Journalist Gauri Lankesh shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru
Gauri Lankesh was a rationalist and a staunch defender of secularism.
Gauri Lankesh, editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, was shot dead outside her residence in Rajarajeswari Nagar in Bengaluru on Tuesday evening. Lankesh was a known critic of the BJP and Hindutva politics and was out on bail after her conviction in two defamation cases.
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ContributeAfter the news of Lankesh being shot by unknown assailants aired, social media was abuzz with shock. Here are some initial reactions:
Apart from Twitter, leading English TV news channel jumped on the wagon as well. At least some of them did.
India Today went live from Bengaluru. It looks like they scrapped their original panel to cover this shocking news.
NewsX had a panel discussion condemning Lankesh’s death. Their reportage was punctuated with reports giving details about progress made on the ground.
And Mirror Now. And CNN-News18.
As far as we could tell Republic and NDTV didn’t care as much. While Arnab Goswami discussed the qualms of RSS and it being the subject of Opposition’s attack, after a passing reference to Lankesh’s death, NDTV discussed now-resolved Doklam standoff.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah condemned the murder and said Lankesh was a staunch defender of secularism. He said it was a cowardly and disgusting act. The CM said he had met her several times and she hadn’t asked for security any time.
While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee expressed her grief, BJP leader KS Eshwarappa blamed the murder on the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. Elections to the Karnataka Assembly are due in 2018.
Reports said seven bullets were fired at her, with three killing her. Her father, P Lankesh, was a prominent journalist who launched the Lankesh Patrike. She is survived by her sister Kavita Lankesh and brother Indrajit Lankesh.
The police have taken the body to the Victoria Hospital in the city and the post-mortem will be conducted tomorrow.
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