Following the murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru on 5th September, her brother yesterday told media that she had been receiving threats from Naxalites for trying to convert Naxalites and bring them mainstream.
https://twitter.com/republic/status/905456555402735621
But that was few hours too late. The narrative had been build that the BJP/RSS has been behind the murder because Lankesh frequently wrote against Hindutva and was a trenchant critic of the right wing politics. Pretty soon, left wing trolls started their attack on her brother because his statement didn’t fit into the agenda.
https://twitter.com/sanjayuvacha/status/905638578624933888
Sanjay Hegde, senior advocate at the Supreme Court who has also been an advocate-on-record for the Karnataka Government, also referred to Indrajit Lankesh as “useless relative”.
https://twitter.com/sanjayuvacha/status/905640188877070336
When someone questioned what does he mean by “useless relative”, he explained,
https://twitter.com/sanjayuvacha/status/905676438082224128
He also got ridiculed for the same.
https://twitter.com/ramprasad_c/status/905664468234911744
But then, Hegde wasn’t alone (obviously)!
Newslaundry journalist Akash Banerjee was also quick to point out that Gauri’s brother is trying to misdirect the “narrative”.
https://twitter.com/indiantweeter/status/905654747922784256
Who also got called out, rightly so.
https://twitter.com/Being_Humor/status/905662685055815681
https://twitter.com/rajudasonline/status/905664598489022464
But then perhaps it was acceptance of the fact that a narrative is being built.
https://twitter.com/theFirstHandle/status/905672179139805186
And then abusive troll Swati Chaturvedi even made her brother a BJP member.
https://twitter.com/bainjal/status/905673910321987585
A claim which he has already denied.
But since Swati says it, it has to be the gospel truth.
https://twitter.com/atti_cus/status/905674648922112000
What is shocking about the narrative that is brought forward is that all of these have decided who were the conspirators behind Gauri Lankesh’s murder and if anyone has any contrary opinion, like her own brother, he is painted as a BJP member already. And what if evidence points to other things, like, Gauri’s friend claiming she was investigating Karnataka politicians and industrialists for alleged corruption? Will they still blame the BJP/RSS or accept the truth?
What if the truth is far different than what is being perceived?
https://twitter.com/ANI/status/905712888299503616
Why isn’t anyone rooting for a fair probe? Why jump the guns and go for trial by media to suit the narrative? It is really unfortunate that her murder is being used to score political brownie points instead of seeking justice for the slain journalist.