DELHI: Just a few hours before her murder in Bangalore on Tuesday, allegedly by Hindu right-wingers, Gauri Lankesh, a secular journalist and civil rights activist, spoke up for the rights of Rohingya Muslims in India.
鈥淎re Rohingiya 鈥榯errorists鈥� killing Hindus and burning their homes and temples?鈥� she tweeted, citing an article in Quint news magazine about fake news being used to incite anger against the minority in India.
鈥淪he took a strong line against the deportation of Rohingya from India and their genocide in Myanmar,鈥� said Kavita Krishnan, a prominent civil rights activist and secretary of the All India Progressive Women鈥檚 Association. Lankesh鈥檚 killing 鈥渋s an attempt to strike terror in the heart of dissent,鈥� Krishnan added.
Lankesh, 55, was found lying in a pool of blood on her doorstep in the city of Bangalore. She was returning home from work when she was gunned down by three men who came on a motorcycle in the early evening in front of her home in Bangalore.
She was an editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, a popular weekly magazine in the local Kannada language.
Her killing has sparked outrage across India, with civil rights activists, journalists and others taking to the streets in protest. But the government has remained largely silent.
MP Smriti Irani tweeted a condolence message, but 鈥渟uch tweets are meaningless,鈥� said Krishnan.
鈥淭here are Twitter handles followed by (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi that are busy celebrating Lankesh鈥檚 death.鈥�
When contacted by Arab News, many members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) refused to comment.
When asked about Lankesh鈥檚 opposition to deporting Rohingya, Rakesh Sinha, director of the India Policy Foundation 鈥� a think tank promoted by the BJP 鈥� simply said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not good to go into specifics.鈥�
The BJP鈥檚 ambivalence about the killing of a prominent voice of dissent has not gone down well with opposition leaders.
Krishnan said 鈥渁 strong section of media in India鈥� is also 鈥渞esponsible for creating an atmosphere where any political dissent is termed anti-national.鈥�
Modi landed in Myanmar for talks with its leader Aung San Suu Kyi on the same day Lankesh was killed.