Gauri killing: Bengaluru gears up for ‘resistance convention’

coastaldigest.com news network
September 11, 2017

Bengaluru, Sept 11: Thousands of fans of slain journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh are expected to participate in the ‘resistance convention’ being organized by the ‘Gauri Lankesh Hathya Virodhi Horata Vedike’ on Tuesday at Central College Grounds in Bengaluru.

According to organizers, about 50,000 people, including religious heads of various sects and progressive seers will participate in the national event aimed at condemning and resisting such attacks on free expression.

A procession would be taken out from Krantiveera Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station, which will culminate into a rally at the Central College grounds. P Sainath, Teesta Setalvad, Sagarika Ghose, Anand Patwardhan, Prashant Bhushan, Medha Patkar, Kavita Krishnan and Prakash Rai are among those who will take part in the rally.

There would be songs, street plays, screening of short films and paintings and music concerts expressing resistance against the assassination.

“We want to resist efforts to silence dissent in the country. We want to show that Gauri’s murder hasn’t shaken us and we are committed against communalism, fundamentalism, fascism and extremism,” writer Prof K Marulasiddappa told reporters here on Sunday.

Gauri’s assassination was similar to those of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M M Kalburgi. She always opposed rightist ideology. The RSS regularly targeted all the four. In this context, needle of suspicion points towards communal forces, he said.

Prof Chandrashekhar Patil said the Vedike did not directly point fingers at any one individual or organisation. “Gauri was facing threats from communal organisations, which forces us to conclude that communal forces claimed her. However, the investigation should bring out the truth,” he said.

Regarding the ongoing investigation, they said they had faith in the SIT and were open for a Supreme Court-monitored probe at a later stage.

On Naxalite angle to the murder, Prof Patil said the Vedike members did not get any confirmation from any police source regarding involvement of naxals.

“Kalburgi’s murder did not get much publicity as it was the first such murder in the state. The government itself was shocked after Gauri’s murder and took up the issue with all seriousness,” he said.

Writer and former minister B T Lalitha Naik said, “Gauri’s father the late P Lankesh used extremely harsh words while criticising a person or an ideology. But, nobody dared to kill him. The British tolerated Mahatma Gandhi for about 50 years. It was extremely easy for them to eliminate him. Those who claimed Gauri are heinous than the British,” she said.
 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
April 17,2020

Madikeri, Apr 17: A person who had returned from Spain in March was subjected to home quarantine on Thursday in Sowarpet in Kodagu district.

The person had arrived at Bengaluru on March 16 and went to Balele. Yesterday, he came to his estate house in Kumburu village in Somwarpet.

Availing the information, Tahsildar Govindaraju, police officials and health department staff visited the spot and gathered the necessary information.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
March 11,2020

Bengaluru, Mar 11: The move by rebel ruling Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh to trigger the crisis for the party's government in the state appears to have been in the making for at least close to a month as Karnataka BJP leaders were sounded about hosting them in Bengaluru in advance, sources said.

They also indicated that the 19 rebel MLAs would stay in the city for at least two weeks till an alternative government takes charge in Madhya Pradesh.

A senior Karnataka BJP leader, in charge of the Madhya Pradesh legislators' stay in Bengaluru, received a communication from the party's central leaders about the move nearly 15-20 days ago, the sources involved in the development said on condition of anonymity on Tuesday.

The leader had even gone to New Delhi in the third week of February to meet BJP's central leaders in this regard, they said.

In a massive setback for the Congress, its prominent youth leader Jyotiradtya Scindia quit the party and in a coordinated rebellion on Tuesday 21 MLAs loyal to him resigned in Madhya Pradesh, pushing the 15-month-old Kamal Nath government to the brink of collapse.

As many as 19 Madhya Pradesh MLAs, including six ministers, said to be loyalists of Mr Scindia who appeared set to join BJP, are camping at a resort in Bengaluru. Two of them are women, the sources said.

The MLAs on Tuesday sent their resignation letters via e-mail to Raj Bhavan in Bhopal from Bengaluru.

According to the sources, eight legislators, including an independent, have been staying in the city for about a week now. Of them two - one from Congress and the other an independent MLA - had gone back.

The six were joined by 13 legislators, who landed in the city by a chartered flight on Monday, and all of them are put up in a villa.

The senior Karnataka BJP leader, also an MLA, is looking after their stay and related arrangements on the directions of the party high command, the sources said. Their stay here may be for a couple of weeks.

"There will be a no-confidence motion, and then there will be a trust vote of the new alternative government that will be formed. So they may have to stay here for some time. They may be moved out of their current location," they said.

The Madhya Pradesh legislature session is expected to begin on March 16.

The sources also said the six legislators staying in the city since last week were shifted a couple of times within the city.

Congress in Madhya Pradesh, under the leadership of Kamal Nath, had come to power in December 2018 by ousting the BJP by a narrow margin.

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.
News Network
July 31,2020

Bengaluru, Jul 31: BJP leader CP Yogeshwar has slammed Yediyurappa supporters and said the JDS leader HD Kumaraswamy is supporting BJP.

Speaking to the reporters, Yogeshwar said, "Congress president DK Shivakumar and Janata Dal (Secular) leader and former CM HD Kumaraswamy, both are Yediyurappa supporters."

"His words seem to support the BJP. All that Kumaraswamy had said, during our government's rule, are happening including the officers they mentioned are being transferred. He has come forward to support BJP from the back door," Yogeshwar.

While reacting to allegations made by CP Yogeshwar, Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee president DK Shivakumar has said that earlier Yogeshwar requested for State Legislative Council (MLC) member ticket and now such people are blaming me without any evidence. This shows his dishonesty to his party and the kind of person he is." 

Comments

Add new comment

  • Coastaldigest.com reserves the right to delete or block any comments.
  • Coastaldigset.com is not responsible for its readers’ comments.
  • Comments that are abusive, incendiary or irrelevant are strictly prohibited.
  • Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name to avoid reject.