It has been three days since Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence in Bengaluru and the outrage is showing no signs of subsiding. Instead, the murder of the senior journalist has now snowballed into a massive political debate even roping in the Prime Minister himself.  

In the aftermath of the killing, several people have now taken to blocking Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Twitter, with the hashtag #BlockNarendraModi, which is trending.

The hashtag is being used by Twitter users as a way to protest against the abusive trolls who are actually justifying her murder.

The reason for the sudden spurt of hate towards the Prime Minister is due to him allegedly following certain trolls on Twitter, who have been on a tirade on how Lankesh deserved to die.

The late journalist was noted for being extremely vocal about her views on secularism and was an outright Hindutva critic, leading to an alarming number of people spewing venom post her death.

© Twitter

Just moments after her death, Nikhil Dadhich, one of the several abusive trolls, allegedly tweeted, “Ek kuttiya kutte ki maut kya mari, saare pille ek sur mein bilbila rahe hain.”

However, that tweet is no longer available.

In his defence, Nikhil claimed that he did not specifically mention Lankesh's name anywhere in the tweet and that people were conspiring against him since he was being followed by PM Modi.

This was the tweet because he now deleted it. pic.twitter.com/CzAUsUQZne

— K (@slow_uptake)September 6,2017

This kind of trolling obviously didn't sit well with many who then lashed out at PM Modi for following the abusive trolls, stating that anyone following the “filthy trolls” could never be their Prime Minister.

If our respected prime minister follow such idiots it's better to block PM also #BlockNarendraModi

— पà¥à¤°à¥à¤°à¤£à¤¾ (@Iam_Prerna) September 7, 2017

#BlockNarendraModi until he blocks hatred and the hate mongers, trolls and trouble makres, the cow vigilantes and the moral brigades pic.twitter.com/bfpD3lru8f

— #iStandWithFarmers (@suresh_ediga) September 6, 2017

I too can't follow someone who inspires filthy abusive trolls to threaten & harm dissent voices #BlockNarendraModi pic.twitter.com/Lquj8Hih2N

— Sahil Prasad(@laxmi407) September 6,2017

#BlockNarendraModi
A Person Who Follows & Encourages
Abusers, Hate Spewers & Bigots Who Celebrate Human Deaths
Deserves to be Blocked pic.twitter.com/aPgJiSnbna

— Geet Varun(@geetv79) September 6,2017

#BlockNarendraModi
Anyone who follows vile, vicious abusive trolls isnt & will never be my PM pic.twitter.com/oUoz4l7dmH

— SANDIPAN MITRA(@SANDIPANMITRA6) September 6,2017

However, some people didn't think blocking was the correct approach.

Sorry, won't #BlockNarendraModi.
< br>Will raise my voice and make sure that he listens to it.

— Ankit Lal (@AnkitLal) September 7,2017

How Childish It Is To Block

#BlockNarendraModi On Twitter & Celebrate It Like A Victory?Well,Can't Expect Better From Rahul GandhiFollowers

— Sir Ravindra Jadeja (@SirJadeja) September 7,2017

Don't agree with people who #BlockNarendraModi.

Blocking just signals the end of dialogue. Criticise him but don't block.

— Meghnad

��‍�� �� (@Memeghnad) September 7,2017

Twitter is a great platform to raise your voice and to get your point across, ergo blocking may be a bold move, but it surely is not the way to put across a point. If PM Modi can't even see what you're trying to tell him, then what sense does it make?

But maybe it is about time the Prime Minister clears the air surrounding the disturbing developments.