Khushwant Singh (born Khushal Singh, 2 February 1915 – 20 March 2014) was an Indian author, lawyer, diplomat, journalist and politician. His experience in the 1947

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

inspired him to write ''

Train to Pakistan ''Train to Pakistan'' is a historical novel by writer Khushwant Singh, published in 1956. It recounts the Partition of India in August 1947 through the perspective of Mano Majra, a fictional border village. Instead of depicting the Partiti ...

'' in 1956 (made into

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

in 1998), which became his most well-known novel. Born in Punjab, Khushwant Singh was educated in

Modern School, New Delhi Modern School is a co-educational, private school in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1920 by Lala Raghubir Singh, a prominent Delhi-based businessman and philanthropist, who desired an institution that combined the "best of ancient Indian tr ...

, St. Stephen's College, and graduated from

Government College, Lahore The Government College University, Lahore (colloquially known as GCU), is a public research university located in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Opened as Government College, Lahore, in 1864, it became a university in 2002. Overview In 1864, Gov ...

. He studied at

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

and was awarded an

LL.B. Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. He was

called to the bar The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...

at the London

Inner Temple The Honourable Society of the Inner Temple, commonly known as the Inner Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court and is a professional associations for barristers and judges. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wal ...

. After working as a lawyer in

Lahore High Court The Lahore High Court () is based in Lahore, Pakistan. It was established as a high court on 21 March 1882. The Lahore High Court has jurisdiction over Punjab (Pakistan). The High Court's principal seat is in Lahore, but there are benches in th ...

for eight years, he joined the

Indian Foreign Service The Indian Foreign Service (IFS) is the diplomatic service and a central civil service of the Government of India under the Ministry of External Affairs. The Foreign Secretary is the head of the service. Vinay Mohan Kwatra is the 34th and the ...

upon the Independence of India from British Empire in 1947. He was appointed journalist in the

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All a ...

in 1951, and then moved to the Department of Mass Communications of

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

at Paris in 1956. These last two careers encouraged him to pursue a literary career. As a writer, he was best known for his trenchant secularism, humour, sarcasm and an abiding love of poetry. His comparisons of social and behavioural characteristics of Westerners and Indians are laced with acid wit. He served as the editor of several literary and news magazines, as well as two newspapers, through the 1970s and 1980s. Between 1980 and 1986 he served as Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the

Parliament of India The Parliament of India (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Republic of India. It is a bicameralism, bicameral legislature composed of the president of India and two houses: the R ...

. Khushwant Singh was awarded the

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "distinguished service ...

in 1974; however, he returned the award in 1984 in protest against

Operation Blue Star Operation Blue Star was the codename of a military operation which was carried out by Indian security forces between 1 and 10 June 1984 in order to remove Damdami Taksal leader Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and his followers from the buildings of ...

in which the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

raided

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha r ...

. In 2007 he was awarded the

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ("Lotus Decoration") is the second-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service" ...

, the second-highest civilian award in India.

Early life

Khushwant Singh was born in

Hadali Hadali ( ur, ) is a town located in Khushab District in the Punjab (Pakistan), Punjab Province of Pakistan. The town is administratively subdivided into two Union Councils of Pakistan, Union Councils, including Hadali-Ii. History Khushab Distri ...

, Khushab District,

Punjab Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising ...

(which now lies in Pakistan), in a

Sikh Sikhs ( or ; pa, ਸਿੱਖ, ' ) are people who adhere to Sikhism, Sikhism (Sikhi), a Monotheism, monotheistic religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Gu ...

family. He was the younger son of

Sir Sobha Singh Sardar Bahadur Sir Sobha Singh, OBE (1890 – 18 April 1978) was an Indian civil contractor, prominent builder and real estate developer of Delhi. He is the father of Indian writer Khushwant Singh. Early life Sardar Bahadur Sobha Singh wa ...

, who later witnessed against Bhagat Singh, and Veeran Bai. Births and deaths were not recorded in his time, and for him his father simply made up 2 February 1915 for his school enrollment at

. But his grandmother Lakshmi Devi asserted that he was born in August, so he later set the date for himself as 15 August. Sobha Singh was a prominent builder in

Lutyens' Delhi Lutyens' Delhi is an area in New Delhi, India, named after the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens (1869–1944), who was responsible for much of the architectural design and building during the period of the British Raj, when India was part o ...

