrested four more people with ties to right-wing group Sanatan Sanstha for a January 2018 conspiracy to kill K. S. Bhagwan. The four individuals also had ties to Sanatan Sanstha’s sister outfit, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), and were also connected to Kumar, in 2017 had attended multiple HJS meetings. The four individuals are named Amol Kale alias Bhaisab, an HJS activist from Maharashtra, Amit Degwekar alias Pradeep, a Sanatan Sanstha activist from Goa, Manohar Edave of Karnataka, and Sujeet Kumar alias Praveen, an activist with Sanatan Sanstha and the HJS from Mangalore.

On June 11, 2018 the sixth accused in the case, Parashuram Waghmare, 26, was arrested. On Thursday, June 14, police reportedly interrogated Waghmare and the previously arrested Amol Kale. Waghmare had allegedly claimed that Kale instructed him to carry out the killing, and gave him a country-made pistol.

Sharad Kalaskar was arrested on August 10, 2018 by the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) after a tip off from the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case. The ATS claims that Kalaskar was also one of the two gunmen who shot and killed Narendra Dabholkar in August 2013. According to the ATS, the weapon used to kill Gauri Lankesh and other rationalists was also procured and manufactured by Kalaskar.

A note on how to make bombs was also recovered from him. Kalaskar was arrested along with Vaibhav Raut and Sudhanwa Gondhalekar from the Nallasopara home of Raut who is the convener of the Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti. 20 crude bombs and two gelatin sheets were recovered during this raid. Meanwhile, Gondhalekar is a member of Shiv Shivapratishthan Hindustan, an organisation run by none other than Shambhaji Bhide, one of the two main accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence.

In July 2019, Uma Devi, wife of slain rationalist MM Kalburgi identified the gunman who shot her husband. Earlier the SIT had arrested Praveen Chatur, a Belgavi resident who had allegedly ferried this gunman in the Kalburgi murder. While police had initially suspected Amit Baddi, a friend of Ganesh Miskin, of being the biker, sketches prepared by police artists did not match eye witness descriptions. When the SIT probed the matter again, interrogation of Amol Kale pointed them towards Chatur. Chatur was also wanted in a petrol bomb attack on a theater screening Padmavat in Belgavi in January. He has now turned state’s witness in the Gauri Lankesh case. In his statement he has reportedly admitted to attending training camps in Jalna and Mangaluru.

Rishikesh Dewarkar was the last one to be arrested in the case so far. Dewarkar who also went by the alias Rajesh was arrested from Katras town in Dhanbad district of Jharkhand in January 2020. He had been on the run ever since the assassination and had been laying low, working at a petrol pump in Katras for several months under an assumed identity.

CJP assists Kavita Lankesh

In June 2021, Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) assisted Gauri Lankesh’s sister Kavita move a Special Leave Petition (SLP) before the Supreme Court against an order by the Karnataka High Court dropping charges under Karnataka Control of Organised Crime Act (KCOCA) against accused Mohan Nayak, who is is a close associate of Amol Kale and Rajesh Bangera, two men who are key accused in planning and committing the assassination of Gauri Lankesh. 

Nayak had approached the Karnataka high court for bail on grounds of the ruling dropping the KCOCA charges against him. He had contended that on April 2, 2021, the court had quashed the FIR in relation to offence under KCOCA and therefore he could not be charged for the offence under KCOCA. For this reason, he argued that the chargesheet against him should have been filed before expiry of 90 days from the date of his arrest and remand to judicial custody. Admittedly there was no chargesheet and hence he contended that he should be entitled to statutory bail under Section 167(2) of Cr.PC. 

But on July 13, the High Court’s Single-judge Bench of Justice Sreenivas Harish Kumar ruled that Nayak cannot seek bail on the grounds that the Special Investigation Team (SIT) filed a chargesheet against him, only on November 23, 2018, more than 90 days following his arrest on July 19, 2018, since the bail application was moved only after the chargesheet was filed.

