From the archives: ‘If Gauri Lankesh wrote in English’, says Kanhaiya Kumar on what may have saved her

india

Updated: Sep 06, 2020 11:05 IST

At an event on Thursday to mark the second death anniversary of journalist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead outside her house, former Jawaharlal Nehru University Students’ Union president, Kanhaiya Kumar, said that justice would be done only when the idea of freedom and equality are protected.

Kumar was closely associated with Lankesh in the years preceding her death and she used to refer to him as her son.

Speaking at the event, Kumar said that Lankesh was against the idea of ownership and, hence, nobody could stake a claim to her.

Kumar said that the reason Lankesh was perceived as dangerous by some people was because she wrote in Kannada. “If Gauri Lankesh had written in English and lived in Delhi she would have been trolled, not murdered. It’s because she wrote in Kannada that she was murdered,” he said, calling on those gathered to reach out to the people in their language.

“This is an era of disillusionment. Humanity is under threat. People have to step outside their ideology to understand what is meant by humanity,” Kumar said. “This fight isn’t about political parties winning or losing.”

He said a journalist had asked him earlier in the day if he was satisfied with the progress of Lankesh’s murder case. “There can never be full justice. Justice isn’t just about nabbing the criminal. Mahatma Gandhi didn’t get justice. Mahatma’s killer is being celebrated now. Similarly, Gauri will also not get justice because some people were jailed,” he said.