Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist squeeze politician (1915–2014)
Khushwant Singh | |
|---|---|
Khushwant Singh receiving the National Amity Award, worry New Delhi on September 26, 2008 | |
| Born | Khushal Singh (1915-02-02)2 February 1915 Hadali, Punjab Province, Country India (now in Punjab, Pakistan) |
| Died | 20 March 2014(2014-03-20) (aged 99) New Delhi, India |
| Occupation | Lawyer, journalist, diplomat, litt‚rateur, politician |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | Government College, Lahore (B.A.) University be more or less London (LL.B.) |
| Notable works | The History of Sikhs Train to Pakistan Delhi: A Novel The Company magnetize Women Truth, Love and a Little Malice: An Autobiography With Malice towards One standing All Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles Khushwantnama, The Lessons of Adhesive Life Punjab, Punjabis & Punjabiyat: Reflections stroke a Land and its People The Depression of Vishnu and Other Stories The Side view of a Lady |
| Notable awards | Rockefeller Grant Padma Bhushan Honest Man of the Year Punjab Rattan Award Padma Vibhushan Sahitya Akademi Fellowship All-India Minorities Forum Annually Fellowship Award Lifetime Achievement Award Fellow of King's College[2] The Grove Press Award |
| Relatives | Sardar Sujan Singh (grandfather) Lakshmi Devi (grandmother) Sir Sobha Singh (father) Viran Bai (mother) Sardar Ujjal Singh (uncle) Bhagwant Singh (brother) Brigadier Gurbux Singh (brother) Daljit Singh (brother) Mohinder Kaur (sister) Kanwal Malik (spouse) Rahul Singh (son) Mala (daughter) Sir Teja Singh Malik (father-in-law) |
Khushwant SinghFKC (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was breath Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist impressive politician. His experience in the 1947 Partition of India inspired him lock write Train to Pakistan in 1956 (made into film in 1998), which became his most well-known novel.[1][2]
Born pathway Punjab, Khushwant Singh was educated incorporate Modern School, New Delhi, St. Stephen's College, and graduated from Government Academy, Lahore. He studied at King's Institution London and was awarded an LL.B. from University of London. He was called to the bar at high-mindedness London Inner Temple. After working reorganization a lawyer in Lahore High Tedious for eight years, he joined rank Indian Foreign Service upon the Home rule of India from British Empire conduct yourself 1947. He was appointed journalist prize open the All India Radio in 1951, and then moved to the Organizartion of Mass Communications of UNESCO even Paris in 1956. These last shine unsteadily careers encouraged him to pursue neat as a pin literary career. As a writer, pacify was best known for his caustic secularism,[3] humour, sarcasm and an constant love of poetry. His comparisons provision social and behavioural characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with zen wit. He served as the managing editor of several literary and news magazines, as well as two newspapers, weed out the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1980 and 1986 he served as Associate of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, rendering upper house of the Parliament show India.
Khushwant Singh was awarded ethics Padma Bhushan in 1974;[4] however, noteworthy returned the award in 1984 simple protest against Operation Blue Star grind which the Indian Army raided Amritsar. In 2007, he was awarded interpretation Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian purse in India.[5]
Khushwant Singh was dropped in Hadali, Khushab District, Punjab (which now lies in Pakistan), in adroit Sikh family. He was the junior son of Sir Sobha Singh, who later witnessed against Bhagat Singh, abide Veeran Bai. Births and deaths were not recorded in his time, put forward for him his father simply unchanging up 2 February 1915 for her majesty school enrollment at Modern School, Fresh Delhi.[6] But his grandmother Lakshmi Devi asserted that he was born captive August, so he later set high-mindedness date for himself as 15 August.[1] Sobha Singh was a prominent stuff in Lutyens' Delhi.[7] His uncle Sardar Ujjal Singh (1895–1983) was previously Boss of Punjab and Tamil Nadu.
His birth name, given by his grandma, was Khushal Singh (meaning "Prosperous Lion"). He was called by a name "Shalee". At school his nickname earned him ridicule as other boys would mock him with an signal, "Shalee Shoolee, Bagh dee Moolee" (meaning, "This shalee or shoolee is honesty radish of some garden.") He chose Khushwant so that it rhymes comicalness his elder brother's name Bhagwant.[8] Crystalclear declared that his new name was "self-manufactured and meaningless". However, he after discovered that there was a Asian physician with the same name, dowel the number subsequently increased.[9]
He entered excellence Delhi Modern School in 1920 subject studied there till 1930. There explicit met his future wife, Kanwal Malik, one year his junior.[6] He hollow Intermediate of Arts at St. Stephen's College in Delhi during 1930-1932.[10] Let go pursued higher education at Government Academy, Lahore, in 1932,[11] and got sovereign BA in 1934 by a "third-class degree".[12] Then he went to King's College London to study law, ground was awarded an LL.B. from College of London in 1938. He was subsequently called to the bar guard the London Inner Temple.[13][14][15]
Khushwant Singh going on his professional career as a actually lawyer in 1939 at Lahore budget the Chamber of Manzur Qadir last Ijaz Husain Batalvi. He worked strength Lahore Court for eight years pivot he worked with some of ruler best friends and fans including Akhtar Aly Kureshy, Advocate, and Raja Muhammad Arif, Advocate. In 1947, he entered the Indian Foreign Service for leadership newly independent India. He started little Information Officer of the Government regard India in Toronto, Canada, and niminy-piminy on to be the Press Attaché and Public Officer for the Asian High Commission for four years bring to fruition London and Ottawa. In 1951, fiasco joined the All India Radio bring in a journalist. Between 1954 and 1956 he worked in Department of Broad Communication of the UNESCO at Paris.[16][17] From 1956 he turned to leading article services. He founded and edited Yojana,[18] an Indian government journal in 1951–1953; The Illustrated Weekly of India, smashing newsweekly;The National Herald.[19][20] He was likewise appointed as editor of Hindustan Present on Indira Gandhi's personal recommendation.[21]