Lankesh’s SLP, filed with CJP’s assistance, details the nature and extent of Mohan’s involvement saying that investigations had found that he had been “actively involved in providing shelter to the killers prior to and after committing the offence and has participated in a series of conspiracies, abetting, planning, providing logistics.”

The SLP further reiterated what the investigation agency has revealed, that they have collected sufficient evidence “to connect him with the case and establish his intimate nexus with the mastermind behind the entire event i.e., Accused No.1 Amol Kale and master arms trainer Accused No. 8 Rajesh D. Bangera who are part and parcel of an “organised crime syndicate” from its inception.”

On September 21, the matter was heard by a bench comprising Justices A.M Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and C.T. Ravikumar. In October 2021, the SC restored KCOCA charges against Mohan Nayak.

Related:

Gauri Lankesh case: CCTV footage shared with counsel for the accused

Gauri Lankesh case: Why is the Defence harping on alleged “Naxalite connections”, family fued?

Gauri Lankesh case: SC restores KCOCA charges against Mohan Nayak

Gauri Lankesh case: SC reserves order on plea to keep KCOCA charges against accused

Gauri Lankesh case: SC to decide on keeping KCOCA charges against accused

Gauri Lankesh case: CJP assists sister Kavitha move SC

‘Meticulous’ investigation yet little headway in Gauri Lankesh murder case

The post Gauri Lankesh Assassination Trial: Hearings to resume before KCOCA Court today appeared first on SabrangIndia.

Fearless journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in Bangalore in September 2017. This film follows her political journey, envisaging what she stood for and her struggle for communal harmony until her last breath.

A documentary by Pedestrian Pictures

The post Our Gauri: A Tribute to Gauri Lankesh appeared first on SabrangIndia.

One evening, my grandmother and I heard that my aunt had collapsed. We were alone at home. My grandmother drove me to my aunt’s house, scared and crying all the way, because she was afraid of what could have happened. When we reached my aunt’s house we were shocked to know that my aunt was shot dead. My mother was already there, crying and heartbroken. I broke down too.  I cried like never before, because the pain was something I had not ever experienced, or even imagined. And what had happened was so shocking that it was almost unbelievable. Till today, I still feel like she is here, and that she has really not gone away forever. They say time heals, but a year has passed but I feel the pain as if it was yesterday.  Maybe I am not crying anymore like I was back then, but the void inside me still feels just as deep as it did that day.

Initially, I felt very angry towards the killers. I wanted to hurt them the way they hurt her. I wanted them to experience the pain we felt. I still do. But the bitter truth is that my aunt will not come back even if they suffer. I realise “An eye for an eye, makes the whole world blind”.  All we can do is wait for the pain to subside, get justice and the murderers to get punished legally.  

There has never been a day that has passed by, that I haven’t thought of her. When I remember the love she had for me I miss her terribly.  My aunt did not have children of her own, but she called me her daughter, just as I called her “Avva” which is another word for ‘mother’ in Kannada.  She was almost like a second mother to me.  They say sometimes that one never realises the true value of someone, unless you have lost them. I did not realise how much I really loved her until I lost her. I had never imagined a world without her.
When I was little I would go to her house over the weekends. She would tell me bedtime stories of her own various versions of Cinderella. In my aunt’s version, Cinderella was a strong and independent girl. Cinderella would be a working woman and every time my aunt would change her profession; if sometimes Cinderella was a chef, another time she was a writer! And most of all Cinderella was no meek girl who would wait for her prince! Each time the story would have a slightly different setting or challenges she faced. I would just love listening to these stories. As I got older she would tell me stories of Jim Corbett, Kenneth Anderson and even gave me books by Poorna Chandra Tejaswi etc. She was a voracious reader. Apparently even when my aunt was a young girl, her siblings would go out and play, but my aunt would be happy immersed in the world of books!

