(AP photo)BENGALURU, India -- Indian journalists and rights activists protested on Wednesday against the murder of an outspoken publisher of a weekly tabloid amid growing concerns about freedom of the press at a time of rising nationalism and intolerance of dissent. Gauri Lankesh, 55, the editor and publisher of the Kannada-language “Gauri Lankesh Patrike” newspaper, was shot dead on Tuesday by unidentified assailants near her home in the southern city of Bengaluru. They said she was a critical, secular voice at a time when the country was being swept by a wave of right-wing, Hindu nationalism. People, including BJP members, have also openly insulted journalists, using terms like "presstitute" - a combination press and prostitute - to berate them. "This is an attempt to silence all of us -- all of those who believe in democracy and decency," Ramchandra Guha, a historian told the Indian Express newspaper.

Source: Bangkok Post September 06, 2017 11:15 UTC