Bengaluru, Jan 29 (PTI): Calling journalist Gauri Lankesh a victim of hate crime, members of civil society on Saturday expressed concern over the alleged rise in incidents of such crimes. At a webinar organised by the Gauri Memorial Trust (GMT) and Citizens for Justice and Peace (CJP) to recall the life and courage of Gauri Lankesh on her 60th birth anniversary, the topic discussed was "Hate as a State Project."
"If Gauri were alive, she would have been 60 today. She was a victim of hate," journalist and secretary of the CJP Teesta Setalvad said.
She said hate against the minorities and the downtrodden has grown in the past few years and she termed it as genocidal pyramid.
"Hate is today a State project in the country where the political formation in power, its vigilante organisations and brown shirts are mentally and physically armed through hate propaganda to harm the minorities, women and Dalits," she said.
During a panel discussion moderated by author and journalist Saba Naqvi, activist Safoora Zargar rued the use of vulgar language online allegedly by the right-wing.
"It is not online trolling but normalising things which come under the hate crime. Threats of rape, calling of names and sharing of indecent pictures are done," Zargar alleged.
Radio jockey Sayema Rahman, law student Noor Mahvish and journalist Ismat Ara too participated in the discussion.
Gauri Lankesh, the Left-leaning journalist, was shot dead here by an alleged fringe group in 2017.
