Veteran journalist S Nihal Singh no more

Veteran journalist S Nihal Singh passed away on Monday after a brief illness. He was 88. Singh was suffering from kidney-related ailments.He was the editor of the Statesman, The Indian Express, The Khaleej Times in Dubai and The Indian Post.

"He was ill for quite some time. But he turned critically ill for the past one week," Indu Nihal Singh, his sister-in-law said.

Born in 1884, St Nihal Singh was a journalist. He lived and travelled through the USA, Canada and Japan as well as living in Britain with his wife, Cathleyne. He was educated at Punjab University. Saint Nihal Singh was a prolific writer for American, British and Indian publications.

Nihal Singh had worked with several leading newspapers including The Indian Express as its editor-in-chief, The Statesman as chief editor and Khaleej Times as editor. He was the founding editor of The Indian Post in 1987.He was awarded the prestigious International Editor of the Year Award in New York for opposing the Emergency imposed by former prime minister Indira Gandhi. He worked as foreign correspondent in Moscow, London, the United States and Indonesia.

Singh was the first correspondent allowed to represent an Indian newspaper in Pakistan after the 1965 war, the veteran editor recalled in an interview in 2013.

He met Indira Gandhi before leaving for Pakistan and felt she was "rather pessimistic about the likelihood of better relations" between the two countries.

"I brought up Kashmir for instance and she said, "What solution can there be on Kashmir considering the Pakistani attitudes?" Singh wrote extensively on both domestic and foreign affairs in his columns after his last stint as editor with Khaleej Times.

His books include "The Rocky Road to Indian Democracy: Nehru to Narasimha Rao", "The Yogi and the Bear: Story of Indo-Soviet Relations" and "The Gang and 900 million: A China Diary".

He cast a critical eye on his own profession in "Your Slip is Showing: Indian Press Today" and recalled his life in journalism in "Ink in My Veins". Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala recalled the title of this autobiographical work in his tribute.

"In a career spanning several decades, his impeccable integrity & journalistic ethics is a benchmark in today's times. My prayers are with his family & friends," he tweeted.

PTI