‘Bullets can’t silence Gauri’s Voice’ – Kavitha Krishnan During Freedom and Fraternity March
Mangaluru: The students fraternity and like-minded organizations held a Freedom and Fraternity March from the Jyothi Circle to Nehru Maidan here on September 28.
Addressing the gathering Secretary of All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA) Kavitha Krishnan said, “The government ruling in the centre, it is the regime that is unhappy with any question being asked. If they are unable to silence people through threats, intimidation, abuse as anti-nationals, jailing or lathi charge then they are ready to silence with bullets and those bullets pass through the hearts of many people. Gauri Lankesh stands among us today in spite of the fact that those bullets claimed her life. She has been killed, but all of us have kept up the momentum in Karnataka to demand the government to do its duty to investigate the murder of Gauri Lankesh. Bullets can’t silence Gauri Lankesh’s voice rather a lot of people who otherwise may not have read about Gauri Lankesh or her views, today they are picking up and reading her write-ups. We don’t know who killed Gauri Lankesh but we can see who is celebrating Gauri Lankesh’s death and it is clear.”
Kavitha Krishnan further said, “Those who killed Kalburgi are not arrested, some have been arrested but later released on bail. Those who killed Narendra Dabolkar and Govind Pansare have not been punished, this has led to silence the voice of the voiceless. After Gauri Lankesh’s murder, the language in which she was attacked. Viral messages in the social media trying to say that Gauri Lankesh was a woman of bad character. When a woman questions the BJP or RSS, such women are targetted and tagged as a bad character.”
Kavitha Krishnan also said, “In Banaras Hindu University the students demanded safety and equality in the campus but the authorities called the police who resorted to lathi charge on the girl students. Our youth should not give an opportunity to such incidents. The Petrol and Diesel price in the international market is very less but in our country, the price of petrol has increased. There is a decrease in the creation of jobs and people are facing a financial crisis because of the demonetisation. The government is trying to rule the country by dividing people. The government is highlighting the issues between Hindus and Muslims and sometimes Christians too have been targetted. In such a situation, we need to fill the place of Gauri Lankesh, Pansare, Kalburgi and Dabolakar. When we are all united, bullets will not bring fear. The news instigating violence against people is not called journalism. Journalists are those who bring out the truth and become the voice of the voiceless”.
Dr Vasu, Dr Olinda Pereira, Vidya Dinker and others were also present. As a mark of freedom and fraternity, students released the sky lanterns in the air.