. His uncle

Sardar Ujjal Singh Sardar Ujjal Singh (27 December 1895 – 15 February 1983) was an Indian politician who served as the Governor of Punjab (India) (1 September 1965 – 26 June 1966), followed by acting Governor of Tamil Nadu (28 June 1966 - 16 June 1967). Pr ...

(1895–1983) was previously Governor of Punjab and

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...

. His birth name, given by his grandmother, was Khushal Singh (meaning "Prosperous Lion"). He was called by a pet name "Shalee". At school his name earned him ridicule as other boys would mock him with an expression, "Shalee Shoolee, Bagh dee Moolee" (meaning, "This shalee or shoolee is the radish of some garden.") He chose Khushwant so that it rhymes with his elder brother's name Bhagwant. He declared that his new name was "self-manufactured and meaningless". However, he later discovered that there was a Hindu physician with the same name, and the number subsequently increased. He entered the Delhi Modern School in 1920 and studied there till 1930. There he met his future wife, Kanwal Malik, one year his junior. He studied Intermediate of Arts at St. Stephen's College in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

during 1930-1932. He pursued higher education at

, in 1932, and got his BA in 1934 by a "

third-class degree The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading structure for undergraduate degrees or bachelor's degrees and integrated master's degrees in the United Kingdom. The system has been applied (sometimes with significant variati ...

". Then he went to

to study law, and was awarded an

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

. from

in 1938. He was subsequently

at the London

Career

Khushwant Singh started his professional career as a practicing lawyer in 1939 at Lahore in the Chamber of

Manzur Qadir Manzur Qadir (28 November 1913 – 12 October 1974) ( ur, منظور قادر) was a Pakistani jurist and politician who served as the Foreign Minister of Pakistan in the military government of Ayub Khan from 1958 to 1962.

and Ijaz Husain Batalvi. He worked at Lahore Court for eight years where he worked with some of his best friends and fans including

Akhtar Aly Kureshy Akhtar Aly Kureshy ( ur, ) (born 15 November 1963) is a Pakistani lawyer, advisor and senior advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan who served as Assistant Attorney-General for Pakistan. He remained Assistant Advocate General Punjab, a ...

, Advocate, and Raja Muhammad Arif, Advocate. In 1947 he entered

for the newly independent India. He started as Information Officer of the Government of India in Toronto, Canada. He was Press Attaché and Public Officer for the Indian High Commission for four years in London and Ottawa. In 1951 he joined the

as a journalist. Between 1954 and 1956 he worked in Department of Mass Communication of the UNESCO at Paris. From 1956 he turned to editorial services. He founded and edited ''Yojana'', an Indian government journal in 1951–1953; ''

The Illustrated Weekly of India ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' was an English-language weekly newsmagazine publication in India. It started publication in 1880 (as ''Times of India'' Weekly Edition; later renamed as ''The Illustrated Weekly of India'' in 1923) and ceasin ...

'', a newsweekly;''

The National Herald ''The National Herald'' is an English-language weekly newspaper, based in New York City, focusing on the Greek-American community. It was founded in 1997 and added a website in 2004. Its headquarters are in the Long Island City Long Island Cit ...

''. He was also appointed as editor of

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

on Indira Gandhi's personal recommendation. During his tenure, ''The Illustrated Weekly'' became India's pre-eminent newsweekly, with its circulation raising from 65,000 to 400,000. After working for nine years in the weekly, on 25 July 1978, a week before he was to retire, the management asked Singh to leave "with immediate effect". A new editor was installed the same day. After Singh's departure, the weekly suffered a huge drop in readership. In 2016 Khushwant Singh enters

Limca Book of Records The ''Limca Book of Records'' is an annual reference book published in India documenting world records held by Indians. The records are further categorized into education, literature, agriculture, medical science, business, sports, nature, advent ...

as a tribute.

Politics

From 1980 to 1986, Singh was a member of

Rajya Sabha The Rajya Sabha, constitutionally the Council of States, is the upper house of the bicameral Parliament of India. , it has a maximum membership of 245, of which 233 are elected by the legislatures of the states and union territories using si ...

