Bengaluru resonates with #IAmGauri as protesters throng Central College grounds

coastaldigest.com news network
September 12, 2017

Bengaluru, Sept 12: Thousands of fans of slain journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh including progressive thinkers, writers and rights activists came together on Tuesday to protest the coldblooded murder of one of the most fearless journalists the country has ever produced.

Sporting black badges that read - #IAmGauri - the protesters took out a rally from the Sangolli Rayanna Railway Station to the Central College grounds, where a protest meeting was held. Over 300 policemen were deployed in and around the Central College.

Choking with emotion, Gauri’s mother Indira Lankesh said: “She [Gauri] fought with every fibre of her body. For me, all of you are my Gauris.”

Social activist Teesta Setalvad recalled her association with Gauri. “Though we are of the same age, she called me her little sister, as I had a lot to learn from her. The only thing bearable in the death is the support that has come now. We can't let cohesion resistance go in vain,” she said.

She also said Gauri believed that the youth were the real opposition. “She had a rational outlook and believed in the freedom of questioning. No majoritarian fascist can take it away from us. We can't afford to be sectarian under individual flags. We can't let the death go in vain.”

Chandrashekar Patil, writer, read out a poem as a tribute to Gauri. “A few years ago, I was Dabholkar... then, Pansare. And, two years ago, when my classmate, colleague and comrade M.M. Kalburgi was assassinated, I became Kalburgi. Now, I’m Gauri,” he said.

CPI (M) leader Sitaram Yechury said, “I'm here as a foot soldier of Indian democracy and idea of India. It isn't abstract. It's concrete and alive. It can coexist only if there is opportunity to discuss and debate without bullets to kill. That's the spirit to kill caste, religious minorities. The battle of ideas is the idea of India. My India doesn't remain if it is killed through bullets.”

He added that the country had lost a person who disagreed verbally, who was an active participant and who never eliminated ideas.

“What has happened with Gauri is unacceptable and is not an isolated incident. We're here because we're now realising that we are in the path of a movement where those in authority and power are creating a totalitarian state. It is the antithesis of India,” he said.

While referring to the RSS and the BJP filing cases, he said that one cannot be cowed down. “Remember, Mahatma Gandhi was a victim of the Hindu Rashtra and those against diversity.”

Acclaimed Kannada writer and Dalit activist Devanur Mahadeva said that when India got Independence, there were dreams of an ideal Indian society, of how it should be in the future. “What has happened now? Our mentality is going backwards. The dream has become a nightmare. Now, the majority is ‘Indianness’. And Kalburgi, Gauri are being killed as the majority marches on.”

It is not just intellectuals, even religious heads are facing threats, claimed Shivamurthy Swamiji of Chitradurga Muruga Mutt.

Narmada Bachao Andolan leader Medha Patkar said that the coming together of so many voices on one stage was reason for optimism. “Those who want to crush, not just the Constitution, but aspirations of equality are in power today,” she remarked.

A special edition of Gauri Lankesh weekly was released. The protest meeting is likely to go on till evening.


Comments

Rameez
 - 
Tuesday, 12 Sep 2017

Good gather. Good to see pfi and sdpi

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News Network
November 12,2024

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The UN humanitarian coordinator for Lebanon has warned that the “picture of life in Lebanon remains grim,” highlighting an "alarming" level of human suffering and significant humanitarian consequences due to the ongoing Israeli carnage.

Imran Riza, the UN Deputy Special Coordinator and Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Lebanon (UNSCOL), provided a stark overview of the Arab country's dire circumstances in a statement released on Monday.

“The current picture of life in Lebanon remains grim. Yesterday, airstrikes reportedly killed 23 people, including seven children, in the village of Aalmat in Mount Lebanon,” Riza said on X.

An airstrike in the city of Tyre on the same day resulted in the tragic deaths of five siblings from a single family, all of whom had special needs, according to his statement.

He added that in the last week, Israeli airstrikes have killed at least 241 individuals and left 642 others injured in Lebanon, as reported by the Ministry of Health.

“In the past month, more than 185,000 people have fled their homes in their search for safety within the country, bringing the total to over 870,000 people internally displaced,” Riza said

The UN official highlighted that numerous individuals, including the elderly and those with health issues, are staying behind while witnessing the ruins of their ancestral homes.

