Bullets thrust into your body for speaking your mind. Yes,
Gauri Lankesh was a journalist and an activist with sturdy dogmatic outlooks.
But is murder the latest norm for dealing with anyone with resilient views? For
dealing with anyone you demur against? And is it the new norm to make merry of
the murder on Social Media? Rather than showing the outrage towards her death,
some narrow-minded people have been just spit-spatting in abusive language
against the brave lady. Gauri Lankesh did write watchwords, shout slogans and
speak out. But she never fired a bullet at anyone for disagreeing with her. She
was just using her Freedom of Expression which no longer is a freedom here. She
neither threw ink at someone nor a shoe. But she got her ultimate riposte in
bullets.
So are bullets the
new custom? Team up every journalist, every activist you have a problem with,
call in a firing squad and get rid of all of them at once? This is neither a
transitory hiatus of motive from the part of killers nor a rapid gridlock sort
of ferocious fit. This was just as thought-out as it could be. They knew where
she lived, that she was at home and would be alone. They came equipped with loaded
guns. They were aware that as soon as they ring the doorbell, the lady would
unsuspectingly open the door and thus paving way for them to easily shoot her
dead. They were also certain that the Social Media would rejoice this callous
murder.
A durable sense of
feebleness has ascended in numerous journalists and writers right now. A doubt
if our pens are really mightier than the sword? Are they mightier than the
bullets? But despite all these venomous activities, we still place our faith in
pens and words. We still keep faith in democracy. The faith that no one can
question. The faith that no one can ever murder
