Renowned journalist and editor, famous columnist of Between the Lines in the Indian Express for many years, member of the infamous Punjabi group in Delhi, Kuldip Nayar passed away at the ripe age of 95 after a brief illness. The author presents a peep into how he covered the Sikhs and the Punjab problem.

A votary of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat, Kuldip Nayar who was an Urdu journalist before switching over to English was always keen to be play to play a role in the socio-political scene in the Punjab. He campaigned for unity of Punjabs and peace in the region. However, he used his closeness with the powers that be to drown Sikh dissent and to reduce Sikh demands only into an economic context.

To his credit, he did work to diminish the so-called Black List of Sikhs when he was appointed High Commissioner to UK during the brief tenure of the Inder Kumar Gujral government. He was also a staunch supporter of unity of the two Punjabs. As editor of the Indian Express, he opposed tooth and nail, the emergency imposed by the government of Indira Gandhi.

For a senior journalist and editor of his stature, it was highly ironic that after the publication of his biography Beyond the Lines in which he mixed fact with fiction, he had to apologise to the Sikh community for erroneous facts. He called Sant Bhindranwale names in a rather foul language in the chapter Punjab in Flames in his book.

“When it came to Sikhs, Kuldip Nayar’s journalism was all but whataboutery and rewording feed from government sources.”

Though he tried many a times to broker peace between the government of India and the Sikh leadership in the context of the Punjab problem, he never succeeded as he failed to inspire confidence amongst the Sikhs.

His touched the nadir of his relationship with the Sikh community and his image and reputation was badly hit when he compared Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale with Dera Sauda pseudo-saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim, forcing the apex Sikh body SGPC to bow to pressure from the Sikh community and withdraw the Shiromani Patarkar award bestowed on him for his work as a journalist in 2006.

“His touched the nadir of his relationship with the Sikh community and his image and reputation was badly hit when he compared Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale with Dera Sauda pseudo-saint Gurmeet Ram Rahim.”

It is significant to recall how he opposed the setting up a memorial to the martyrs of the June 1984 Indian onslaught at Darbar Sahib. Contemporary Sikh affairs chronicler Ajmer Singh debunked his reasoning and narrated how Kuldip Nayar was an arm of the Indian state to belittle the Sikhs.

When it came to Sikhs, his journalism was all but whataboutery and rewording feed from government sources.

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