A true crime book that follows the investigation into Gauri Lankesh’s death, and is equally an inquiry into her life and the social and political background it played out in.
National, January 13, 2025: Context, an imprint of Westland Books, today announced the Indian release of I Am on the Hitlist: Murder and Myth-Making in South India by Rollo Romig. This gripping investigative work delves into the tragic assassination of journalist Gauri Lankesh and its profound implications for democracy, free speech, and journalism in contemporary India.
In I Am on the Hitlist, Romig meticulously reconstructs the events leading up to the shocking murder of Gauri Lankesh, an outspoken journalist who became a symbol of resistance against fascism. The book not only chronicles the chilling details of her assassination but also examines the sociopolitical currents that enabled such a crime and its impact on India’s democracy and press freedom.
The book has been praised internationally for its bold storytelling and incisive commentary, making it a must-read for those invested in issues of press freedom, justice, and the fight against authoritarianism.
Ajitha G.S., Publisher, Context, and Rollo’s editor said, “Rollo achieves so much with this extraordinary book: it’s a murder investigation that’s also an enquiry into the state of India; it’s a book about the life and death of Gauri Lankesh but equally about her murderers and the system that created and enabled them; in its enquiry of two other unconnected murders—surprisingly relevant detours—it is also a meditation on death and culpability; and in all this it doesn’t lose sight of Gauri and of other human rights defenders that are on the frontlines in the fight to save India’s democracy. It’s such an important book and an absolute page-turner.”
Speaking about his book, author Rollo Romig, said, “This book is a tribute to the India I love, and to those Indians who are defending it from the forces that want to narrow it into something rigid and homogenous and cruel. It’s also a celebration of one extraordinary and delightfully complicated Indian, Gauri Lankesh. To me the book’s central mystery is not who murdered Gauri but the question of how she managed to live so fully and touch so many different kinds of people. It’s a book about how to live a life, and writing it forever changed the way I live mine.”
Released today on 13th January 2025, I Am on the Hitlist: Murder and Myth-Making in South India is available in major bookstores and online platforms across India.
Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)
