Journalists in the line of fire; need to protect them

Journalists in the line of fire; need to protect them

The brutal assault on a Kannada newspaper journalist leading to her exit from this world should be condemned in the strongest terms. Even before we speak about this horrendous assault the incidents of rationalists like Kalburgi, Pansare and Dabholkar felling to bullets in the past primarily shows how fundamentalists with a hate blueprint operate with no fear of the law. No headway has been made in these three incidents and same fate should not visit the assassination of Gauri Lankesh. The shoddy investigation in Kalburgi, Pansare and Dabholkar killing reveals to a great degree the State is not prepared to edge out such threats and such horrific acts would make millions lose faith in the law machinery. A hate campaign has engulfed this nation state for the past three to four years and any attempt to bring sanity has met with no success. 

No words would be enough to convey the sentiments of millions who would swear by what Gauri Lankesh wrote. Million hands would go up to say the freedom we cherish is the freedom we vouch for; anyone holding a leftist view or a view different from right wing agenda can't be subjected to this form of inhumane treatment. Fundamentalists are having a field day. Anyone questioning the right wing agenda or asserting it is high time to bring a course correction to the same is subjected to hate and hatred of unknown nature. It is for these fringe forces and fundamentalists to realise that if they beg to disagree with a point of view they can mirror their thoughts at different platforms rather than taking law into their hands. Each life is important; each task of nation building is sacrosanct; a different point of view does not give licence to fringe elements to take recourse to such horrific acts on a repeated scale. After Kannada journalist felling to the bullets of assassin, these fringe elements belted out threat to a series of journalists overwhelmingly saying they (journalists) can't have their views expressed and diatribe addressed in a nation state where a climate of coercion and least confession is the order of the day. It is for law enforcers to bring sanity to the proceedings by finding out the handle from where these dangerous tweets/facebook posts emerged and work on the same to dissolve these dangerous trends if not done now it can spread wings far and wide. A country where Press is not free, where opinion is not diverse can't boast of credentials of a truly democratic set up.  

The law enforcers have a task on Hand. On woman journalist they have some leads and that should in a way help them to crack the case and bring perpetrators to book. These fundamentalist/fringe elements need to be shown the door and millions would rise to challenge a parallel set up they are running where they are answerable to none and on a continued basis hone their skills to take out life from anyone. These so-called agents of change/fringe elements who want the nation state to thrive on a particular set of ideology have to be shunned at all cost and a beginning made by putting insertions in newspapers and electronic media that this nation is one and belongs to everyone. 

A nation state which is not ruptured and resolutely refuses to toe their line is a nation we are working on not divided by faith, favour and fanaticism. Already three rationalists and a woman journalist have been devoured by a system that fails to check the continued abuse of the law by fanatics and even before this malaise spreads stringent steps need to be set in. In a political theatre where a violent blueprint never ceases to exist, a movieworld where violence is shown on a repeated  scale to mirror the same in the real world is an aberration that has to be set right. The govt of the day has a tough task on hand not only to bring perpetrators of such crimes to book but to spread message of brotherhood through different forums. Involve media and involve the last person on the ladder of progress and spread the sentiment of compassion all around. The authorities need to scale up investigation in this particular incident and spread belief among journalists that their task towards nation building won't be thwarted by fanatics.