India: Convict Gauri Lankesh’s killers quickly to reverse tide of intolerance and hate (Editorial, The Times of India)

The Times of India

Assault on freedom: Convict Gauri Lankesh’s killers quickly to reverse tide of intolerance and hate

September 7, 2017, 2:00 am IST TOI Edit in TOI Editorials | Edit Page, India | TOI

 

In a vicious strike on freedom of the press, senior journalist and editor Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her home in Bengaluru this Tuesday. Lankesh was known for her left-wing views and trenchant criticism of Hindutva. One doesn’t necessarily have to agree with those views, but one of the compacts underlying independent India is that people should have the freedom to articulate their views, and freedom of the press is an integral part of this. To be able to work as a country that harbours extraordinary diversity, freedom of opinion is the minimum we must agree on whatever our political differences might be.
However many intellectuals holding comparable views to Lankesh have been done to death in similar ways: MM Kalburgi in Karnataka, and Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare in neighbouring Maharashtra. This has to be seen as part of a pattern, unless proved otherwise. India has slipped three places in world press freedom rankings from last year and is currently just three places above Pakistan. With jihadis running amok in Pakistan this is surely unenviable company to keep. Concomitantly, hate and intolerance are rising in India. Yesterday, for example, the Supreme Court had to issue instructions to the Centre as well as states to crack down on cow vigilantes who take the law into their own hands.
Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan hit the bull’s eye recently when he opined that India’s tradition of free speech and tolerance is the greatest economic asset it has going forward in a global context that increasingly prizes innovation, human capital and soft power. It would be more than a tragedy if India loses this; it would be a massive existential risk that places its future in jeopardy.
Karnataka chief minister Siddaramaiah has described the murder of Lankesh as “an assassination of democracy”. While that outrage is something the nation shares governments are required to do more: they must bring the assassins to book using the law and order machinery which is their charge. CCTV footage has been recovered which may offer clues to the killers; the state government now needs to fast-track this case and quickly convict the culprits. Moreover, to avoid damage to India’s reputation, senior BJP leaders must whole-heartedly condemn the murder whether or not it is the handiwork of a Hindutva fanatic. A statement from the prime minister himself would greatly help in this regard.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

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TOI Edit

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