 My aunt adored me so much that she never introduced me to her friends as her niece, but introduced me to them as her daughter. She would regale her friends with anecdotes about me, even when she was extremely busy. She would tell me I should always speak for myself and be a strong woman. She would always keep me updated on all the current events and would even take me to listen speeches, or make me watch talks by young student activists such as Kanhaiya Kumar or Shehla Rashid. She always said that the youth should be aware, as they are the ones who can bring about a change. 

On her birthday a few years back, she presented herself with a tattoo on her arm of a peacock feather symbolizing my grandfather’s newspaper logo and my name under it. Every weekend she would come home and spend time with my mother and me.  My aunt loved non vegetarian food, but she hardly ever cooked. So whenever she came home, my mother would cook chicken for both of us.  Both of them would share funny stories of their past, their experiences and memories, and we would spend the afternoon laughing.  

Being secular and equal was very important to my aunt which was also ingrained in us. Our family would celebrate Ganesha festival in my uncle’s house, Christmas in our house and Ramadan in my aunt’s house. She would tell me and my cousins’ stories and the significance of the festivals.  To her, it was important to understand and empathize with all religions and communities.  Needless to say she fought for women’s rights, women empowerment, Dalits, Muslims, Trans genders and many other minorities. She was a strong, ethical journalist and a fierce activist who consistently fought for the downtrodden and addresses issues concerning them. She tried to persuade naxalites to give up their guns and arms and have peaceful negotiations with the Government about their problems.

She worked very hard, day and night, almost never took a break.  After her death is when I realised who she really was and how much she has done for people from various strata of society. For me she was simply “Avva” who loved me to bits, but I realised she was “Akka” “Amma” a friend, a colleague to thousands of people, and a mentor to many youngsters. I knew what she did, I knew what she loved and I knew especially what she hated, but I did not know how many lives she had influenced, the young and the old, the weak and the have-nots. The day of her funeral, we expected some people, but were amazed to witness thousands of people from different sections of society turn up.  There were women, students, Trans genders, Muslims, politicians, theatre personalities, the film fraternity and more. There were protests in every nook and corner of Karnataka, across India and even across the world.  People held candlelight protests near the Indian gate. Journalists protested in every city. Even after a year protests for justice and safety for journalists who speak truth to power continue in places nearby and far such as France, New York, Germany, and Malta. There was even a pillar honouring her inaugurated in a town called Bayeux, France by the Reporters without Borders Association. 

The only factor that lessens the pain of losing her is how proud of her I am. And how the killers did not silence her, but instead made her voice louder by showing solidarity towards her and what she stood for across the word.

Before I lost her, I never knew how it felt to lose someone.  Although I constantly feared that I would lose someone I love deeply, I never thought it would be the end of everything, and I assumed things would go back to normal, but unfortunately it is both. Some things came to an abrupt end, some things in life moved on as though nothing had happened at all.  

When I think back, I wish I had spent more time with her. I wish I had  told her more often how truly I loved her. I wish I had told her how proud I was of her and the work she did.  I wish I had understood what she stood for, better.  I wish I had known she was not merely  my aunt, but she was much more and that I told her that I respected her immensely. I also know regardless of whether I expressed all this to her or not, she knew how much I loved her, and I know how much she loved me. And if I could tell her something now, I would say thank you, for spending thirteen years with me and being my role model. I cannot believe she won’t be there to share so many things with me now, but I know in spirit she will always be with me.  I also know that in the short span of her life, she did so much that she will live in my heart and many other’s for a long time. A very long time.

The post Avva- My aunt appeared first on SabrangIndia.

 
Yoga and Ahimsa aren’t the only elements of the world’s so-called largest democracy. It’s time for those enamoured by India’s tolerance and diversity to open their eyes and get familiar with the growing religious bigotry under a right-wing Hindu nationalist Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) government.
 