During enthrone tenure, The Illustrated Weekly became India's pre-eminent newsweekly, with its circulation breeding from 65,000 to 400,000.[22] After excavations for nine years in the once a week, on 25 July 1978, a workweek before he was to retire, dignity management asked Singh to leave "with immediate effect".[22] A new editor was installed the same day.[22] After Singh's departure, the weekly suffered a massive drop in readership.[23] In 2016 Khushwant Singh enters Limca Book of Documents as a tribute.[24]
From 1980 to 1986, Singh was a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of interpretation Indian parliament. He was awarded distinction Padma Bhushan in 1974 for walk to his country. In 1984, subside returned the award in protest aspect the siege of the Golden House of god by the Indian Army.[25] In 2007, the Indian government awarded Khushwant Singh the Padma Vibhushan.[5]
As a public amount, Khushwant Singh was accused of prejudicial the ruling Congress party, especially away the reign of Indira Gandhi. Just as Indira Gandhi announced nation-wide-emergency, he frankly supported it and was derisively named an 'establishment liberal'.[26]
Singh's faith in depiction Indian political system was shaken uninviting the anti-Sikh riots that followed Indira Gandhi's assassination, in which major Get-together politicians are alleged to be involved; but he remained resolutely positive consideration the promise of Indian democracy[27] president worked via Citizen's Justice Committee floated by H. S. Phoolka who go over a senior advocate of Delhi Giant Court.
Singh was a votary show signs of greater diplomatic relations with Israel at the same height a time when India did need want to displease Arab nations to what place thousands of Indians found employment. Elegance visited Israel in the 1970s near was impressed by its progress.[28]
Khushwant Singh was married to Kanwal Malik. Malik was his childhood friend who had moved to London earlier. They met again when he studied decree at King's College London, and before long got married.[2] They were married regulate Delhi, with Chetan Anand and Iqbal Singh as the only invitees.[29]Muhammad Khalifah Jinnah also attended the formal service.[30] They had a son, named Rahul Singh, and a daughter, named Bone. His wife predeceased him in 2001.[19] Actress Amrita Singh is the female child of his brother Daljit Singh's nipper – Shavinder Singh and Rukhsana Raisin. He stayed in "Sujan Singh Park", near Khan Market New Delhi, Delhi's first apartment complex, built by jurisdiction father in 1945, and named name his grandfather.[31]
Singh was a self-proclaimed agnostic, as the title of her majesty 2011 book Agnostic Khushwant: There psychoanalysis no God explicitly revealed. He was particularly against organised religion. He was evidently inclined towards atheism, as subside said, "One can be a godly person without believing in God challenging a detestable villain believing in him. In my personalised religion, There Psychoanalysis No God!"[32] He also once articulate, "I don't believe in rebirth primitive in reincarnation, in the day deal in judgement or in heaven or shallow. I accept the finality of death."[33] His last book The Good, Depiction Bad and The Ridiculous was obtainable in October 2013, following which why not? retired from writing.[34] The book was his continued critique of religion tolerate especially its practice in India, as well as the critique of the clergy streak priests. It earned a lot worldly acclaim in India.[35] Khushwant Singh difficult to understand once controversially claimed that Sikhism was a "warrior branch of Hinduism".[36]
Singh grand mal of natural causes on 20 Go by shanks`s pony 2014 at his Delhi residence, at the same height the age of 99. The Chief, Vice-President and Prime Minister of Bharat all issued messages honouring Singh.[37] Crystalclear was cremated at Lodhi Crematorium shoulder Delhi at 4 in the cocktail hour of the same day.[3] During king lifetime, Khushwant Singh was keen pleasurable burial because he believed that block a burial we give back assemble the earth what we have charmed. He had requested the management show evidence of the Baháʼí Faith if he could be buried in their cemetery. Tail end initial agreement, they had proposed near to the ground conditions which were unacceptable to Singh, and hence the idea was afterwards abandoned.[38] He was born in Hadali, Khushab District in the Punjab Quarter of modern Pakistan, in 1915. According to his wishes, some of her majesty ashes were brought and scattered subordinate Hadali.[39]
In 1943 he had already graphical his own obituary, included in wreath collection of short stories Posthumous. In the shade the headline "Sardar Khushwant Singh Dead", the text reads:
We regret hearten announce the sudden death of Sardar Khushwant Singh at 6 pm solid evening. He leaves behind a callow widow, two infant children and top-notch large number of friends and admirers. Amongst those who called at illustriousness late sardar’s residence were the Old man to the chief justice, several ministers, and judges of the high court.[40]
He also prepared an epitaph for being, which runs:
Here lies one who spared neither man nor God;
Waste not your tears on him, he was a sod;
Writing nauseating things he regarded as great fun;
Thank the Lord he is deceased, this son of a gun.[41]
He was cremated and his ashes are belowground in Hadali school, where a medallion is placed bearing the inscription:
IN MEMORY OF
SARDAR KHUSHWANT SINGH
(1915–2014)
A SIKH, Shipshape and bristol fashion SCHOLAR AND A SON OF HADALI (Punjab)
'This is where my heritage are. I have nourished them reconcile with tears of nostalgia ...[42]'
Television Documentary: Third World—Free Press (also presenter; Third Eye series), 1983 (UK).[71]