It was a sultry afternoon in May 1948 when the telephone rang at the Weekly Blitz newsroom in Bombay. Editor R K Karanjia, the flamboyant voice of tabloid journalism, picked up. On the line was none other than M O Mathai, private secretary to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
Mathai had a question: “Is there room for a scoop in your next edition?” A scoop—from the PMO? Karanjia, ever the sensationalist, couldn’t refuse.
Mathai said, “A man will arrive tomorrow at your office. He is carrying explosive revelations from Pakistan-administered Kashmir”. Mathai further said that it was Nehru’s own suggestion that Blitz should put the story on its front page—in the national interest*.
The next morning, Karanjia found a lean young man in a white safari suit standing outside his cabin in the Blitz office with a briefcase in hand. He introduced himself as G K Reddy, who, till a few days ago was Director of Information and Public Relations for the government of “Azad Kashmir.”
Some say Reddy was more than a press officer. He could have been India's first deep-cover operative inside the Pakistani setup in Kashmir.
Born in 1923 in Nellore, Andhra Pradesh, Gopunatha Keshava Reddy was a Telugu journalist, who had once edited the Kashmir Times (unrelated to this paper), launched in Srinagar in 1934 by Baldev Prasad Sharma and Pandit Gosha Lal Kaul. Documents suggest it was later acquired by Bombay Congress leader Abdul Rehman Mitha, who made Reddy his private secretary in Kashmir.
By 1945, Reddy was reporting for the Associated Press of India (API), also from Srinagar and had close ties with Prime Minister Ram Chandra Kak. His anti-National Conference stance and opposition to Sheikh Abdullah's Quit Kashmir movement solidified his friendship with Kak.
But as Kak’s fortunes dwindled, he became a liability for the next Prime Ministers, Janak Singh and then Mehr Chand Mahajan, leading to his expulsion from the state on October 15, 1947. While leaving the state, Reddy and Mitha were arrested near the Domel post, accused of possessing seditionary material. Coinciding with this incident, in Srinagar, journalists Prem Nath Bazaz and Prem Nath Kanh were also jailed under similar accusations of conspiring at former premier Kak's behest.
The press, deeply factionalised even then, launched campaigns demanding Reddy and Mitha’s permanent expulsion.
Reddy in Lahore
Disgraced and unemployed, Reddy approached API's Amritsar office to settle his dues. Manager Rai Bahadur Ratan Lal Sethi directed him to Lahore to meet liaison officer Zahid Umar. From there, things escalated.
The Srinagar representative of API was still working under the Lahore office. Sethi arranged a jeep for him to visit Lahore.
Reddy was welcomed by Mian Iftikharuddin, who introduced him to Governor Francis Mudie. Soon, Reddy was invited to become a Pakistani citizen and appointed Minister for Minority Affairs in a planned interim "Azad Kashmir" government.
His Lahore office soon became the nerve centre of propaganda operations. One night, Reddy received a trunk call from Lt Col Alvi of the Pakistan Army's PR wing. Alvi warned of an imminent raid from Ramkot and instructed that no reports originate from Pakistan. Instead, Delhi should receive the news first, and then "Azad Kashmir" would issue daily bulletins with Pulandri datelines.
From October 1947 onwards, Reddy found himself privy to war secrets. He was taken to Rawalpindi and introduced to Sardar Ibrahim Khan, the first President of Pakistan-administered Kashmir, who appointed him the first Director of Information.
He took calls from Pakistani Army officers. He received intelligence about tribal raids and was tasked with drafting daily press bulletins for the “Azad” government—press releases timed for Pakistani radio but carefully worded to appear homegrown.
What Reddy delivered to Blitz were not just exposés—they were state-level intelligence dumps. He revealed that the so-called General Tariq leading the tribal assault was actually Brigadier Russell Heath, an OSS officer (predecessor of the CIA) disguised as a tribal commander. These revelations, published by Blitz with photos and maps, were later tabled by V K Krishna Menon at the United Nations. But as per the memoirs of Akbar Khan, he conceded that he was himself General Tariq.
