Panaji: Media organisations, political parties and civil society groups in Goa on Wednesday expressed deep outrage over the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh and demanded that the Karnataka government nab the culprits immediately.
The Goa Union of Journalists (GUJ), an association of working journalists in the State, held a public meeting at Azad Maidan in the city, where journalists and civil society members paid tribute to the journalist.
GUJ secretary Gerard D’souza said in a press release, “The GUJ believes that the murder, and the manner in which it has been carried out, is a deliberate attempt to silence journalists and others who have been speaking up, questioning dominant narratives, and [shining] an uncomfortable light on the activities of fundamentalists, extremists and others who question the freedoms we all espouse.”
The GUJ demanded that the authorities act swiftly and arrest the culprits.
The Communist Party of India (CPI) Goa State Council suspected the murder to be an act of right-wing intimidation. “Though, the assailants are unidentified, the murder falls in the pattern that establishes links with the assassination of rationalist and thinkers Narendra Dabholkar, M.M. Kalburgi and Govind Pansare,” said Christopher Fonseca, general secretary of CPI, Goa, in a statement.
