Family members of journalist and activist Gauri Lankesh appear to be in disagreement over whether a tabloid, which her friends are attempting to launch in her memory, should use her name.
On Friday, Gauri Lankesh’s mother Indira Lankesh procured an injunction order restraining anybody from using her name for a paper.
A day later, however, her sister Kavitha Lankesh, not only opposed the injunction by her mother, but also openly supported the proposed tabloid.
“The family should not intervene and try to appropriate the legacy of Gauri,” she told The Hindu. This comes in the wake of a group of activists and friends of Gauri Lankesh working towards ensuring that her death was not in vain by starting a tabloid, Namma Gauri, and forming a trust that will institute an award for journalists.
Ms. Indira Lankesh told The Hindu that while she had no objections to the trust, her injunction was for naming the paper after Gauri Lankesh, with any prefix or suffix to the word.
“My daughter ran the paper for 17 years with utmost commitment and honesty. I don’t want my daughter’s name to be misused by anybody whom we can’t trust not to deviate from her path,” she said.
However, Ms. Kavitha Lankesh struck a dissenting note.
“We cannot dictate what others can or cannot do to memorialise Gauri. I completely support the work of the proposed trust and the paper Namma Gauri they want to launch. These people, whom Gauri trusted and worked with, are also part of her family. I was not contested on the injunction by my mother and I oppose such a move,” she said.
“Not speaking out is like siding with her killers,” she said, adding that the family had no monopoly over her legacy.
Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outsider her residence in Bengaluru on September 5.