Gauri Lankesh murder: Priyanka Chopra wants guilty to be punished soon, urges for press freedom

The gruesome murder of senior journalist Gauri Lankesh jolted the nation earlier this week. Days after the incident, reactions condemning the incident have been flooding the social media.

A number of Hindi film artistes have also expressed anger on social media over Gauri's killing and highlighted the dangerous times we live in.

Instead of a tweet in solidarity, Priyanka Chopra wrote an article on social network LinkedIN, in which she has given her detailed take on the matter. 

The actress expressed her sadness as how Gauri's positive qualities cost her her life. “Outspoken and unconventional are two words often used when talking of this brave scribe. But it is one of her strongest beliefs, the freedom of the press for which she possibly lost her life,” she said in the post. 

Gauri had been a strong critic of the Ring Wing political ideology. There is speculation that this could have been the reason she was targeted. But Chopra  feels that the clash of ideologies shouldn’t lead to murder. “There is talk of Gauri being a critic of the Right. Be it as it were, all I want to ask is, does this battle of the Right and Left need to be inhuman?” she added. 

Chopra also gravely expressed the need for freedom of press 70 years after Independence. “Let us now to turn to ask ourselves, how important is this #FreedomOfPress to a 70-year-old democracy? It is critical. Dissent, debate and critique are essential to a healthy democracy and #FreedomOfPress forms one of the bedrocks of a functioning democracy. Protecting that press is imperative, so that they can express and critique freely,” she said.

The Baywatch actress concluded by highlighting how justice delayed is justice denied. “Speed in seeking justice is imperative, so that the guilty is punished and society is reassured that law and order prevails. Till then, to quote our brave scribe: ‘I will do what I can and say what I should,’” said Chopra.