Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar passes away at 95

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Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar passes away at 95

Veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar passes away at 95

Renowned journalist Kuldip Nayar passed away in a New Delhi hospital on Wednesday night. He was 95. Nayar, a former Delhi resident editor of The Statesman, was also a well-known author and human rights activist.

He is survived by his wife and two sons. Nayar died around 12.30 am at a private hospital, according to his elder son Sudhir Nayyar. His last rites will be performed at 1 pm today at the Lodhi crematorium in south Delhi.

Nayar had served as the High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom in 1990.

Born at Sialkot (now in Pakistan), Kuldip Nayar graduated with a law degree from Lahore before moving to India after Partition. He served as high commissioner to Britain in 1990 and was also nominated to the Rajya Sabha.

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In his autobiography published in 2012, he wrote about the collapse of trust between communities after Partition and how he was forced to migrate to Delhi across the blood-stained plains of Punjab.

"From his perilous journey to a new country and to his first job as a young journalist in an Urdu daily, Nayar's account is also the story of India," the introduction to the book reads.

From a young journalist in Anjam, he went on to head the news agency, UNI. His syndicated column, "Between the Lines", was appreciated for how he always stood for the freedom of the press.

He has covered several historical turns that the country has seen, from the 1971 war with Pakistan to liberate Bangladesh to the Emergency of 1975.

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