'Gauri Lankesh's journalism flowed from her activism'
New Delhi, July 25: Firebrand writer Gauri Lankesh's journalism was "mandatory" and flowed from her activism, her former husband and author of "Illiberal India: Gauri Lankesh and the Age of Unreason" Chidanand Rajghatta said on Wednesday.
The book (Westland/Rs 299/242 pages) examines the lives of two people -- his own and that of Lankesh -- against the "volatile backdrop of an increasingly fractious and intolerant India".
"The two strands come together in the gutting death of a courageous woman who took on these forces and fought for a more equitable society, a better India," the publisher said in a statement.
"Following in the method of previous murders of rationalists M.M. Kalburgi, Govind Pansare and Narendra Dabholkar, Lankesh's murder chilled the nation, sparking off protests across India," it said, adding that the larger forces that killed these four activists continue to grow.
Saying Lankesh was working close to the ground, the author of this personal-is-political narrative added that she became an activist-journalist from a journalist-activist.
Rajghatta and Lankesh had remained friends after ending their 5-year marriage.
An open critic of the "burgeoning Hindutva faction in Karnataka and elsewhere in India, and a strident supporter of separate-religion status for Lingayats", Lankesh was shot dead on September 5, 2017.
US-based Rajghatta is the foreign editor of The Times of India, and has authored "The Horse That Flew: How India's Silicon Gurus Spread Their Wings" earlier.
"Illiberal India: Gauri Lankesh and the Age of Unreason" is published by Westland under their new literary imprint, Context.
The book launch was followed by a discussion with Rajghatta and senior journalist Manoj Mitta.
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Bengaluru: Techie duped of Rs 1.46 lakh in IPL ticket scam via Instagram
Bengaluru: A 25-year-old techie was cheated of Rs 1.46 lakh by a fraudster posing as an IPL ticket seller on Instagram, in a case reported from B Narayanapura.
According to a complaint filed at the Mahadevapura police station, the accused identified himself as Sumit Biswal, claiming to be a senior supervisor at the ticket counter of M. Chinnaswamy Stadium. He assured the victim that he could arrange IPL tickets along with food coupons, Deccan Herald reported.
He also convinced the victim to transfer money in multiple UPI transactions from his account and his mother’s account.
Despite receiving the amount, the accused neither delivered the tickets nor refunded the money, police said.
The complainant said that the accused promised not just match tickets but ‘VIP benefits’ like food coupons and extra ID cards for friends for RCB vs CSK, scheduled for Sunday.
"He asked me to come near the stadium gate number 10, saying someone would deliver the tickets within minutes, and even sent an email confirmation to gain my trust," the victim said.
"Initially, I agreed to buy two tickets for Rs 3,700 each, but he kept asking for more money under various pretexts such as refundable security deposits, additional ID cards and food coupons. Trusting him, I made multiple payments, even using my mother’s bank account after exhausting my own limits, and ended up transferring around Rs 1.46 lakh," he said.
Police have registered a case and further investigation is underway.
