20 March, 2014

Khushwant Singh, journalist and writer, dies at 99


NEW DELHI: Noted writer and journalist Khushwant Singh passed away on Thursday. He was 99.

Singh was best known for his trenchant secularism, his humour, and an abiding love for poetry.

"He was fine and passed away peacefully at home on Thursday," his daughter Mala Singh said. His cremation will take place at Lodhi Crematorium at 4pm today.

Read also: Khushwant Singh's column in TOI, dated October 23, 2011 - An agnostic's view of life & death

Born on February 2, 1915 at Hadali, now in Pakistan, Singh wrote classics like "Train to Pakistan", "I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale" and "Delhi".

He was a lawyer-turned-diplomat-turned-writer. His autobiography, "Truth, Love and a Little Malice", was published by Penguin Books in 2002.

He was editor of several literary and news magazines, including the Illustrated Weekly of India as well as two newspapers, the Hindustan Times and the National Herald, through the 1970s and 1980s.

In 2007, he was awarded with the Padma Vibhushan.

The body was cremated at Lodhi crematorium with political stalwarts like LK Advani, Farooq Abdullah, Salman Khurshid among others, present. 

Source : TOI

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