Remembering Gauri Lankesh: The Firebrand Writer Who Died Fighting For The Truth

She was killed for speaking the truth in a democratic country like India where we all have the freedom of speech. Accomplished writer Gauri Lankesh, who threw light on various social evils though the weekly newspaper Lankesh Patrike, was brutally killed outside her home. A staunch supporter of women’s rights and protestor against caste-based discrimination, she paid the price for being a critic of right-wing Hindu extremism. She would have turned 57 today but it wasn’t meant to be. Her ideals, however, will continue to live on as her pen spoke the truth every time it touched the paper.

The Brave Speaker

Image Courtesy: www.indianculturalforum.in

There was little that scared Gauri Lankesh. She wrote about the tribals and she wrote about dalits, all ignored sections of society that we choose to ignore. She wrote about land mafia and she wrote without any inhibitions about political leaders too. This earned her a great many defamation cases, fines and jail time. But all of these were only temporary setbacks for her. Gauri cared more about the fight and less about the numerous death threats that she got from various sources. She believed in the ideals of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar and was equally vocal about the wrongdoings by leaders of all political parties. The newspaper she wrote for did not run ads, her brand of journalism was never up for sale.

Gauri was also a close friend, mentor, aunt and daughter to people who have to daily live with the shock of losing her. Her friends remember her as a friend who helped them conquer fear while her niece remembers her as the aunt who taught her a great many things, including how to be an independent woman.

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Are The Ideas Of Gauri Lankesh Dead?

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Parashuram Waghmore, the man who confessed to killing her, did not even know who she was. He just did it in the name of religion. But was his religion saved? Was Gauri Lankesh’s voice silenced? The answer is no. With her death, her ideas have become immortal and word has spread far and wide. Protests after her death in her home state of Karnataka reached the political seat of Delhi and even outside India. Honoured with the Anna Politkovskaya Award for her contributions, Gauri now has a pillar dedicated to her memory in France by the Reporters without Borders Association.

Her Zindagi salutes the spirit of women like Gauri Lankesh who continue to speak up, take challenges head on and break the shackles of conventions to show others the way.

Your ideas live on, Gauri.

Happy Birth Anniversary.

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