Illiberal India: Gauri Lankesh and the Age of Unreason by Chidanand Rajghatta can help in understanding this ugly reality. Based on the life and murder of a Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh on September 5, 2017, by Hindu extremists, the book is authored by none other than the deceased’s ex-husband.
 
Rajghatta, who himself is a journalist reveals that though the couple had divorced they remained good friends. So much so, his current wife Mary Breeding and their children also adored her. That Mary chose to write an obituary for Gauri that is included in the postscript of the book shows how open and generous she was.
 
It was this liberalism both in her personal and journalistic life that led to her assassination.
 
Gauri was the Editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike that gave voice to the minorities and the oppressed communities. She remained a vocal critic of the Hindu Right that has gained currency ever since the BJP came to power in India with a brute majority in 2014. The attacks on Muslims and other minority communities by those who wish to turn India into Hindu theocracy have intensified.
 
Gauri who was also an activist was agitated by the rapid growth of Hindu fanaticism in her home state of Karnataka that has always been known for its pluralism. She was influenced by her late father who was a progressive journalist and writer and denounced superstition and sectarianism. Though she had begun her journalistic career in the mainstream English press, she gave it up to join her father’s publication Lankesh Patrike that mastered in Kannada journalism. Only after she fell apart with her brother for ideological reasons, she started a publication under her name.    
 
Gauri who had no inclination towards religion and had scientific temperament ensured that no rituals were observed at the funeral of her father.
 
She was a defender of the Indian constitution that is based on the principles of secularism and democracy and guarantees religious freedom. She remained a staunch opponent of the caste system that stratifies Indian society and supports untouchability and therefore openly challenged Hindu orthodoxy for practising it. Though she was equally critical of the opposition Congress party for pandering religious groups and fanaticism of every shade, she had come under constant attack from the supporters of BJP and Hindu right-wing groups during the months preceding her death. Some active on social media had rejoiced her murder. 
 
In private gatherings too, nothing stopped her from challenging those, including family friends who blinded by majoritarianism said nasty things about Muslims or the depressed classes. Rajghatta mentions how she once recommended him to hire a single mother as domestic help and take care of her daughters.  
 
The author offers so many details that a reader can take away not only the memories of Gauri as a hero of the underdog but a deeper understanding of how India is heading to become a monolithic and closed society. 
 
The book isn’t just the story of Gauri, it rather situates her story in the broader context of the current situation of India where freethinkers and rationalists are being targeted for questioning the power and challenging the myths with impunity.
 

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Following this a group led by Gauri Lankesh’s sister Kavitha, social activists Swami Agnivesh and Teesta Setalvad, youth leaders Kanhaiya Kumar and Umar Khalid, marched to the Raj Bhavan or Governor’s House in Bangalore demanding that the Sanatan Sanstha be declared a terrorist organisation. Hundreds of ordinary people also marched along demanding justice.

However, just meters from the Gauri Lankesh march, the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti also held a counter protest. They blamed the Congress party for framing ‘innocent’ Hindu men in the terror plot that was recently discovered by the Maharashtra ATS. One of the key accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case allegedly has links to the Sanatan Sanstha.

The role of several right wing supremacist groups in the murder of rationalists like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi as well as journalist Gauri Lankesh has been becoming evident during the course of the investigation led by a Special Investigation Team of the Karnataka police. In fact, it was information shared by this SIT that helped the Maharashtra ATS foil a huge terror plot by Hindutva supremacist groups and unearth a cache of arms and explosives on August 11 this year. This was around the time of Independence Day and Bakr Eid and police say that the terror module had planned to strike Mumbai, Pune, Satara and Solapur.

But undeterred by this brazen disrespect, the activists went ahead with the events planned for the day. They gathered at the Jnana Jyothi Auditorium to not just pay homage to slain rationalists and dissenters but also discuss the way forward for Indian democracy.
 

