Gauri Lankesh
Gauri Lankesh (29 January 1962 – 5 September 2017) was an Indian journalist-turned-activist from Bangalore, Karnataka. She worked as an editor in Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly started by her father P. Lankesh and ran her own weekly called Gauri Lankesh Patrike. Gauri was known for being a critic of right-wing Hindu extremism. She was honored with Anna Politkovskaya Award for speaking against right-wing Hindu extremism, campaigning for women’s rights and opposing caste-based discrimination. In 2012, while participating in a protest demanding a ban on communal groups in Mangalore, she stated that Hinduism was not a religion but a “system of hierarchy in society” in which “women are treated as second-class creatures”. She endorsed a minority religion tag for the Lingayat community and headed the Komu Souharda Vedike, a communal harmony platform for the oppressed communities. She was also of the view that the followers of philosopher Basavanna were not Hindus. She was shot to death by unknown assailants outside her home in Rajarajeshwari Nagar on 5 September 2017.
