Pen is mightier than the sword but when the sword is used to silent a voice of courage, it is the murder of democracy. The death of Gauri Lankesh, an independent and brave liberal woman who was an fearless journalist at the hands of cowards who could not digest her writings comes as a shock. Slain journalist was given a gun-salute at her funeral by the govt in power in Karnataka but what good is such an honour when people who dare to speak cannot be protected?
Many journalists have been silenced in the past for speaking the truth which in all fairness is the job of an honest journalist. Media is the watchdog of the society and people who are responsible for bringing facts to the people should not be allowed to become victims for speaking their mind. Government at the Centre should order a high level enquiry into the disturbing episode and those responsible should be punished for their guilt! Prime Minister Narendra Modi who himself became PM when he won the historic elections in 2014 with wide coverage he received at the hands of the media should look into the safety of journalists so that such incidents don’t happen at regular intervals in our country!
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
