Deadly cow love,bullets against dissent,crashed economy are Centre’s feats

Mangaluru: “The union government is unhappy with any question or voice of dissent. And if they are unable to silence dissent through threats, intimidation, abusive language they will brand the opposition as anti-national. And then its last resort is the gun”, said Kavitha Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association.

She was addressing a gathering at “Freedom and Fraternity March” organised by various like-minded organisations in Nehru Maidan here on September 28.

Citing that when killers of Narendra Dabolkar, Govind Pansare and M M Kalburgi were still at large, another bold voice was silenced, Kavitha Krishnan demanded that the Karnataka government should do its duty by identifying the killers of Gauri Lankesh, punish them and expose them to whole world.

“It is true the that bullets cannot silence the voice but we should be also clear about what they are trying to do. We don’t know who killed Gauri Lankesh but it is very clear who is celebrating this murder. Journalists are threatened in social media. And it is also very clear that it is happening even from Twitter handles that are followed by the prime minister.”

She also pointed out that any woman who stands up to speak against or question BJP and RSS, she is branded a bad woman.

“We should not call an entity or organisation ‘media’ that instigates violence against the dissenting voice. Real journalists are like Gauri Lankesh who try to bring truth before the people. It is not journalism when the television is used to name some individuals who are questioning the government as anti-nationals and brand them as sympathisers of terrorist organisations. This is purely instigating murder or assassination. This what we are seeing in our country today”, she said.

“All this is happening at a time when all the promises that government has made are a complete failure. Ironically, price of fuel is rising in India when it is dipping in international market. Growth in job opportunities has hit an all time low. Capitalisation, GST have rendered a deadly blow to the economy. And ordinary people are suffering. What is the response of the government? Those running the government are using divisive politics by pitting Hindu and Muslim against each other, targeting minorities and making issues out of cow and love; misrepresenting Hindu-Muslim love as Jihad. Democracy means respecting the opinion of the minority as well; allowing them to be vocal without the fear of getting lynched”, she added.

She also lauded the students for the slogan stating, “I am Gauri.” “It is an act of courage to say ‘I am Gauri’, the willingness to be her, to stand by her beliefs and acts.”

Activist Dr. H V Vasu also spoke on the occasion.