He urged for the swift safeguarding of civilian people and infrastructure, emphasizing the necessity to uphold international humanitarian law and end the ongoing violence.

Lebanon’s National News Agency reported that Israeli forces bombed a house in the town of Maydoun in Bekaa on Monday night, killing three people and destroying the house.

Earlier, Israel bombed the northern town of Ain Yaaqoub, killing at least 14 people.

The killings came as Israeli military continued to pound Lebanon, bombing shops selling electrical appliances in the southern city of Tyre and carrying out air raids on the towns of Shamshtar in eastern Baalbek and Roumine in southern Nabatieh.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health said Israeli attacks killed at least 54 people across the country on Monday.

Israel’s merciless attacks continue despite calls from the UN Security Council for an immediate ceasefire and directives from the International Court of Justice urging measures to prevent genocide and alleviate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and Lebanon.

In Lebanon, at least 3,243 people have been killed and 14,134 others wounded in Israeli attacks since the war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023.

The Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah opened a support front for Palestinians in Gaza only a day after the Israeli regime unleashed its genocidal war on the besieged territory.

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News Network
November 22,2024

Mangaluru: A man fell victim to an online scam, losing Rs 1.7 crore after fraudsters posed as officials from TRAI. According to a complaint filed at the CEN police station, the incident began on November 11, when the complainant received a call from an unknown number at 9:49 am.

The caller, claiming to represent TRAI, alleged that another mobile number registered under the complainant's name was involved in illegal activities in Andheri (East), Mumbai. The caller further stated that an FIR was lodged against the complainant for harassment under the guise of marketing. He was instructed to contact Andheri (East) police station immediately or risk his mobile service being deactivated within two hours.

The complainant was subsequently connected to an individual named Pradeep Sawant, who claimed the complainant was implicated in a money laundering scheme linked to the Naresh Goyal fraud case. Sawant alleged that a fraudulent bank account under the complainant's name was opened at Canara Bank, Andheri, and used to purchase a SIM card for illegal activities. He warned that the complainant could face arrest.

Later, the complainant was contacted via WhatsApp video call by individuals posing as Rahul Kumar (a police officer) and Akanksha (a CBI officer). They allegedly sent fabricated CBI documents to his WhatsApp number. The fraudsters demanded money to "resolve" the case. Fearing threats, the complainant allegedly transferred Rs 1.7 crore through RTGS in batches of Rs 53 lakh, Rs 74 lakh, and Rs 44 lakh between November 13 and 19. A case has been registered at the CEN police station and an investigation is ongoing.

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News Network
November 11,2024

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The Manipur Kuki MLAs have released a statement calling out Solicitor General Tushar Mehta's 'lies' in the Supreme Court. In a joint statement, the MLAs, including those from the Bharatiya Janata Party, said they had not had any meeting with the Chief Minister since May 3, 2023, nor did they intend to meet him in the future as “he was the mastermind behind the violence”.

As per the MLAs, the SG lied about state CM N Biren Singh speaking to Kuki MLAs to control the situation there, in order to halt a Supreme Court probe into the leaked tapes which allege that Singh has been complicit in the violence that broke out between Kukis and Meitis there.

"We...clarify that we have never had any meeting with Chief Minister, Shri N. Biren Singh since May 3, 2023, nor have any intention to meet him in future as he is the mastermind behind the violence and ethnic cleansing of our people from the Imphal valley, which is continuing till today, the latest being the brutal killing and burning of Mrs Zosangkim Hmar on November 7, 2024," the letter read, while condemning the recent 'barbaric' killing of the woman there, and noting the SG's assertion is 'tantamount' to misleading the top court.

“We, the undersigned ten MLAs, have come to know that during the Supreme Court hearing held on November 8, 2024, the Solicitor General of India submitted that ‘CM is meeting all Kuki MLAs and trying to bring the situation down to get peace’. In this connection, we hereby categorically state that this submission is a blatant lie and tantamount to misleading the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India,” the statement said.

The Supreme Court, while hearing a petition by a Kuki organisation, asked that it submit audio tapes to substantiate its claim that the Chief Minister was instrumental in inciting and organising violence in the northeastern State.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta orally informed the court that the Chief Minister was meeting all the Kuki-Zo MLAs and that peace in the State had come at a huge cost.

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