NEW DELHI: Congress on Monday condemned the felicitation of two men accused of murdering journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2017. Sharing the video where the accused, out on bail, were being offered saffron cloth and garlanded, the grand old party said, “Saffron represents courage and sacrifice, not crime and cowardice. Right wing is destroying Hinduism piece by piece.”
“Gauri Lankesh’s murderers, cowards who shot a lady and ran away, are garlanded with Saffron clothes,” Congress Kerala said in a post on X.
Sri Ram Sene leaders Umesh Vandal and Neelakanth Kandagal honored Parashuram Waghmore and Manohar Yadawe following their release on Friday, just two days after they were granted bail.
“They were not involved in the murder, but they were kept behind bars for seven years. Congress govt often targets Hindu workers. We welcomed Waghmore and Yadawe to extend moral support to them,” said Sri Ram Sene.
Gauri Lankesh was murdered on the night of September 5, 2017, by two men on a motorcycle outside her home in RR Nagar, west Bengaluru. The police launched a case under various laws, including the Indian Penal Code, the Indian Arms Act, and the Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act.
Eventually, a special investigation team set up by the state government identified 18 suspects, including the alleged mastermind Amol Kale, shooter Parashuram Waghmare, and Ganesh Miskin, who was riding the motorcycle during the incident.