At the ceremony, Siddharth Varadrajan, Founding Editor, The Wire said, “The pledge that we took last year after Gauri’s death to continue with her work has been vindicated because the forces that killed Gauri and were behind the killing of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi have been attacking and intimidating anyone who dare to speak out. These dark forces can even abuse the law as was seen recently with the arrest of the five activists.” Gauri Lankesh’s sister Kavitha quipped that her father would be the first to be labelled an “Urban Naxal”, a term coined by right wing trolls to describe human rights activists.

During a brief informal chat with Kavitha on stage, CJP Secretary Teesta Setalvad drew attention to the dark times in which we live. “What is worrying is that lawyers who fight for the most dispossessed are being targeted. What is also horrifying, is the words used by the police when they level accusations. It shows that the police don’t care,” she said.

A PEN Gauri Lankesh Award for Democratic Idealism was instituted to reward the efforts of an individual or organisation whose work reflects an abiding passion and courage towards advancing democratic culture in India. The award carries a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh. 
 

Related:

Death of a Rationalist: Gauri Lankesh
My Sister, My Soulmate
Our Gauri: A Tribute to Gauri Lankesh
Gauri Lankesh laid to rest, but The Truth could not be buried
 

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Skeletons are tumbling out of the Saffron closet and they appear to be armed to the teeth. The Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was probing the Gauri Lankesh murder case has made major headway in investigations. However, in an interesting development, it also contacted the Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) with information that helped the ATS unearth a huge terrorist plot by people closely affiliated with extreme Right Wing Hindutva supremacist groups.

Gauri murder investigation leads to Terror Attack being foiled!
Armed with the information provided by the Karnataka SIT, the ATS ended up arresting three men on August 10, 2018; Vaibhav Raut (40), Sudhanwa Gondhalekar (39) and Sharad Kalaskar (25). Raut is the convener of the Hindu Govansh Raksha Samiti. 20 crude bombs and two gelatin sheets were recovered from his Nallasopara home. Meanwhile, Gondhalekar is a member of Shiv Shivapratishthan Hindustan, an organisation run by none other than Shambhaji Bhide, one of the two key accused in the Bhima Koregaon violence.

Two Terror Modules
There are two modules of the terror group that coexisted but operated separately. The first module comprised men arrested in connection with the Gauri Lankesh case who are also being investigated for their alleged involvement in a series of assassinations of rationalists such as Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi. The second module that the ATS discovered during their investigations after a tip off from the Karnataka SIT, were planning to strike Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra including Pune, Satara and Solapur. Recovering such a huge cache of arms around Independence Day, Bakr Eid and in the run up to the Ganpati festival is enough to send shivers down anyone’s spine!

The Common Thread
But, it was Kalaskar who was a common member of two modules. The ATS claims that Kalaskar was one of the two gunmen who shot and killed Narendra Dabholkar in August 2013. According to the ATS, the weapon used to kill Gauri Lankesh and other rationalists was also procured and manufactured by Sharad Kalaskar. He was also arrested from Raut’s home where the ATS discovered a huge cache of explosives and a note on how to make bombs was recovered from Kalaskar.

Year-long conspiracy to kill Gauri Lankesh
According to the Karnataka SIT, the plot to kill Lankesh was hatched a year before the assassination. Amol Kale, a former Hindu Janjagruti Samiti convener, allegedly hired killer Parshuram Waghmare. Waghamare was allegedly a member of the Sri Ram Sene. Kale took him to an isolated spot in Khanapur, Belgaum to practice using an air pistol. Waghmare allegedly did a recce of Lankesh’s house in July 2017. On September 5, he and another back-up gunman Ganesh Miskin arrived outside Lankesh’s house on a black motorcycle. Waghmare fired four times as Lankesh and the duo fled the scene.

