Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik likens Gauri Lankesh to a dog

New Delhi, Jun 18: A fringe right-wing outfit's chief yesterday likened slain Bengaluru journalist Gauri Lankesh to a dog.

Pramod Muthalik, chief of the right-wing outfit Sri Ram Sene, made this comparison while hitting out at critics who have been asking Prime Minister Narendra Modi to break his silence on Lankesh, who was murdered last September.

"Many wanted PM Modi to react after Gauri Lankesh's death. Why should Modi react if some dog dies in Karnataka?" said Muthalik to raucous cheers of "Jai Shri Ram" from the audience he was addressing, a video showed.

Muthalik later defended his statement, saying he didn't directly compare Lankesh to a dog, and that he was merely pointing out that PM Modi cannot comment on every death in Karnataka.

Congress spokesman Manish Tewari slammed Muthalik for his comments on Lankesh.

"Disgusting, nauseating, revolting...vigilante group Sri Ram Sene's Head Pramod Muthalik compares assassinated journalist Gauri Lankesh to a dog. Mr Prime Minister @narendramodi you did not condemn Gauri Lankesh's murder are you now going to condone this too," tweeted Tewari.

Just two days ago, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lankesh murder case summoned a man called Rakesh Math, the Vijayapura district president of the Sri Ram Sene, for questioning, news agency reported. The decision to question Math was taken by the SIT as the suspected shooter, Parashuram Waghmare, was an active member of the Hindutva organisation that has courted controversy in the past in Karnataka with its "moral policing" activities.

An undated photograph of Muthalik and Waghmare has recently surfaced raising questions of links between the Ram Sene and those involved in the murder of Lankesh.

A senior SIT official said that Waghmare had confessed that he killed the journalist-activist to "save his religion". He was arrested from north Karnataka's Vijayapura district a few days ago.

Lankesh was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants outside her residence in Bengaluru in September 5, 2017.