Mysore/Mysuru: Rural students who suffered from inferiority complex  looked up to Writer and Journalist Lankesh as their ‘Guru’, said senior Journalist Dinesh Amin Mattu and added that it was Lankesh who gave a new dimension to Kannada language.

He was speaking at ‘Lankesh Nenapu’, a programme in memory of Writer-Journalist Lankesh organised by Mysuru Geleyara Balaga at Maneyangala in Kalamandira premises here on Sunday.

Noting that Lankesh was accepted by many as their Guru, Mattu said that with the advent of social media, the concept of ‘Guru’ is on the decline. 

Pointing out the ongoing debate on whether ‘Lankesh Patrike’ founded by Lankesh inspired movements or the movements themselves created the weekly tabloid, Mattu said that ‘Lankesh Patrike’ was the answer to many of our confusions and uncertainties.

Asserting that Lankesh was the inspiration for many Muslim women to become writers, he recalled the expertise of Lankesh in suitably responding to social and political issues of his time. Lankesh’s work, Kanmareyaada Gramagalu helped me understand society much better, Mattu said.

‘The re-election of disqualified legislators in the recent by-polls has made me wonder where democracy stands today,’ Mattu said. Advising  people not to limit Lankesh’s remembrance to just one day, he stressed on the need for a continuous reading of Lankesh’s works, which are thought-provoking.

Senior writer Devanur Mahadeva, Senior Journalist Krishnaprasad, Writers Chinnaswamy Vaddagere, T.S. Goravara, Hema Venkat and Smitha Makalli and Roopa Prakashana’s U.S. Mahesh were present.