Gauri Lankesh worked tirelessly to keep her father’s legacy, “Lankesh Patrike”, alive, but she went beyond journalism and entered the realm of activism with the rise of Hindutva in Karnataka, most notably in the State’s coastal region.
GAURI LANKESH MARRIED HER CRAFT OF journalism to social and political activism in a manner few have done in recent memory, and paid the ultimate price. Journalism for her was a calling, not a mere job.
There were many sceptics when Gauri Lankesh took over Lankesh Patrike after her illustrious father, P. Lankesh’s death in 2000. They sniggered at her for her “lack of experience”, her “political naivete” and what they claimed was her “poor hold on Kannada”. Evidently, she was stepping into the big shoes of her father, a leading light of the Navya movement of literature in Kannada, film-maker, playwright and a journalist who shaped a generation through his writings in the 1980s and 1990s.And anyone less gutsy than Gauri Lankesh would have shrivelled under the intense heat of such expectations.
The distinct path Gauri Lankesh chartered from then on until her brutal killing on the night of September 5, 2017, was all her own as much in journalism as it was in political activism. In fact, the two roles melded into each other and lent her a trademark style. Her indefatigable confidence and hard work soon silenced the sniggers. Gauri Lankesh doggedly kept the magazine going during the most trying times. Money to run it was always hard to come by, and she brought it out almost single-handedly, right down to proofreading the pages, with little or virtually no help.
The transformation of the weekly tabloid’s masthead from Lankesh Patrike to Gauri Lankesh in 2005, though not by choice but because of a dispute with her brother, Indrajit Lankesh, who claimed proprietorship, could well be seen as symbolic of the shaping of her distinct identity.
JOURNALISM FROM THE TRENCHES
This story is from the September 29, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 29, 2017 edition of FRONTLINE.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
How Not To Handle An Epidemic
The lockdowns were meant to buy time to put in place appropriate health measures and contain the coronavirus’ spread, but they have failed to achieve the objective and heaped immense misery on the marginalised sections of society. India is still in the exponential phase of the COVID-19 infection and community transmission is a reality that the government refuses to accept.
Tragedy on foot
As the COVID-19-induced lockdown cuts the ground beneath their feet in Tamil Nadu, thousands of migrant workers are trudging along the highway to the relative safety of their upcountry homes.
Sarpanchs as game changers
Odisha manages to keep COVID-19 well under control because of the strong participation of panchayati raj institutions and the community at the grass-roots level under the leadership of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Scapegoating China
As the COVID-19 death rate spikes and the economy tanks in the United States, Donald Trump and his advisers target China and the World Health Organisation with an eye to winning the forthcoming presidential election.
New worries
Kerala’s measured approach to the pandemic and lockdown has yielded results. But it still has to grapple with their huge economic impact on its economy, which it feels the Centre’s special financial relief package does little to alleviate.
No love lost for labour
Taking advantage of the lockdown and the inability of workers to organise protests, many State governments introduce sweeping changes to labour laws to the detriment of workers on the pretext of reviving production and boosting the economy.
Capital's Malthusian moment
In a world that needs substantial reorienting of production and distribution, Indian capital is resorting to a militant form of moribund neoliberalism to overcome its current crisis. In this pursuit of profit, it is ready and willing to throw into mortal peril millions whom it adjudicates as not worth their means—an admixture of social Darwinism born of capital’s avarice and brutalism spawned by Hindutva. .
Understanding migration
When governments and their plans are found to be blatantly wanting in addressing reverse migration, exercises such as the Ekta Parishad’s survey of migrant workers throughout India can be useful to work out creative long-lasting solutions.
Waiting for Jabalpur moment
The Supreme Court’s role in ensuring executive accountability during the ongoing lockdown leaves much to be desired. Standing in shining contrast is the record of some High Courts.
An empty package
The Modi regime, which has been unable to control the COVID-19 infection, restore economic activity and provide relief to millions exposed to starvation, trains its sights on Indian democracy, making use of the panic generated by fear and a lockdown that forecloses paths of resistance.
