Veteran Indian journalist Kuldip Nayar dies

NEW DELHI: Renowned journalist, author and human rights activist Kuldip Nayar passed away here on Thursday.

He was 95. He is survived by his wife and two sons. His last rites were performed at 1pm at Lodhi crematorium. Nayar was admitted to Escorts Hospital five days ago. He was suffering from pneumonia. He died at 12:30 am.

A former editor at The Indian Express, Nayar fought fiercely for press freedom, especially during emergency imposed by the then prime minister Indira Gandhi. During emergency, he was jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act for leading a protest against the excesses of the administration.

In 2015, he was honoured with the Ramnath Goenka Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to journalism. He authored 15 books including “Beyond the Lines”, “India after Nehru” and “Emergency Retold”. In the '90s, Nayar served as High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom. He was nominated to Rajya Sabha in 1997.

Born in Sialkot (Pakistan) in 1923, Nayar graduated in law. He studied journalism and began his career with an Urdu newspaper called Anjam.He later headed various newspapers in Delhi. He was a widely known columnist and wrote for newspapers across the world. People tweeted condolences on hearing about the death of the senior journalist, some of them remembering the effectiveness of the journalism Mr Nayar pursued.