All political parties and social movements should form a united front to achieve this: Doreswamy

Activists who took part in ‘Gauri Day’ — held to mark the journalist-activist’s birth anniversary — on Monday gave a call to defeat the BJP in the upcoming Assembly elections in Karnataka to “preserve the ideals and legacy of Gauri Lankesh” for which all progressive and secular forces must unite.

This was the line most of the leaders, including freedom fighter H.S. Doreswamy, took at the programme.

At the programme organised by Gauri Memorial Trust here, Mr. Doreswamy said, “If Karnataka also falls into the hands of Narendra Modi, it will be tough to stop the juggernaut of the BJP ... All political parties and social movements should form a united front and defeat the BJP.” Mr. Doreswamy is also chairman of the trust floated after Gauri was killed in September 2017 by unidentified assailants.

Dalit leader and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani said political activists must shun “ideological puritanism” and unite to fight against the BJP. “I don’t wish to be ideologically pure and politically stuck. I am ready to compromise ideologically to prevent the BJP from coming to power,” he said. He announced he would campaign extensively in the State for three weeks in April against the BJP.

JNU student leaders Shehla Rashid and Kanhaiya Kumar and student leader from Allahabad University Richa Singh also called upon people to defeat the BJP. Actor Prakash Raj attributed his recent vocal protests to the “awakening” he experienced after the murder of Gauri. “Fascists though have ruled the world, they have only done so for short periods of time,” he said.

Irom Sharmila, human rights activist from Manipur, was a surprise guest at the event. “I did not know Gauri during her lifetime. But I am slowly getting to know her. I am in Bengaluru on a personal trip and came to know of the event and spontaneously decided to participate. The situation in the country, fascist rule which wants more control, is really dangerous,” she said.

Meanwhile, the trust announced they will start a weekly Kannada paper in Gauri’s memory on March 8. “We are on a fundraising drive,” said Doddipalya Narasimhamurthy of the trust.

Two books — a collection of poetry on Gauri after her death and a collection of her articles — were released. The proceeds of their sales would be donated to the trust.

Mr. Prakash Raj bought the two books for ₹1 lakh, making a donation to the trust.

Brother demands CBI probe, sister opposes it

Differences within the Lankesh family over the probe into the murder of Gauri Lankesh continues, as Gauri’s brother, Indrajit Lankesh, on Monday said he would approach the High Court demanding a CBI probe since the investigation by the SIT had not made any headway. He held a separate programme to commemorate her birth anniversary on Monday.

However, Gauri’s sister, Kavita Lankesh, told The Hindu that the family did not want a CBI probe and had confidence in the probe by the State police.

“My brother has not been in touch with the investigating officers; I am. They have been appraising me every few days of the developments in the case and I am confident of the probe. My brother seems to be talking on somebody’s behalf,” she said.

Mevani to ‘challenge’ Modi’s I-Day speech

Dalit leader and Gujarat MLA Jignesh Mevani on Monday announced that he would go live on Facebook on August 15 to “challenge” Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech.

“Let him tell the people what he has to. We will talk of the real issues affecting people that [Mr.] Modi intends to divert the debate from. Let the people decide,” he said here.

It may be recalled that in 2013, Mr. Modi had similarly challenged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s Independence Day address and made a parallel speech from Gujarat.

Mr. Mevani said youth leaders, including himself, were working on ideas and strategies to create more jobs in the country, which they would present soon. “[Mr.] Modi promised two crore jobs every year but failed to deliver,” he said, and added that the BJP had instead made gau mata, Bharat mata, love jihad, and Padmaavat the biggest issues.