Path Yet To Take A Turn

Reactions to the Kannada editor’s killing continue to be loud. The investigations have made no headway.

- Ajay Sukumaran

Filmmaker Kavita Lankesh remembers going for a walk with her journalist father in the famed Lalbagh gardens of their city in early 2000. The weather was pleasant—and someone came up to them, wondering why P. Lankesh, as a top editor, didn’t have any security. At this, the sexagenarian laughed, saying, “Why would I need security? I’ve just come for a walk.” Today, when Kavita recalls the episode, she cannot but make a connection, even as she copes with the murderous attack on her sister, Gauri Lankesh.

Their father who ran the eponymous weekly Lankesh Patrike hurt governments with his writing and made several people angry, she says. “Nobody, how­ever, threatened him. People would come in gro­ups and you would know who is protesting and their ideology also. Not like this...hidden. I know she was doing a lot of activism work and all that, but I never thought she was bigger than my father in that way.”

The shocking murder of Gauri on September 5 has sparked outrage across the country and protests, vigils and marches held thr­ough the week to condemn the crime. So far, the Karnataka police have not been able to identify the killers though it has mounted a massive operation to investigate the case—the special investigation team is over 70 strong comprising offi­cers and personnel drawn from across the state. The investigators, it is understood, are expecting a ballistics report soon and are parsing through CCTV footage collected from various sources. Gauri was shot dead after 8 pm outside her home, Manushi, just as she had returned from work.