CPI(M) condemns senior journalist Gauri Lankesh's killing, attacks RSS, BJP

CPI (M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechuri addresses gathering during a protest against the killing of journalist Gauri Lankesh, at the Press Club of India in New Delhi on Wednesday. PTI

The CPI(M) today condemned senior journalist Gauri Lankesh's killing, which it alleged, fits into the "familiar pattern" of eliminating voices that dare to speak against "climate of intolerance" created by the RSS and BJP.

The Left party also demanded that the Karnataka government identify and arrest the culprits behind the murder. "The Politburo strongly condemns the cold-blooded murder.... This killing, fits into a by now familiar pattern of eliminating voices that dare to speak out against the current climate of hate and intolerance by the RSS/BJP," the CPI(M) said in a statement.

The party said it was one in the series of murders of rationalists Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare and MM Kalburgi and claimed the four killings are "interconnected".

"All of them were vociferous in their opposition to superstition, obscurantism and the perpetuation of the communal agenda by the rightwing Hindutva forces," it said.

The party also called for protesting the "heinous" murder and the alleged growing intolerance and hatred in the country.

Lankesh, an outspoken critic of Hindutva politics, was shot dead by unidentified assailants at the entrance of her residence in Raj Rajeshwari Nagar in Bengaluru yesterday. She edited Kannada tabloid Gauri Lankesh Patrike.