Two days after the murder of Gauri Lankesh, her friend and among her staunchest supporters, Kannada writer and progressive activist Yogesh Master observed a man stop his car, take a picture and then speed away. “Later that night [on Thursday], a man on a bike followed me suspiciously for some time. I have lived in fear for some time now but it is definitely heightened after Gauri was shot,” says Mr. Yogesh.
After the murder of scholar M.M. Kalburgi in 2015, a gunman was assigned to him (incidentally, at the insistence of Lankesh). Now, police protection is back.
Mr. Yogesh is among 18 writers, rationalists and activists who have been provided mandatory police protection — a clear indication of the prevailing threat perception against the ‘progressive’ forces.
The writer is, however, no stranger to controversy, threats and assault, which began with the publication of his book Dundhi in 2013. The book “offended” right-wing groups for its portrayal of Ganesha and he was briefly arrested for insulting religious beliefs. Protests have followed him since, and earlier in March this year, during a programme commemorating Lankesh’s father in Davangere, a group of men smeared his face with black oil.
While he says his activism has not been blunted, his reputation as a “controversial” writer has come at a cost. Theatre and writing workshops that were his livelihood have dried up over the past two years.
“People have stopped inviting me as I am considered too risky. Organisers have to inform the police, and protection has to be provided in case of protests. Who would want such a headache,” he asked.
Up the hitlist
In distant Mangaluru, the same thread of threats and slain friends bind Yogesh to rationalist Narendra Nayak, who now has two bodyguards working in shifts. “I was number 7 in one of the so-called hitlists, but now I guess I have been promoted one spot,” said the feisty activist with characteristic black humour.
In over three-decades of anti-superstition and myth busting, the 66-year-old president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations has notched up an impressive list of enemies including Hindutva organisations, maths and religious institutions.
In 2016, he filed a police complaint after he received death threats online; earlier this year, he received additional police protection after he complained of two men following him.
Despite growing pressure from family and visible signs of threats, the rationalist says he knows no other way but to fight till the end. “After Gauri’s death, I have been getting calls asking me to shift abroad temporarily. But why should I run away when there is much wrong to fix in my society here?” said Mr. Nayak.
Increased vigilance
Above Mr. Nayak on the same “hitlist” is K.S. Bhagawan, a writer who has courted controversy for over three decades, but came under intense attack after his speech in 2015 reportedly denigrated Hindu texts. After Professor Kalburgi’s death, online posts proclaimed the Mysuru-based writer as the next target. Two gunmen now accompany him on all his trips and after Lankesh’s murder, two more check on him every few hours.
While the prevailing atmosphere continues to be tense and polarised, Mr. Bhagawan remained optimistic about their role in the counter-narrative. “My books are selling well now, and I am getting more programme invitations. There is still a sizeable section, particularly youth, who want new ideas supported by scientific evidence,” he said.
In Southern Maharasthra, the cloud of fear that set after the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabolkar in 2013 and Govind Pansare in 2015 is yet to lift.
Bharat Patankar, a 68-year-old activist from the leftist Shramik Mukti Dal which works with farmers in Maharashtra, knows that no threat can be ignored. While he has refused police protection, continued threats have seen one gunman posted at his side.
His work on eliminating caste and uniting oppressed groups like Muslims and Dalits, he says, has angered the Hindu extremist organisation Sanatan Sanstha, whose members were arrested for the murders of the two rationalists. On the day of Mr. Pansare’s murder, a copy of the Sanatan Prabhat, the Sanstha’s mouthpiece, landed at Mr. Patankar’s house. “Only my name and name of village was written. Wasn’t it a clear threat,” he asked.
(Inputs from Alok Deshpande in Maharashtra and K.C. Deepika in Bengaluru)
Critics have raised questions on the safety of writers and journalists against after the killing of senior Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru on Tuesday. Lankesh called herself an ‘activist-journalist’ and was an outspoken critic of right-wing Hindutva politics.
Lankesh’s death is being counted as the latest in a string of murders of ‘rationalist’ writers, including MM Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar.
Here’s a list of some of the writers and journalists killed in recent years:
MM Kalburgi
The 77-year-old outspoken rationalist was killed in a manner similar to Lankesh. He fell to the bullets of two unidentified men at his residence in Dharwad, Karnataka in September 2015. The incident sent shock waves across the Kannada literary world and elsewhere in Karnataka.
Govind Pansare
Leftist leader and a prominent activist and rationalist, Govind Pansare was shot dead by two unidentified persons in February 2014 when he was returning home from his morning walk in Kolhapur. He died in Mumbai on February 20. Sanatan Sanstha activist Samir Gaikwad was arrested in connection with the murder, and later granted bail.
Narendra Dabholkar
On August 20, 2013, Dabholkar, a prominent anti-superstition crusader, was allegedly gunned down by two bike-borne men during his morning walk in Pune.
According to a CBI charge sheet filed in September last year, Akolkar and Pawar, two members of the right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha, gunned down the rationalist. In June 2014, the case was handed over to the CBI after the Pune police failed to make any headway.
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