Connection with the Narendra Dabholkar Murder
Three of the accused in the Gauri Lankesh murder case are also linked to the plot to kill anti-superstition activist Narendra Dabholkar. Dabholkar was shot dead on August 20, 2013. The same weapon was used in both crimes according to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). Sachin Andure, one of the alleged shooters of Dabholkar, was arrested by the CBI last month. He has been remanded to judicial custody. Meanwhile, his co-accused Rajesh Bangera and Amit Digvekar have been remanded to CBI custody till September 10. Bangera had allegedly provided weapons training to Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, the two men who allegedly shot Narendra Dabholkar. Meanwhile Digvekar had helped recon Dabholkar’s house and keep tabs on his movement and routine. Digvekar was also a ‘saadhak’ in the Sanatan Sanstha. Sharad Kalaskar is meanwhile in the custody of the Maharashtra ATS in connection with the explosives seizure case.

Right Wing Affiliations
While the Sanatan Sanstha was quick to deny any direct linkage to Vaibhav Raut, it didn’t exactly throw him under the bus either. A statement released by the group said, “Reports of the arrested devout Hindu, Vaibhav Raut being a member of Sanatan are being falsely propagated by the media. Mr Vaibhav Raut is not a member of Sanatan; however he had been actively involved in numerous rallies and processions organised by devout Hindu organisations. Although Raut is not a seeker of Sanatan, we believe that any Hindu working for the cause of Hindutva and for Dharma, belongs to us.”
 

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What  will  probably  never  be  revealed  is  the cold-blooded  decision  made  by  the  elite  right-wing ideologues  to  create  a  perfect  killing  mechanism  which is perhaps operational  in  all  states  in  India.  It is a systematic process and the first step is to recruit the killers and accomplices.  For this, the active  and  dedicated  looking  young  men  who attend the  hindutva  programmes  are  tracked  and  approached.  In Gauri’s case it was a person from Maharashtra.  Very  few  among  the  thousands  who  attend  the  Hindutva jagruthi (raising  awareness)  programmes  know  about  the  recruitment  process.  The  selected  young  men  are  then taken  to  more  such  programmes  and  discussions. 

The second stage is brain washing.  Waghmare was  shown  videos  of  Gauri’s  speeches, to which  he  reportedly  said  “My  blood  boiled”.  He was then gradually motivated to punish her.  When  the  possible  recruits  are  thus  “persuaded”,  the  next  stage  begins.  These recruits are then trained to use revolvers in many of the hidden forest areas by former police personnel and professionals. The motive is to eventually turn them into sharp shooters.  Where do the weapons come from?  In  Gauri’s  case  the  SIT  discovered  that  it  was  a person  in  Karnataka  who had  built  a  veritable  fortress  with  three  rungs  of  security  gates.  He  was  a  respectable  citizen  but as it  turned  out, he  was  also  a  dealer  in  arms.  Newspaper  reports  say  that  the people of his village often noticed men  speaking  different  Indian  languages going  to  his  place. 

This  last,  most  innocuous  detail,  as  in  the  darkest of  crime  stories,  is  the  most  chilling. (Brush up your Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock).  This  is  exactly  what  the  ordinary  citizens  around  a  notorious  Hindutva  organisation  in  Goa  said.  Strangers and  outsiders,  speaking  non-local  languages, visiting  places that even the locals have  no  access  to.  What  is  chilling  is  the  truly  ‘national’  character  of  the  criminal  network.  The  obvious  inference  is  that  these  groups  are  everywhere  in  India.  Young  men  (usually  Shudras and  some  Dalit)  are  being  recruited  every day   and  trained  in  the  nodal  murder  centres. 

The  SIT  also  discovered  that  lists  of writers, intellectuals and other radical critics of Hindutva were  exchanged  by  participants  of  the  crime.  So,  you  have  a  veritable  who’s who  of  dangerous  intellectuals  with  the  killers.  The next stage is the planning and rehearsals. Here also, it is the respectable  common  citizens who rent  out  rooms  and  houses  and  feed  the  assassins. A practicing doctor sheltered Gauri’s killers in his clinic.  I  will  not  get into details  like  how  the  bike  carrying  the  killers  was  procured  because  I  do  not want to ruin the great career of a future  of  crime fiction writer.

