Indian journalists, activists protest murder of newspaper publisher

Record ID: 909320

  • Title: Indian journalists, activists protest murder of newspaper publisher
  • Date: 6th September 2017
  • Summary: PEOPLE SITTING AND LISTENING TO A SENIOR JOURNALIST BARKHA DUTT SPEAKING VARIOUS OF JOURNALISTS SITTING AND LISTENING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR INDIAN JOURNALIST BARKHA DUTT, SAYING: "I am here to reaffirm the right of every journalist to have an opinion and express it without a violent or abusive backlash irrespective of whether I agree with that opinion or not." (SOUNDBITE) (English) SENIOR INDIAN JOURNALIST PARANJOY GUHA THAKURTA, SAYING: "I think those who are responsible for her dastardly murder, they don't believe in the right to free expression. They don't believe that the role of the media is that of the fourth estate to hold truth to power." JOURNALISTS STANDING OUTSIDE THE ENTRANCE TO THE PRESS CLUB OF INDIA
  • Embargoed: 20th September 2017 16:02
  • Keywords: India journalists activists protest murder Gauri Lankesh Gauri Lankesh Patrike
  • Location: BENGALURU AND NEW DELHI, INDIA
  • City: BENGALURU AND NEW DELHI, INDIA
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Crime/Law/Justice,Crime
  • Reuters ID: LVA0036XGMH53
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Indian journalists and rights activists protested on Wednesday (September 6) against the murder of an outspoken publisher of a weekly tabloid amid growing concerns about freedom of the press at a time of rising nationalism and intolerance of dissent.
    Gauri Lankesh, 55, the editor and publisher of the Kannada-language "Gauri Lankesh Patrike" newspaper, was shot dead on Tuesday (September 5) by unidentified assailants near her home in the southern city of Bengaluru.
    She had parked her car outside her gate and was walking to the main entrance of her home when the attackers fired at least seven rounds, killing her, police said.
    The motive was not known.
    Lankesh was a fierce advocate of secularism and opposed hardline Hindu groups associated with Prime Narendra Modi's right-wing, nationalist ruling party.
    Her weekly, with a circulation of more than 5,000, is regarded as influential in the state, read by policy makers and politicians.
    Lankesh spent decades with various media outlets before taking over the newspaper started by her father.
    Several journalist groups, including the Editors' Guild, Press Club of India and Press Association, held protests in cities across India, calling her murder a "brutal assault on the freedom of the press".
    They said she was a critical, secular voice at a time when the country was being swept by a wave of right-wing, Hindu nationalism.
    In recent weeks, Lankesh had posted videos on her Facebook page that were critical of Modi's economic policies and the rise of hardline Hindu groups since he came to power.
    Last year, she was sentenced to six months in jail after a defamation case was filed by a BJP member. She was released on bail.
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