Bengaluru, Jan 27: Nearly five months after fearless Kannada journactivist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead, youth leaders from across the country will come together in the capital of Karnataka to mark ‘Gauri Day’ on Monday, January 29, her birthday.
Dalit leader and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani, and student leaders from Jawaharlal Nehru University Kanhaiya Kumar, Shehla Rashid and Umar Khalid, who Gauri regarded as her children, will hold a function at Bengaluru’s Town Hall. “They will assemble to declare their renewed commitment to uphold a secular and equitable democracy and to remember their fond association with Gauri,” a statement from Gauri Memorial Trust said.
Richa Singh, student leader from Allahabad University, will also make an address. Radhika Vemula, mother of Dalit student Rohith Vemula who committed suicide at the University of Hyderabad, Teesta Setalvad, and actor Prakash Rai will also be part of the function.
This will be followed by an ensemble of folk, rap and classical music programme, led by Arathi from Bengaluru, Sheetal of ‘Kabir Kala Manch’ from Pune, and musician T.M. Krishna. Two books — Gauri Hoovu, a compilation of her articles and essays, and a collection of poems penned by people after her death — will also be released.
Meanwhile, the plan to launch a weekly newspaper to memorialise Gauri has yet to come to fruition. Sources in the Gauri Memorial Trust said apart from the matter of funding, there is a temporary injunction order obtained by her mother Indira Lankesh restraining anybody from starting a paper with the terms ‘Gauri’ or ‘Lankesh’. “We will fight the injunction legally, but we want to ensure once the paper starts we will be able to sustain it financially. So we will carry out a fundraising drive in February with the aim of starting the paper by March 8,” a trustee said.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
Comments
#Justice for Gauri
Govt miserably failed to put Gauri murderer in jail
It is humiliating. Karnataka cop couldnt find Gauri muderer.
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