Veteran journalist and columnist Kuldeep Nayyar has passed away on Thursday in a hospital in Delhi. His cremation will take place at Lodhi Road crematorium at 1 pm.
Nayyar served as the High commissioner of India to the United Kingdom in 1990 and was also nominated as a Member of the Rajya Sabha (India’s upper house) in 1997.
Expressing his grief over Nayyar’s demise, Prime Minister Narendra Modi remembered him as “an intellectual giant”.
“Kuldip Nayar was an intellectual giant of our times. Frank and fearless in his views, his work spanned across many decades. His strong stand against the Emergency, public service and commitment to a better India will always be remembered. Saddened by his demise. My condolences,” the Prime Minister tweeted.
Nayar started his journalistic career with the Urdu daily “Anjam” in 1948. He worked in the Press Information Bureau as a Press Officer to then Home Ministers Govind Ballabh Pant and Lal Bahadur Shastri.
He was the editor and General Manager of United News of India (UNI) and also the editor of The Statesman. He also worked with the Indian Express, The Times, The Spectator and the Evening Star.
In 2015, Nayyar was honoured with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ at the eighth edition of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence awards for his contribution to the field of journalism.
He also wrote 15 books including ‘Emergency Retold’ and ‘India after Nehru’.