Senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, a well-known critic of the right wing forces, was shot dead at her house in Bengaluru.

The brazen killing of noted journalist Gauri Lankesh, outside her house on Tuesday, has once again come back to haunt the fraternity of journalists in India. It was just two years ago that noted scholar MM Kalburgi was murdered in a similar fashion.

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF JOURNALISTS REPORT

According to an International Federation of Journalists annual report, in 2016, India saw the killings of Tarun Mishra, Bureau Chief of Jan Sandesh Times, died on 14 February; Indradev Yadav, Journalist with Taaza TV, on 16 May; Rajdeo Ranjan, Bureau Chief of Dainik Hindustan on 13 May; Kishore Dave, Bureau Chief of Jai Hind on 22 August and Dharmendra Singh, Correspondent of Dainik Bhaskar on 12 November.

In 2016, 122 journalists and media professionals were killed globally, 93 of them in targeted killings while others in natural disasters and accidents. India witnessed death of five scribes and was eighth on a list topped by Iraq.

REPORTERS WITHOUT BORDERS REPORT

"Journalists are increasingly the targets of online smear campaigns by the most radical nationalists, who vilify them and even threaten physical reprisals," said Reporters Without Borders in its 2017 World Press Freedom ranking. The report put India at 136 in a list of 192, based on measuring the amount of freedom journalists in the country have."

COMMITTEE TO PROTECT JOURNALISTS REPORT

The data on the killings of journalists from 1992-2017 by Committee to Protect Journalists, says that in India, 40 journalists have been killed with a confirmed motive, while 27 journalists have been killed in cases where the motive has not been confirmed.

GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER

The Committee to Protect Journalist listed India as one of the countries on its 'Impunity Index'. CPJ's Impunity Index calculates the number of unsolved murders over a 10-year period as a percentage of each country's population.

The detailed report on India counts 13 journalists killed over the last decade with complete impunity and suggested that these were mostly rural and small-town reporters who covered local corruption, crime and politics, and they were likely to face violence from criminal and political groups and government officials.

CPJ also says "In addition to failing to solve any journalist's murder, India has never responded to UNESCO's requests for the judicial status of journalist killings in the country."

JOURNALISTS KILLED IN RECENT PAST NOVEMBER 12, 2016: BIHAR: Dharmendra Singh - a 35-year-old reporter with vernacular newspaper Dainik Bhaskar - was killed by three motorcycle-borne people at Amratola, Sasaram NOVEMBER 11, 2016: BIHAR: Ramchandra Yadav, a journalist-turned-village head of Kewatgama panchayat in Darbhanga gunned down by unidentified miscreants AUGUST 22, 2016: Kishore Dave, Bureau Chief of Jai Hind, was stabbed repeatedly in the chest while he was writing a story MAY 16, 2016: Indradev Yadav, also known as Akhilesh Pratap Yadav,a Journalist with Taaza TV was shot dead by unidentified people near his home in Kolkata while he was on his motorcycle. MAY 13, 2016: Rajdeo Ranjan, Bureau Chief of Dainik Hindustan, shot dead in Bihar's Siwan when a group of five criminals on motorcycles shot two bullets at him when he was on his way home from office on a bike. FEBRUARY 14, 2016: Tarun Mishra, Bureau Chief of Jan Sandesh Times, was shot dead. OCTOBER 3, 2015: Hemant Yadav, was gunned down by unknown assailants on a motorbike in Chandauli, Uttar Pradesh. Yadav worked for the Hindi news channel TV 24. AUGUST 13, 2015: Sanjay Pathak a part-time reporter for a local Hindi daily in Bareilly district, was killed allegedly by two persons in August. JUNE 1, 2015: Jagendra Singh killed by setting him on fire in Shahjahanpur, U.P. Singh used to run a Facebook page called Shahjahanpur Samachar.

Clearly, India continues to be extremely unsafe for journalists.

Also Read:

Gauri Lankesh murder: Attacker fired 7 bullets, 3 hit her, one on forehead

Gauri Lankesh murder: I&B minister Smriti Irani condemns her killing, calls for speedy investigation

Also Watch:

WATCH | When Lankesh said death threats had become 'a common factor' in Karnataka