New Delhi, Aug 23: Veteran journalist and former Rajya Sabha member Kuldeep Nayyar passed away at a very ripe age of 95. He died in a Delhi hospital Wednesday night.
Nayar, a Punjabi, was born in Sialkot in 1923.
He was the first journalist to be arrested at the declaration of internal emergency in 1975. He was deeply interested in peaceful relations between India and Pakistan.
In his autobiography ‘Beyond the Lines’, he wrote about his interview with Pakistan’s nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan, during which the latter revealed that Pakistan had a nuclear device well before it was thought to have had it.
He was famous for his regular column “Between the Lines” which was published by most newspapers of the country. The column was also translated in various regional languages and published by vernacular newspapers.
After the Emergency was lifted and Janata Party government took over the reins of power, he was appointed India’s High Commissioner to the UK and later was nominated to the Rajya Sabha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, President Ram Nath Kovind, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and other leaders have mourned his demise and expressed their condolences.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a twitter message that the late Kuldeep Nayyar was an intellectual giant of our times with frank and fearless views. His strong stand against the Emergency, public service and commitment to a better India will always be remembered, the Prime Minister said.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh said that as a columnist he candidly expressed his views in his widely read column ‘Between the Lines’. His contribution to journalism will be remembered.