NEW DELHI: Condemning the murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, the Indian Writers' Forum today pledged to continue her fight against the "haters of free speech and a plural India".
A statement from the forum described Lankesh, who was killed at her home in Bengaluru yesterday, as a "voice of dissent, a voice of reason" who was "silenced with guns".
"The forum condemns the continued unmaking of India in which writers, artists, scholars, rationalists - and indeed any citizen who exercises her right to speak freely - is no longer safe.
"We will continue to speak on her behalf and ours. They cannot silence us all," the statement read.
It termed the murder of the 55-year-old journalist, known for her left-leaning outlook and forthright views on Hindutva politics, "a chilling continuation" of the series of killings of rationalists, writers, scholars and activists like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and M M Kalburgi.
"None of the murderers has been punished, though much points to the extended right wing family. Instead, the punishment of critic voices continues, as do attacks on Muslims, dalits, adivasis and women - Indian citizens all."
The Forum remembered Lankesh as a person who performed her duties as journalist and a citizen with "uncompromising honesty".
"She was guided by democratic, secular values, that insist on an India in which speaking up against division and hatred is every citizen's right," it said.
Signatories of the statement include Githa Hariharan, K Satchidanandan, Ashok Vajpeyi, Ganesh Devy, Nayantara Sahgal, Keki Daruwalla, Kiran Nagarkar, Shashi Deshpande, romila Thapar, Anuradha Kapur, Indira Jaisingh, Shyam B Menon, Chandrakant Patilk and Adil Jussawalla.