Yogendra Yadav (National President, Swaraj India)
We can escape this question by saying we don't know. Of course it is only fair not to jump at conclusions before the police has scrutinised evidence. Criminal investigation must not be settled in TV studios or on Facebook posts. So let us leave Who Dunnit part to the police.
Yet we can ask and answer a deeper question: what killed Gauri Lankesh? Which forces stand to benefit from her assassination?
She was a journalist, a fearless editor, who stood against dark forces of communalism. In some of her recent interviews, she spoke about the challenges to media freedom in general and about challenges to her life. Yet she refused to compromise. It is fair to think that her assassination is in line with that of Dabholkar, Pansare and Kalburgi. Her killing is meant to send a signal to all those who do not practice "good journalism". She was killed by those who want to suppress any voice of dissent, those who fear the voice of reason and the values of our constitution.
But we must not stop here. Gauri Lankesh was more than a journalist. She represented an illustrious intellectual tradition of Karnataka. As the editor of 'Lankesh Patrike' she carried forward the legacy of her father P. Lankesh, one of the three iconic writers of the 'Navya' school of Kannada literature. Inspired by Rammanohar Lohia, these three writers from Shimoga -- P. Lankesh, Poornachandra Tejaswi and U.R. Ananthamurthy -- combined strident anti-caste stance with socialist brand of egalitarian politics and culturally rooted secularism. They mentored the next generation of Kannada intellectuals like Devanur Mahadeva, Siddhalingaiah and D. R. Nagaraj whose writings have inspired all 'progressive' activists of Karnataka. Politics of Hindutva fears this tradition most, as their secularism cannot be brushed aside as deracinated, Weternised intellectualism. This tradition is rooted in Kannada egalitarian thought that goes back to Basavanna. This form of culturally rooted secularism poses the biggest challenge to the shallow, ruling ideology of Hindutva. So, it would seem that Gauri was killed by those who are threatened by our intellectual traditions.
And then there is a third, deeper, symbolic signal in the killing of "Gauri Lankesh" in the last days before the beginning of the month of Sharad. This is the month to welcome the arrival of "Gauri" [Durga/ Parvati/ Bhavani/ Shakti] in many regions of the country. "Lankesh" is of course Raavana, the ultimate devotee of Lord Shiva. Her name invokes the tradition of Ravana worship among Shaivaites, a practice that upsets the project of homogenous Hindutva. Could it be that Gauri Lankesh was killed by those who feared her name, those who wanted to prevent the arrival of women as shakti, those who do not want Shiva and Parvati to come together in our times?