The brutal killing of a vocal woman journalist, Gauri Lankesh, shocked India on Tuesday. Seven bullets were fired at her from close range; she took four and collapsed outside her home in Bengaluru. Publisher of a magazine, she was a strong critic of right-wing ideology and well-known in her home state of Karnataka and beyond.

The murder of the 55-year-old has come against the backdrop of similar attacks on voices of dissent — both online and in real life. Noted academic M.M. Kalburgi, also from Karnataka, was gunned down in similar circumstances: Killed by two youths at his home in August 2015. Kalburgi was also an outspoken critic of right-wing ideology. Before his murder, two other rationalists — Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare — were killed in Maharashtra. Officials investigating Lankesh’s murder see a pattern in these killings. Voices of dissent — rationalists, writers and journalists — are openly abused and threatened on social media regularly. These attackers, at least on social media, make no attempt to hide their identities. For example in Lankesh’s case, individuals linked with right-wing Hindutva (Hindu nationalist) forces had openly abused the slain journalist on twitter.

 
While Lankesh’s murder took place in Karnataka, a southern state ruled by Congress, the India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cannot evade responsibility. Since the BJP came power in 2014, intolerance has grown in every sphere of life — education, social media and even political discourse. At least one person who has abused Lankesh is followed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter. The ruling party must understand that voices of dissent are a critical part of a vibrant democracy. Without them, democracy will not survive.