Nakkeeran Gopal
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Nakkheeran Gopal (born 10 April 1959) is a veteran journalist from
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
, India. He is the editor and publisher of
Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...
political investigative journal ''
Nakkheeran ''Nakkheeran'' is a Tamil language biweekly magazine published in Chennai. Nakkheeran Gopal is the founder and editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used ...
''. He shot to national fame in the 1990s when he took interviews with Veerappan, who was surviving in the forests committing crimes on the Tamil Nadu – Karnataka border, hoodwinking the police of the two states.


Early life

He completed his school education at Municipal School of
Aruppukkottai Aruppukottai is a town and a municipality in Virudhunagar district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. Aruppukottai's classical name is "Sengattu Aravakotai". Aruppukottai is about 50 km from Madurai. It is in the middle of Madurai-Tuticorin ...
and SBK Higher Secondary School. After clearing pre-university course at Devanga Arts College, he graduated as Bachelor of Commerce from Saiva Bhanu Kshatriya College in 1977. Apart from academics, he was part of his college hockey team and also involved in art works that could be considered as one of the early signs of a contemporary layout artist and editor. Post-degree, Rajagopal's father wanted him to be employed in a bank. Rather being idle waiting for a bank profession, Gopal worked in a provisional store much to his father’s displeasure. In 1978, his relative promised him of a job in then Madras however that could not be fulfilled later but eyeing, which Rajagopal had moved into capital city initially. In 1983, Rajagopal and his friend jointly started a rubber firm investing around 3000 rupees. Things were not proceeding well from the beginning. Thought exhausted they could manage with just one meal daily. At times, they might even need to cycle all around the city. He turned ill and had returned to his native. He abstained from work for four months during recovery but improved his artistic skills meantime. His friends and neighbours suggested him to seek a relevant job that would display his splendid artworks. In 1985, Rajagopal was rightly identified by
Valampuri John Valampuri John was a Tamil writer, orator and former Rajya Sabha member of India. He was born in Uvari village in Tirunelveli district, he started his career as a lawyer and activist of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK). Later, he joined the ...
, the editor of ''Thai'' magazine run by the then Chief Minister
M. G. Ramachandran Maruthur Gopalan Ramachandran (17 January 1917 24 December 1987), also popularly known as M.G.R., was an Indian politician, actor, philanthropist, and filmmaker who served as the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu from 1977 until his death in 1987 ...
. He gained much knowledge on layout work supported by the encouraging editor. He also got exposed to production work during his venture in ''Thiraichuvai''. However, Rajagopal had learnt the success story when he acted as a layout director in '' Tharasu'' magazine. The readers loved the wrapper layout work that sensibly portrayed the message. At this stage, he opted to move out of Tharasu due to various conflicts.


Founder of ''Nakkheeran'' magazine

Rajagopal, with a sum of four thousand rupees, decided to start his own political investigative weekly magazine in 1988. He loved the epic title ''Nakkheeran'' but it was possessed by a politician named K. Subbu. When approached, K. Subbu gave away the title that led to the evolution of ''Nakkheeran'', the weekly Tamil magazine. The material suppliers offered fund for 4–10 weeks positively. The office was set up in a small room at Kilpauk on the banks of river Cooum. The first issue of ''Nakkheeran'' came out on 20 April 1988.


Achievements

The editor of Nakkheeran Rajagopal (widely identified as Nakkheeran Gopal) locked horns with the state government of Tamil Nadu in Supreme Court of India to receive a landmark judgement in favour of press independence on 7 October 1994. This judgement was unanimously appreciated by global media, details below. As an act of bravery, ''Nakkheeran'' is the first ever magazine to interview and expose a portrait of South India’s forest brigand
Veerappan Koose Munisamy Veerappan (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian bandit turned domestic terrorist who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching o ...
. The editor and his team effectively acted as an emissary between Veerappan and state governments to carry out a successful mission in rescuing thespian Rajkumar that calmed down the insecure atmosphere prevailed between two states since abduction in 2000. Earlier, Gopal had been successful in also rescuing eight forest guards kidnapped by Veerappan.


POTA

In 2003, he was arrested on charges of possession of an unlicensed revolver with ammunition. After eight months of imprisonment, Gopal was ordered to be set free on bail by a division bench of the Madras High Court while allowing a habeas corpus petition filed by his brother. Emerging out of the prison, Gopal said his obtaining the bail was the 'first blow' to the "autocratic rule" of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa" This victory is Nakeeran's first step. Let the government file any number of false cases, we will emerge victorious," he said in brief remarks as he was given a rousing reception by magazine staff and others in front of the prison complex. The high court had faulted the police for not providing any reasons for his arrest under IPC and Pota. Gopal was first arrested in April 2003 in connection with the murder of a police informant, allegedly by forest brigand Veerappan, and was subsequently charged under Pota for alleged possession of arms.


Author

Nakkeeran Gopal penned a series called "Challenge" (late 1990s) and Yutham (late 2000s) in his own ''Nakkheeran'' magazine. Later, the consolidations were released as a book. "Challenge" describes the agony put forth by Jayalalithaa between 1991 and 1996 whereas his Yutham (elaborated in four parts) briefs how his team tackled the distress caused by 2001–06 TN Govt.


References


Interviews

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gopal, Nakkheeran Living people Tamil-language writers Indian male novelists 1959 births Journalists from Tamil Nadu Indian magazine editors 20th-century Indian journalists Indian male journalists Writers from Chennai 20th-century Indian male writers