Where does that leave us?  The  furious  debates  about  secularism,  freedom  of  expression, candle light processions, and TV discussions are for the consumption of  imbeciles and morons like  me and you.  It is the right-wing governmentality and  crony  capitalism  in  India  which  traps  you  into  ‘democratic’  televised  discussions which is exactly  the  distraction  right-wing  wants.  Why?  So  that  a  vast  and  stupendous  network  of  murder  can continue to  operate  all  across  India.  The  most  cold-blooded  decision  has  already  been  made  to  implement  the  final  solution.  Kill them.  A  vast  machine  works  efficiently  from  recruitment  to  the  clueless   disappearance  of  the  killers  all  across  India.  As  you  walk  across  the  nearby  lane,  the  invisible  operators  are  tracking  you.  On a quiet Sunday morning or  a  calm  evening, a bike  is waiting.  On it are two people who hardly know each other.  One of them will shoot you down point blank.  The other will speed away. That is if you are on the list. Dial H for murder.

From August 30 to September 5, an unusual week is going to be observed in Karnataka. From one anniversary of a killing to another. We want to rupture the deafening silence on the most shocking exposé of post-independence India. The  SIT  in  Karnataka  has  unearthed  the  greatest  crime  against  Indian  democracy  and  our  constitution. I nearly  died  laughing  when  someone  suggested  that  the  most  powerful  male  in  India  does not  probably  know  about  what  the  fringe  elements  are  doing.  For  the  first  time I understood what I had been explaining  to  my  students  while  teaching  Derrida.  It is the margin which defines the centre. The margin therefore is the centre.
 
P.S.:  Dear reader, the facts and details in this write up are not from a dystopian fiction.  Every detail is from  reports on  the  disclosures  by  the  SIT  investigating  Gauri  Lankesh’s  murder.   

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

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The confessions of Waghmare stated in the SIT report not only show the intention behind killing her, but also make it clear that there is a machinery functioning behind these planned killings of anti-Hindutva voices. The recent statement of an unnamed official belonging to the SIT brings to light the existence of a gang of the hardline Hindutva recruits functioning in five states: Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. The same official is reported to have said that this “unnamed organisation/gang” comprises at least 60 people and although it has “recruited people from hardline Hindutva organisations like Maharashtra-based Hindu Jagruti Samiti and Sanatan Sanstha, these outfits may not be directly responsible for the killings”.

The above mentioned official, however, has not provided any explanation for the non-involvement of these Hindutva organisations. Sri Rama Sene, a right wing Hindu fundamentalist organisation is fundraising to support the family of Waghmare, who according to the organisation, is a patriot. The earlier reports had established that Waghmare is Sene’s activist. Pramod Muthalik, the supremo of the Sene has denied this, however, he has admitted that Waghmare was with the RSS till 2012.

In this case, how can one conclude that the Hindutva organisations are not responsible for these killings? Why has the police failed to track down this “unnamed organisation”? It is not only the investigation in the case of Gauri Lankesh, but the earlier cases of Narendra Dabholkar (2013), Govind Pansare (2015) and M M Kalburgi (2015), yield the same question. Is this question been pursued in the investigations at all? The investigations so far have stopped after arresting the suspected assassins. No efforts have been made to reach the brain behind these well-planned attacks.

Investigations in other three cases
Dr. Narendra Dabholkar, a rationalist and an anti-superstition activist, who had founded the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead on August 20, 2013. On August 29, 2013, a Sanatan Sanstha worker was arrested by the police from Goa as part of its probe. The organisation claimed that even though it had differences with Dabholkar, they had no reason to kill him. Following a PIL filed by journalist Ketan Tirodkar, the CBI had taken over this case in May 2014 on the directions of the Bombay High Court. In May 2016, Virendra Tawade of Hindu Janajagruti Samiti was arrested in connection with the case.

