‘Lawyers Collective’ Pays Tribute To Gauri Lankesh, Pledges To Defend Rule Of Law

Lawyers Collective (LC), an NGO fighting for issues such as human rights, has condemned the "cowardly murder" of Gauri Lankesh, the editor of Gauri Lankesh Patrike, while pledging to continue to defend rule of law and support rational voices.

Indira Jaising's LC remembered Gauri as "an active voice of dissent against the obscurantist policies of the State". 

The NGO said, "We stand united for the freedom to resist, in a regime where speaking out runs the risk of being killed."

Gauri was murdered right outside her house in Bangalore on September 5 when some unidentified men shot her multiple times.

In a tribute to Gauri, LC trustees, including Jaising and spouse Anand Grover, called for "a united stand of all champions of free speech".

Terming the post- murder scenario a "time of shock and tribulation", it pledged, "When they try to silence us, we must speak out louder."

LC also recollected similar instances where rational voices were silenced with murder by unidentified men.

"The murder of Gauri Lankesh cannot be understood in isolation, since it is indicative of a larger pattern of silencing voices of rationalism which were seen with the murders of Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi who were all active crusaders of free speech. These murders were all by "unidentified" persons and the cases still remain unsolved. 

"These murders, which bear a striking similarly of purpose of silencing the rationalist voices, have resulted in nationwide protests among a community of people who still believe in the idea of democracy. This was an attack on the very ideas that are enshrined in our Constitution. By protesting and speaking up we are ensuring that we as a community of citizens have the freedom to speak out and dissent."

In support and solidarity with Gauri, LC pledged to "defend the rule of law and condemn the use of violence to silence rational voices".