According to Karanjia, Blitz owed Nehru many scoops, "but none more valuable than G K Reddy."
His unique access to Pakistan's top brass made his coverage of the 1947-48 war unparalleled. Even former Union Minister Subbirami Reddy launched a book of his writings, quoting Karanjia’s gratitude for the scoop.
Blitz would later publish these findings in sensational instalments, with photos and maps, which were eventually used by V K Krishna Menon at the United Nations to support India's case.
But espionage is a thankless business. Three months in, Pakistani intelligence began to suspect him. As per Reddy, a foreign correspondent had reportedly blown his cover. He was dismissed and denounced as a "Hindu and Nehru agent" by Khawaja Abdul Rahim. Tribesmen were incited to kill him. Reddy escaped to Peshawar and confronted NWFP Premier Khan Abdul Qayyum, calling it "a betrayal of the highest order."
Peshawar and the Great Escape
Qayyum assured him of safety under police protection. But the Pakistani establishment feared Reddy might reveal everything to India. Meanwhile, Dr Taseer and poet Hafeez Jalandhari replaced him in Pakistan-administered Kashmir’s PR department—only to be dismissed a month later for incompetence.
Then came an ironic twist. During a visit to Abbottabad, Sardar Ibrahim encountered Reddy, who was also in town under police protection, accompanied by NWFP Premier Qayyum Khan. Upon seeing Reddy, Sardar Ibrahim urged Qayyum to persuade him to reassume his role as head of the Information Department for the Pakistan-administered Kashmir government. He expressed regret over the past incident and offered an apology. Reddy agreed in principle but requested to first travel to Karachi to meet Pakistan’s key information officials, Altaf Hussain and Jawad on external PR strategy.
On May 18, 1948, Reddy boarded a Pakistan Air Force plane from Peshawar to Karachi, accompanied by Air Commodore Janjua. Upon landing, he went straight to the Air Services of India office on McLeod Road and learned of a flight to Jamnagar in two hours.
He booked a ticket under a false name to dodge Karachi police surveillance. On May 20, he landed in Bombay. From there, he proceeded to Delhi and was granted an immediate audience with Nehru.
There, he handed over a dossier detailing Pakistan's military involvement and US coordination. Blitz published the series in full.
Reddy passed away in 1987 after a long association with The Hindu. Veteran journalists in New Delhi still remember him and his professionalism.
Though largely forgotten, G K Reddy’s reports shifted the narrative in global forums. Ironically, decades later, a social media post from Pakistan claimed that the "Azad Kashmir" flag was designed by a Kashmiri Pandit named G K Reddy—a strange mix-up, since Reddy was not Kashmiri, nor a Pandit. The claim resurfaced recently when a senior journalist of the region, Syed Khalid Gardezi, cited a senior bureaucrat as its source.
Though Reddy was not a Kashmiri Pandit, his imprint on the symbolic and strategic machinery of “Azad Kashmir” was undeniable.
He didn’t just infiltrate a nascent state—he shaped its public messaging, diverted its war narrative, and then vanished with its secrets.
Did Reddy truly design the "Azad Kashmir" flag? Was he a patriotic Indian risking his life behind enemy lines—or a manipulative opportunist playing both sides? What else did he smuggle back to Nehru’s desk—and what remained untold?
These are questions that history, for now, leaves unanswered. What is certain, though, is that the fog of war is not always made of gunpowder. Sometimes, it's made of press bulletins, secret calls, and forged identities.
In the shadow world of propaganda and intelligence, G K Reddy was not just a messenger. He was the message.
*Bhagyalakshmi, J., ed. (1991), Capital Witness: Selected Writings of G. K. Reddy, New Delhi: Allied Publishers; G.K. with Blitz By R.K Karanjia, Page xxii
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