Govind Pansare was attacked by two unidentified gunmen in Kolhapur, on February 16, 2015. He died on February 20. Pansare was a member of the Communist Party of India and a supporter of Dabholkar’s movement. He was a vehement critique of the Hindutva organisations. An SIT had implicated Virendra Tawde, Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar – suspects in the Dabholkar murder case – in the Pansare case as well, in 2016. Here too, Tawade was named as a key conspirator, and Akolkar and Pawar were suspected of firing at Pansare. However Tawade was granted bail by the Kolhapur court in 2018.

M M Kalburgi was assassinated on August 30, 2015 in Dharwad, Karnataka. A rationalist, scholar and a teacher was shot dead in his own house. Unlike in the cases of Dabholkar, Pansare and Lankesh, the case of Kalburgi is still a mystery, with no arrests. Uma Devi Kalburgi, the wife of Kalburgi, has appealed to the Supreme Court to hand over the case to an SIT. During the hearing, the Centre had told the Supreme Court that it did not want to hand over the inquiry to the National Investigation Agency. It said the crime was not a “scheduled offence” under the NIA Act.

Investigations in all the three cases have not convicted anyone, let alone getting to the mastermind behind these killings. The SIT report in Gauri’s case, has raised new questions and is demonstrating the link between all the four killings.

The mastermind behind the assassinations
Muthalik was speaking at an event on ‘Exposing anti-Hindu conspiracy by Leftists’ organized by Hindu Janajagruti Samiti at Ramamadira temple in Rajajinagar in the city on Sunday, June 17. In this event, calling Parshuram Waghmare’s arrest as a conspiracy against innocent Hindus, he said,

“Two murders happened in Karnataka and two happened in Maharashtra during the Congress regime. No one is uttering a word over Congress government’s failure. Instead, they are asking why PM Modi is silent and not commenting on Gauri Lankesh’s death. Many wanted PM Modi to react after Lankesh’s death. Why should PM react if some dog dies in Karnataka?”

It is high time that the PM Modi breaks his silence regarding the murders of the rationalists, scholars, and activists of the country that he is the elected PM of. It has been established that the arrested six are affiliated to a Hindutva organisation. Going by what the SIT official has said, isn’t it suitable to investigate the Hindutva organisations’ operations – not only in Karnataka but the whole country? As it also has been established that there are 60 people recruited from various Hindutva organisations, and they are functional, it is even more crucial that these organisations are investigated. Is it not a good enough reason for the BJP-led central government, headed by PM Modi?

Waghmare has confessed that he was approached by someone with the intention to kill Gauri Lankesh to save Hinduism and that he killed her because of her “anti-Hindu” speeches. All the six arrested in the case of Lankesh have been charged under section 302 (murder), 120B (criminal conspiracy), 118 (concealing a conspiracy) and 114 (abetment to the crime) of the IPC, and also under provisions of the Arms Act. Approaching these ideologically motivated killings as mere murders is the main problem; and is the main obstacle to get to the mastermind behind these murders.

The SIT has said, that these accused are part of the Hindutva organisation, but yet why are these organisations being kept away from the investigations?

Yogesh S is part of the editorial collective of Indian Writers’ Forum.

Courtesy: Indian Cultural Forum

The post Who is the Mastermind Behind the Assassinations of the Rationalists? appeared first on SabrangIndia.

My Sister, My Soul Mate

A Poem for Gauri by KavitaLankesh

She raved, she ranted,
Many times she burst out….
Uppercaste this… Brahmincal that…
At the inhumanity of it all…
At the injustice of it all…

Silence Gauri?
Ha ha!! What a joke!!
She burst like sunflower seed
scattered all over 
In India
And across the seas…
Now the silence is chanting ….echoing,  ..
“ We are all Gauri!!”
 

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