Gauri would have invited her killers for tea, says Kavita Lankesh

Bengaluru: The Gauri Lankesh murder conspiracy was ironically nicknamed Operation Amma by her assassins, said Kavita Lankesh, sister of the late journalist cum activist Gauri Lankesh, who was shot dead outside her house on September 5 last year after SIT investigators homed in on Parshuram Waghmare as the man who shot at and killed her sister.

"It’s very sad that they allegedly brainwashed Parshuram (Waghmare) to pull the trigger on my sister and so ironic that Parshuram had to kill amma,” Kavita said, adding that "  Parshuram was the only character in the Vedas to have killed his mother and the parallel is rather grim here. Gauri was not anti Hindu. She was anti any form of extremist ideology. If she was alive and she knew about the hatred that the conspirators had instilled in Waghmare’s mind against her she would, in her quintessential style, have invited him to discuss his anger with her over a cup of coffee. She was a very forgiving person.”
 
Kavita congratulated SIT Karnataka for cracking the “immaculately planned” murder case.

“Gauri’s murder was planned seven to eight months before they got her.  But for the tireless efforts of the SIT, Gauri wouldn’t have got justice. She was against capital punishment and she fought against it,” she added.

 Let the law of the land take its own course but in her spirit we would not want the State to take the life of her assassins. We are thankful that there was no political interference in the investigation and her murder was not made a mud-slinging issue during the Assembly elections," she said.

"Not just us, the SIT has given hope to the families of the late rationalists – Prof Narendra Dabholkar, Comrade Govind Pansare and Prof M.M. Kalburgi, who were shot dead in the same manner as Gauri,” said Kavita.

The Gauri murder case has drawn world attention and all eyes are on the SIT, which has cracked a rather dead end case. “It hurts to read and watch Gauri being branded as anti-Hindu. The other day Sri Rama Sene chief Pramod Muthalik, who takes pride in calling himself a guardian of Hinduism, spoke about her in a very demeaning manner. Is he a true Hindu, I ask? Yes, it hurts to see her name being dragged into controversies but we are happy that right thinking people have not forgotten her. Gauri’s presence is not just in India but also overseas. I am happy that the issue has been kept alive."

" We have no anger against Waghmare. On the contrary, we pity him for being made a victim of hatred," she said.  "The family’s anger is against those, who have spewed venom against her in the garb of being the saviours of Hinduism and Hindutva. Such people should be stopped in their tracks before they trap more Waghmares in their net of hatred and violence. We want a closure for this and our hope lies with the SIT,” added Kavita.

Gauri’s brother and film maker Indrajit also thanked and congratulated the SIT for solving his sister’s murder case and said that her assassins  killed her because they felt threatened by her, and that they should know that Hinduism is what Gandhi preached. “There’s no place for violence and intolerance in Hinduism. Let the perpetrators of hate stop spreading lies in the name of religion. I know Gauri will never return. I miss her dearly. Let my sister rest in peace,” said Indrajit.