Over 10,000 at protest rally in Bengaluru, declare: I am Gauri // BJP Sends Legal Notice To Ramachandra Guha

NB: The mass protest yesterday in Bengaluru is significant, and that's why it is underplayed and barely visible in the mainstream media. It is a tragedy that the media continues to be intimidated, even when one of their own is murdered. Meanwhile the Sangh Parivar has sent Ramchandra Guha a legal notice asking him to apologise for highlighting the climate of hatred and intolerance promoted by the ruling dispensation. The notice says "Your baseless utterances are also calculated to influence and mislead the on-going investigations of the said incidents. This amounts to illegal interference in the course of justice and is also a grave offence." More bullying may be expected of them, as this is all they know. Should the BJP not send a legal notice to their ally KP Sasikala?
Gauri Lankesh's Fate Awaits You, Firebrand Kerala Leader Warns 'Secular' Writers
and another one to their MLA Shri Jeevaraj?
Gauri Lankesh would be alive if she hadn't written against RSS, BJP, says Karnataka MLA
Such utterances are more suggestive than Guha's, and these too may prejudice the investigation. Are they not also a 'grave offence'? And can the RSS/BJP tell us what these statements are 'calculated' to achieve? Now we learn of clues linking this murder to that of Kalburgi. Clearly professional killers are involved, and the police is unwilling or unable to locate them. 

As such criminal activities go unpunished, all we hear from the allies, spokespersons and trolls of the Sangh Parivar (after routine condemnations); is abuse of the victims and loud threats as provided by Ms Sasikala and Jeevaraj. It is typical of them to speak in many voices as per time and convenience. Thus, soon after pracharak Modi became Prime Minister, we were treated to celebrations of Gandhi's assassin. Some wanted temples to Nathuram Godse; some wished he had murdered Jawaharlal Nehru. Here are some examples of this vile campaign:

Garu Lankesh's murder is a warning to all critics of the Sangh Parivar as stated by its own activists; testified to by the hateful utterances of its troll army. We are warned not only to desist from criticism, but also not to protest criminal deeds. We must watch quietly as the justice system is destroyed, cases against Parivar allies are dropped, judges like Jyotsna Yagnik threatened; and ideological dictatorship imposed upon a freedom-loving country. In the face of such facts, we are entitled to ask: who exactly is acting against the interests of India and her citizens? Who are the patriots and who the 'anti-nationalists'? Bengaluru's protesters deserve our thanks and support. We will not be silenced: DS

Over 10,000 rally in Bengaluru, declare: I am Gauri
A week after journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead in Bengaluru, more than 10,000 people took part in a rally in the city in Tuesday, each saying “I am Gauri”, and pointing out that “communal forces have taken the country to the brink of fascism”. “For the past one-and-a-half decades, Gauri Lankesh was at the forefront of struggles against anti-constitutional and anti-human elements. Not only that, there have been serial murders of several progressive thinkers who upheld the values of our constitution,” the protesters announced at the meeting.

They urged the Karnataka government and the police to fast-track the probe into the murder of Lankesh, 55, and others before her. Condemning the act of celebrating and justifying Lankesh’s murder by a section of supporters from the Sangh Parivar, Sanatan Sanstha and the Sri Ram Sena, a statement issued at the meeting said, “We, at the resistance meeting, condemn this inhuman behaviour, which is not supported by any religious teaching.” The resistance meeting followed a protest walk across Bengaluru’s old city areas. It featured, among others, 99-year-old freedom fighter H S Doreswamy, writers Devanuru Mahadeva and Uday Prakash and actor and Jnanpith awardee Girish Karnad among several literary personalities from Karnataka; retired judges Justice Venkatachalaiah and Justice Sadashiva; journalists P Sainath, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sagarika Ghose; economist Irfan Ali Engineer, Supreme Court lawyer Prashant Bhushan; CPI(M) leader Sitaram Yechury; activists Teesta Setalvad, Medha Patkar, Swami Agnivesh, Kavita Krishna; Dalit activist Jignesh Mevani; and Lingayat seers Thontadarya Swami Nidumadi and Murugamut Swami Shivamurthy. Targeting the Prime Minister, Swami Agnivesh said, “The general secretary of UN Human Rights Council has condemned Gauri Lankesh’s killing. I wish PM Narendra Modi would have spoken a word on it.” Stating that Lankesh regarded him as her son, Dalit leader Mevani vowed to fight until his last breath to help growth of progressive thinking in India.
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/week-since-murder-over-10000-rally-in-bengaluru-declare-i-am-gauri-4840890/

BJP Sends Legal Notice To Ramachandra Guha For Linking Murder To The Sangh Parivar
The Karnataka unit of the BJP has sent a legal notice to noted historian Ramachandra Guha for linking the murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh to the Sangh Parivar, say reports. News18 reports that the BJP, whose ideological mentor RSS is part of the Sangh Parivar, has demanded an unconditional apology from Guha. The report quoted Karnataka BJP spokesperson Ashwath Narayana as saying, "If Ramachandra Guha does not apologise, our party will initiate a legal process and take this to the court. Not just Guha, we are observing everyone who makes such comments, and notices will be issued to them, too." The notice accuses Guha of making false allegations to harm the image of the BJP and the RSS. India Today quoted the notice as saying, "Your baseless utterances are also calculated to influence and mislead the on-going investigations of the said incidents. This amounts to illegal interference in the course of justice and is also a grave offence."

It also warns Guha that the BJP will initiate criminal proceedings against him if he fails to apologise.
In the aftermath of Lankesh's murder, Guha had said, "The climate of hate and intolerance that has been promoted by this current (BJP) government, aided by television channels and freelance goondas, is complicit in this murder. It is chilling. We are becoming mirror images of Bangladesh and Pakistan, where writers are killed for what they say. This is an attempt to silence all of us, all of those who believe in democracy and decency."
http://www.huffingtonpost.in/2017/09/11/bjp-sends-legal-notice-to-historian-ramachandra-guha-for-linking-gauri-lankeshs-murder-to-the-sangh-parivar_a_23204428/?utm_hp_ref=in-homepage

See also
Gauri Lankesh: ‘Abnormality is becoming the new normal in Karnataka’ // ‘Murder of democracy, climate of hate, intolerance complicit
Shiv Visvanathan on Gauri Lankesh
Gauri Lankesh's Fate Awaits You, Firebrand Kerala Leader Warns 'Secular' Writers
Gauri Lankesh would be alive if she hadn't written against RSS, BJP: Karnataka MLA DN Jeevaraj
The Big Lies. RSS,Gandhi and American conservatives
Clues point to link between Gauri Lankesh, M M Kalburgi killing
The Supreme Court, Gandhi and the RSS

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