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Gauri Lankesh murder: BJP condemns attack but questions lack of outrage over killing of RSS workers
Union law minister Ravi Shankar attacks Karnataka government, asks why was journalist-activist Gauri Lankesh not provided any security.
The BJP alleged on Friday that the Congress government in Karnataka didn’t provide security to murdered journalist Gauri Lankesh and questioned the apparent lack of outrage over the killing of several RSS workers in Kerala.
Speaking to reporters in Delhi, Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad condemned the murder of the 55-year-old editor and activist, and pointed out that Lankesh was working with Maoists to ensure their surrender.
“Was she doing it with the approval of the state government? Why was she not provided adequate security? Why such a security failure by Karnataka?” he asked.
Lankesh was gunned down by unidentified assailants at her home in Bengaluru on Tuesday night, her murder triggering a wave of protests across India.
But Prasad also questioned what he called the “hypocrisy and double standards of liberals”. “Why are they silent when RSS workers are killed in Kerala? Don’t they have human rights?”
He also criticised Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who had indicated that the RSS and BJP were behind the killing of Lankesh -- a lifelong critic of Hindu right-wing elements.
“I want to ask, if Rahul Gandhi has already declared people guilty, can we expect a fair probe?”
He also hit out at the Karnataka government for the sluggish investigation into the murder of rationalist MM Kalburgi, who was gunned down two years ago.
