People Who Claim Maoists Killed Gauri Lankesh Have Little Understanding About Naxal Movement: Sister Kavitha

Rubbishing the allegations that Maoists could have killed senior journalist Gauri Lankesh, her younger sister Kavitha Lankesh has said those people have “very little understanding about the Naxal movement”.

Kavitha, a film-maker, told The Asian Age in an interview that Gauri was a liberal leftist, but soft-spoken just like their father, P Lankesh, and not aggressive on public platforms.  

“I highly doubt the role of Naxals in Gauri’s murder because a Naxalite has never come out and killed anyone in the city. Many Naxals who came into the mainstream after giving up weapons did not send her hate mails or calls. For us, whoever killed her and whoever is behind the murder must be nailed… Naxalites are not terrorists and those who are suggesting that Naxalites could have harmed Gauri, they have very little understanding of the Naxal movement,” he said in the interview.

Interestingly, Gauri's bother Indrajit Lankesh told recently NDTV that the outspoken journalist had received hate messages from Naxals, citing updates on the murder investigation that he has received from the police.

Kavitha also claimed that elder sister had no personal rivalry. She alleged that because of her ideology, a small number of people were virulently against her, who misuse social media to attack people with an independent thought or a different ideology.

Kavitha, however, said Gauri had informed her just two days before the murder that somebody was stalking her, and somebody was suspiciously hanging around her house. “Perhaps she did not suspect that this man could be connected to some organisation or a group waiting to harm her, and we too did not connect," Kavitha told The Asian Age.

The 55-year-old Left-leaning journalist, a fierce critic of Hindutva politics, was shot dead on the doorstep of her house while she was returning from her office on September 5.

Her killing was condemned from various quarters. The state government has formed a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the case.