Bengaluru The sixth edition of Bangalore Literature Festival opened in the city on Saturday remembering the slain journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh. Poems written by writers and activists across the country in honour of Gauri Lankesh in the aftermath of her murder, apart from excerpts of her own writings, including editorials, were read out.
The artistic presentation was curated by journalist Ammu Joseph.
Historian Ramachandra Guha came down heavily on criminalisation of dissent in the country. “Today’s jingoistic nationalism believes in one religion, language and language which is perfect. It seeks to treat people of other faiths as second-class citizens. Anybody who criticises is being branded anti-national. Violence and lumpenisation is one of the main traits of jingoistic nationalism, leading to killings of people like Gauri Lankesh, M.M. Kalburgi and others, who refuse to accept this vision,” he said.
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