Kuldeep Nayar, a renowned journalist, author and human activist took his last breath at around 1 am on Thursday, August 23, 2018 in New Delhi. The 95-year-old former editor of The Indian Express, is survived by his wife and two sons.
In his long career, Nayar served as an author, diplomat, parliamentarian as well as a leading politician.
Punjab born Nayar served as the press information officer to former Prime Minister Lal bahadur Shashtri and veteran Congress leader and Union Home Minister Govind Ballabh Pant. He also served as India’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
As an author, Nayar wrote about 15 books including “Beyond the Lines”, “India after Nehru” “Emergency Retold”, “Distant Neighbours: A tale of the Subcontinent”.
Nayar had started his career with an Urdu newspaper called Anjam. As a journalist he worked with a range of news agencies and media organisation in India and was also the correspondent of The Times, London, for more than two decades.
In 2015, he was honoured with ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ for his contribution to journalism at the eighth edition of the Ramnath Goenka Excellence awards.
Many, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed their condolence over Nayar’s death. Calling Nayar an “intellectual giant”, Modi posted a tweet saying “His strong stand against the Emergency, public service and commitment to a better India will be always remembered.”
