Hate crimes against Dalits, minorities on rise: Civil society

Bengaluru: Calling journalist Gauri Lankesh a victim of hate crime, members of the civil society on Saturday expressed concern over the alleged rise in incidents of such crimes.

These views were expressed at a webinar titled ‘Hate as a State Project’ 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.

“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.

Teesta said hate against the minorities and the downtrodden has grown in the past few years and she termed it a 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. — (PTI)