The killing of his friend and journalist Gauri Lankesh changed the world view of multilingual actor Prakash Raj in many ways. In the past year, he has raised many questions on the rising intolerance in the country, which has resulted in his often being trolled. But he continues to ask questions.
In an interview with The Hindu , he said he was worried about the increasing branding of those who question the system under tags such as “Maoist” and “urban-Naxal”. Excerpts:
How has Gauri Lankesh’s killing changed you as an artiste and a person?
It was an attempt at silencing a voice of dissent that was an inspiration to many. Though Gauri’s killing is a personal loss for me, it also signalled a larger threat to the nation. Her murder made me a more liberated, sensitive person, and I have decided to raise my voice at any cost. This is how one has to retaliate and firmly tell those who killed Gauri: “You cannot silence a voice. If you do so, many more voices will emerge and get stronger.” It has been a new birth for Prakash Raj. I am not the same person. Everything around me has changed.
What do her assassination and the developments that have followed indicate about us as a society?
Gauri’s assassination has opened a Pandora’s box. It shows that the proponents of Hindu nationalism are more emboldened than ever before. Look at what the investigations into the murders of Dabholkar, Pansare, Kalburgi and Gauri point to — a plot of a right-wing fanatic organisation. They seem to know they will get away. It is sad that social media is helping them to a great extent. They have started brainwashing youngsters and preparing lists of people to attack. The situation is akin to the Emergency of the 1970s. These forces change their narrative by calling dissenters “anti-national,” “anti-Hindu,” ‘urban Naxal” and so on. I am pained, disturbed and angered by all this.
You have candidly expressed your views. What has the response been like?
As expected, they are trolling me. But, I am getting a thousand positive responses for each comment by a troll. Right-wing forces have left no stone unturned to silence me, including cancelling advertisements I was doing. But they cannot stop me from speaking the truth. I am rich enough to lose them and not be intimidated.
