BENGALURU: Several individuals and organisations on Wednesday demanded that the state government ban the right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha to which some of the alleged killers of journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh are said to be linked to. They also held a rally to mark the first death anniversary of Gauri, who was killed on September 5, 2017 in front of her house.
Activist Swami Agnivesh, speaking to protesters before the march, blamed organisations promoting Hindutva ideology, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), for Gauri’s death. “Dabholkar, Pansare, Kalburgi and Gauri were all better Hindus. The RSS is imposing a majoritarian Hinduism, but Hindutva is against the spirit of Hinduism. The Hindutva that seeks to define who is a Hindu is behind Gauri’s death,” he said.
Agnivesh said the forces which had killed Gauri were also the forces that killed Mahatma Gandhi. He said lakhs of Gauris had taken birth post her death. Members of the Gauri Memorial Trust, Gauri Lankesh Balaga and other organisations marched from Anand Rao Circle to Raj Bhavan. At Raj Bhavan, they submitted a memorandum at Governor Vajubhai Vala’s office demanding that the government declare Sanatan Sanstha and Hindu Janajagruti Samiti as organisations promoting terror and to ban them.
They also demanded that both the state and central governments investigate the finances and political patronage of the organisations and to take steps to contain hate propaganda in all forms. The memorandum states that post Gauri’s death, members of right-wing organisations had openly threatened liberal intellectuals and activists that they would meet the same fate. “To our dismay, it came to light later that many such social media hooligans were being followed by the Prime Minister of the country,” states the memorandum.
Satish Arvind, a member of Gauri Lankesh Balaga, said, “We’re not personally accusing Modi, but the ideological power behind him that is threatening the country. Protests have been held across the state, and some people like KS Bhagwan who were on Sanatan Sanstha’s hit-list are also part of it.”