On the birth anniversary of Gauri Lankesh, supporters and friends protested against increasing extremism in the country.
Friends and supporters of Gauri Lankesh gathered in protest against intolerance and violence on the occasion of her birth anniversary at Town Hall in Bangalore. They appealed to the public to not let this effort go to waste and vote to stand up against the right wing.
“On the occasion of Gauri’s birthday Karnataka activists, civil society and all like-minded friends, let us collectively decide today that in the coming election let us slap the BJP and Sangh with few votes,” said Jignesh Mewani.
The Gauri Memorial Trust has set up a tribunal which is looking into cases registered against students from various universities across the country. The survey shows that there are 725 cases registered against students nationwide.
Umar Khalid, the JNU student activist, said that activists are often forced to be silent or change their subject of concern, or are compelled to leave the country. However, he added, some of the privileged class might have that option but not everyone.
“In this country, a lot of people including the Dalits, Muslims, poor farmers don’t have that option. Because we just have one option, either we continue to be humans or become robots. If we become silent we’ll die daily,” said Umar Khalid.
Kanhaiya Kumar, a student activist from JNU said, “We will break hate; we will break all thoughts that divide the society.”
Criticizing caste slavery and bonded labour, Irom Chanu Sharmila, a civil rights activist who was also present at the event says she is shocked to witness India’s disintegration and ugliness.
