Kuldip Nayar

Kuldip Nayar
Born (1923-08-14) 14 August 1923
Sialkot
Nationality Indian
Education Medill School of Journalism
Occupation Journalist, author and columnist
Website http://www.kuldipnayar.com/

Kuldip Nayar (born 14 August 1923) is a veteran Indian journalist, syndicated columnist, human right activist and author, noted for his long career as a left-wing political commentator. He was also nominated as a Member of the upper house of the Indian Parliament in 1997.

Early life and education

Nayar was born at Sialkot, Punjab, British India on 14 August 1923 to Gurbaksh Singh and Pooran Devi. He completed his B.A. (Hons.) from the Forman Christian College Lahore and LL.B. from the Law College Lahore.[1] In 1952, he studied journalism from the Medill School of Journalism, Northwestern University on a scholarship.[2][3]

Career

Nayar was an Urdu press reporter and was arrested towards the end of the Indian Emergency (1975 - 77).[4] He is also a human right activist and a peace activist. He was a member of India's delegation to the United Nations in 1996.[4] He was appointed High Commissioner to Great Britain in 1990 and nominated to the upper house of Indian Parliament, Rajya Sabha in August 1997.[4]

He writes columns and op-eds for over 80 newspapers in 14 languages[4] including The Daily Star, The Sunday Guardian,[5] The News (Pakistan),[6] The Statesman (India),[7] Express Tribune (Pakistan),[8] Dawn (Pakistan).[9]

Peace activist

Every year since 2000, Nayar has been leading peace activists to light candles on the Independence days of Pakistan and India (14/15 August) at the Attari-Wagah India-Pakistan border near Amritsar.[10]

He has been working to free Indian prisoners in Pakistan and Pakistani prisoners in India, who have completed their sentences, but have not been set free.[11]

Political commentator

As a political commentator, Nayar writes his views freely on most politically current issues.[12] He has supported the movement of Anna Hazare[4] and chided the Pakistan Government for not apologising for the army atrocities in East Pakistan in 1971 that led to the formation of Bangladesh,[13] and for allowing drugs to be smuggled into India.[14]

Author

Nayar is also the author of 15 books, including "Beyond the Lines”, "Distant Neighbours: A Tale of the Subcontinent”, "India after Nehru", "Wall at Wagah, India-Pakistan Relationship", "The Judgement", "The Martyr","Scoop" and "India House".

He also came under strict surveillance and annoyed certain politicians and party members for disclosing very delicate and clandestine information in his book, "India: The Critical Years." Kuldip Nayar has widely written about current issues and historic persons, including Jawaharlal Nehru, Daniel Smith and Barry Manilow. Nayar has advocated a policy of bilateral talks and engagement with India's neighbour Pakistan. He is known for his vision of a new South Asia, in which Pakistan and India would be on friendly terms.[15][16]

Nayar's autobiography is entitled "Beyond the Lines."[1] The book was released in July 2012.[15]

In 1999, he was awarded an Alumni Merit Award by Northwestern University.[1]

Criticism

Nayar has been accused of supporting anti-Indian conspiracy theories.[3] In a Feb 2010 article in Pakistani newspaper Dawn, he alleged that the Indian anti-terrorism squad leader Hemant Karkare was murdered by Hindu right-wing activists.[17] In July 2011 US Authorities confirmed that Nayar attended many events in United States hosted by and supported by Syed Ghulam Nabi Fai, which had been funded by Pakistan ISI.[18]

Awards

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Kuldip Nayyer". Herald (Pakistan). Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  2. ↑ "Hall of Achievement: Kuldip Nayar". Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Nayar". Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Governments to be blamed for Indo-Pak animosity: Kuldip Nayar". Daily News and Analysis (India). 31 July 2011. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  5. ↑ Nayar, Kuldip. "LEADERS & MISLEADERS". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  6. ↑ Nayar, Kuldip. "All stories / articles Kuldip Nayar".
  7. ↑ {{url = http://www.thestatesman.com/news/opinion/geeta-should-have-opened-more-doors/100000.html /TodaysPrintWriterName.aspx?URL=Kuldip%20Nayar | work =The News International | accessdate =13 January 2012}}
  8. ↑ Nayar, Kuldip. "Stories by Kuldip Nayar". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  9. ↑ Nayar, Kuldip. "Posts by Kuldip Nayar". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Who Has The Matches?". Outlook (India). 30 Aug 2010. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  11. ↑ Vij, Shivam (11 January 2012). "Why is Gopal Das free and not Khalil Chishty?". The News International. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  12. ↑ Outlook Publishing (28 January 2008). Outlook. Outlook Publishing. p. 30. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  13. ↑ Nayar, Kuldip (20 December 2011). "The birth of Bangladesh". The Express Tribune. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  14. ↑ "Pakistan pushing drugs into Punjab: Kuldip Nayar". Sify. 12 January 2012. Retrieved 13 January 2012.
  15. 1 2 "Kuldip Nayar's autobiography to be released on birthday in August". NewKerala. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "India, Pakistan press rue Kashmir deadlock". BBC. 7 September 2004. Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  17. ↑ Nayar, Kuldip (19 February 2010). "Politics of terrorism". Dawn (newspaper). Retrieved 14 January 2012.
  18. ↑ L'affaire Fai: US lawmakers, Indian liberals come under scrutiny Times of India – 20 July 2011
  19. ↑ "Award for Kuldip Nayar". The Hindu. 2003-03-01. Retrieved 2012-09-29.
  20. ↑ "Kuldip Nayar presented lifetime achievement award". The Hindu. 2007-09-10. Retrieved 2012-09-29.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kuldip Nayar.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, February 12, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.