Bengaluru: Three months after the shocking murder and death of rationalist and renowned Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh, a memorial trust in her name was launched on Monday. The Gauri Memorial Trust will be headed by nonagenarian freedom fighter HS Doreswamy.
The 14-member trust consisting of people from different backgrounds, like, farmers, Dalits, academics, feminists, anti-fascism representatives has vowed to take her legacy forward.
The Gauri Memorial Trust will run the Gauri Lankesh Partike, the newspaper that Gauri ran. The trust will also institute an award in Gauri's name to felicitate the best ethical reporters.
Former Naxalite Noor Shridhar, who Gauri had brought into the mainstream, as well as Shiva Sundar, who was part of the Gauri Lankesh Patirke's editorial board, will be members of the trust. Journalist Teesta Setalvad and the Wire's Siddhartha Vardarajan will also be part of the trust.
A team will look into the working of the newspaper, provide support, hold workshops, seminars and help in promoting her works. It will also conduct orientation programme for young journalists.
Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Siddharth Vardarajan said: "The murders of the rationalists remain unsolved. It is as though they don’t matter. They claim there are no patterns in these murders. The refusal to investigate itself reveals a pattern". He added that if the media is going to hold back because of fear of governments and corporations then that would equate to silencing the voice of the general public.
Ensuring that the newspaper, like the one Gauri Lankesh ran, should see the light of day, Teesta Setalvad, secretary of Citizens for Justice and Peace, questioned the Karnataka government for its inaction in finding the culprits.
"We need to firmly and gently question the Karnataka government. When will Gauri's killers be caught? Who were they and when will they be caught?" she reiterated.
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