Gauri wrote about anantH kumar, niira radia

Cruel hands that snatched Bengaluru’s bold and “free speech” journalist Gauri Lankesh’s life must be caught. That is the wish of every professional media person across the country. This writer had the opportunity to meet Gauri in Bengaluru over lunch twice about a decade ago. I was curious to meet her as she had earlier carried an “explosive” story in 2003 in her Kannada tabloid, Lankesh Patrike. That was Gauri’s first major brush with the BJP, which was in the process of capturing Karnataka, its first state in South India. The cover story was about an alleged “nexus” between the BJP’s rising star, Ananth Kumar— Lok Sabah member from South Bengaluru—and Niira Radia, who later shot into “fame” as a high-profile corporate lobbyist. Niira (earlier she used to write her name as Nira) had taken pains to cultivate Ananth Kumar as he was the Union Civil Aviation Minister in the Atal Behari Vajpayee government. Niira’s dream was to start her own airline and help Airbus sell its aircraft to the then Indian Airlines and Air India. Gauri had devoted the entire colour edition of the Lankesh Patrike, priced Rs 8, to Ananth Kumar-Niira Radia connections. The paper had carried a picture of Niira standing with the then PM Atal Bihar Vajpayee and a famous head of the Karnataka “math” sitting. Like a good professional, Gauri during her meetings with this writer did not disclose her sources “I can help you get more information—yes, there is more—from my sources, but sorry they can’t meet you,” Gauri had said. The only clue that she gave was that most of her story was based on a “highly confidential” document of the Intelligence Bureau. Her story had created a stir in the corridors of powers in New Delhi and Bengaluru. Despite this, Niira Radia’s profile had continued to rise in the elite political and corporate circles till the income tax department’s phone tapes containing her conversation with top politicians, bureaucrats and media came into the public domain. At this juncture, Gauri telephoned this columnist a couple of times asking “to pass on” to her if something new and worthwhile came his way about Niira Radia. I distinctly remember her excited voice: “I want to stir the pot again.” I knew the “tigress” was getting ready for the “kill” once again. This time, one may suspect, her target, logically speaking, must have been within Karnataka. But she did not know that she herself was being “hunted” and was moving into their crosshair.