Gauri Lankesh becomes first Indian to win Anna Politkovskaya Award

Late Kannada journalist Gauri Lankesh awarded a prestigious Reach All Women in WAR (RAW in WAR) Anna Politkovskaya Award. She will share this award with Gulalai Ismail, a Pakistani peace activist who has faced death threats for speaking out against Taliban.
With this Gauri Lankesh becomes first person from India to receive this prestigious honour. She was a strident critic of religious extremism and was shot dead on September 5, 2017 in Bengaluru, Karnataka.

Gauri Lankesh

Lankesh had worked as an editor in Lankesh Patrike, a Kannada weekly started by her father P. Lankesh, and ran her own weekly called Gauri Lankesh Patrike. She was an outspoken newspaper editor and often wrote about religious violence, malaise of India’s hierarchical caste system and criticised the rise of hardline Hindu groups.

Anna Politkovskaya Award

Anna Politkovskaya Award is given in memory of slain Russian reporter and political activist Anna Politkovskaya, a Russian investigative reporter and activist who uncovered state corruption and rights abuses, especially in Chechnya. It is presented annually by Reach All Women in War (the RAW in WAR organisation) and honours women human rights defenders from around world. This year marks 11th anniversary of killing of Anna Politkovskaya who was shot dead in lobby of her Moscow apartment block at age of 48 on October 7, 2006. RAW in WAR is a London-based, non-governmental organisation (NGO) supporting women human rights defenders and victims of war.

Month: Current Affairs - October, 2017