Ram Sene chief Pramod Muthalik compares Gauri Lankesh with dog

Pramod Muthalik, chief of right-wing outfit Sri Ram Sene, likened slain Bengaluru journalist Gauri Lankesh to a dog while addressing an audience on Monday.

Hitting back at the critics who questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the murder of the veteran journalist, Muthalik was quoted by ANI as saying, “Two murders took place in Karnataka and two in Maharashtra in Congress rule. No one questioned Congress government’s failure. Instead, they are asking why PM Modi is silent and not speaking on Gauri Lankesh’s death. Is Modi responsible even if any dog dies in Karnataka?”

Muthalik later defended his statement saying he did not directly compare Gauri Lankesh to a dog and was instead making the point that Prime Minister Modi cannot possibly comment on every death in Karnataka.

Congress National Spokesperson Manish Tewari reacted to Muthalik’s statement on Twitter as “disgusting, nauseating and revolting”.

Disgusting,nauseating, revolting...vigilante group Sri Ram Sene’s Head Pramod Muthalik compares assassinated journalist Gauri Lankesh to a dog. Mr Prime Minister @narendramodi you did not condemn Gauri Lankesh’s murder are you now going to condone this too https://t.co/V3do2n5wIv

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) June 18, 2018

Recently, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) which was set up to investigate Lankesh’s murder, had summoned Sri Ram Sene’s Vijaypura district president Rakesh Math for questioning. This decision was made after suspected shooter Parashuram Waghmare was confirmed to be an active member of the Sri Ram Sene and was being interrogated for links with Lankesh’s murder.

Waghmare had reportedly confessed to killing Lankesh in order to “save his religion” and was arrested from Karnataka’s Vijaypura district a few days ago.

Veteran journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead by two unidentified bike-borne assailants outside her house in Bengaluru on September 5, 2017.