, the upper house of the Indian parliament. He was awarded the

in 1974 for service to his country. In 1984, he returned the award in protest against the siege of the Golden Temple by the Indian Army. In 2007, the Indian government awarded Khushwant Singh the

. As a public figure, Khushwant Singh was accused of favouring the ruling Congress party, especially during the reign of

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (; Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and a central figure of the Indian National Congress. She was elected as third prime minister of India in 1966 ...

. When

announced nation-wide-emergency, he openly supported it and was derisively called an 'establishment liberal'. Singh's faith in the Indian political system was shaken by the

anti-Sikh riots The 1984 Anti-Sikh Riots, also known as the 1984 Sikh Massacre, was a series of organised pogroms against Sikhs in India following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by her Sikh bodyguards. Government estimates project that about 2,800 Sikhs ...

that followed Indira Gandhi's assassination, in which major Congress politicians are alleged to be involved; but he remained resolutely positive on the promise of Indian democracy and worked via

Citizen's Justice Committee Citizen's Justice Committee (commonly known as CJC) is an Indian umbrella organization of various human rights organizations and is known for ''pro bono'' representing the 1984 anti-Sikh riots victims in their legal battle to gain justice. Form ...

floated by

H. S. Phoolka Harvinder Singh Phoolka, is a senior advocate of Delhi High Court, politician, human rights activist, and author. He served as the Leader of the Opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly. He is known for spearheading what is described as ...

who is a senior advocate of

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

. Singh was a votary of greater diplomatic relations with

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

at a time when India did not want to displease

Arab The Arabs (singular: Arab; singular ar, عَرَبِيٌّ, DIN 31635: , , plural ar, عَرَب, DIN 31635: , Arabic pronunciation: ), also known as the Arab people, are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in Western Asia, ...

nations where thousands of Indians found employment. He visited Israel in the 1970s and was impressed by its progress.

Personal life

Khushwant Singh was married to Kanwal Malik. Malik was his childhood friend who had moved to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

earlier. They met again when he studied law at King's College London, and soon got married. They were married in Delhi, with Chetan Anand and Iqbal Singh as the only invitees.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad Ali Jinnah (, ; born Mahomedali Jinnahbhai; 25 December 1876 – 11 September 1948) was a barrister, politician, and the founder of Pakistan. Jinnah served as the leader of the All-India Muslim League from 1913 until the ...

also attended the formal service. They had a son, named Rahul Singh, and a daughter, named Mala. His wife predeceased him in 2001. Actress

Amrita Singh Amrita Singh (born 9 February 1958) is an Indian actress. Through her films such as ''Betaab'' and '' Mard'', she gained popularity and became a well-known and popular actress in the 1980s. She took a break from acting in the early 1990s for a ...

is the daughter of his brother Daljit Singh's son – Shavinder Singh and Rukhsana Sultana. He stayed in "Sujan Singh Park", near

Khan Market Khan Market, is a shopping district and retail market in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1951 by the newly constituted Republic of India's Rehabilitation Ministry to give economic opportunities to refugees of the Partition of India, ...

New Delhi, Delhi's first apartment complex, built by his father in 1945, and named after his grandfather. His grandniece

Tisca Chopra Tisca Zareen Chopra (née Arora; born 1 November 1973) is an Indian actress, author and film producer who has appeared in over 45 feature films, predominantly in Hindi language. ''Taare Zameen Par'', her best known feature film, was India's off ...

is a noted TV and film actress.

Religious belief

Singh was a self-proclaimed agnostic, as the title of his 2011 book ''Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God'' explicitly revealed. He was particularly against

organised religion Organized religion, also known as institutional religion, is religion in which belief systems and rituals are systematically arranged and formally established. Organized religion is typically characterized by an official doctrine (or dogma), a ...

. He was evidently inclined towards atheism, as he said, "One can be a saintly person without believing in God and a detestable villain believing in him. In my personalised religion, There Is No God!" He also once said, "I don't believe in rebirth or in reincarnation, in the day of judgement or in heaven or hell. I accept the finality of death." His last book ''The Good, The Bad and The Ridiculous'' was published in October 2013, following which he retired from writing. The book was his continued critique of religion and especially its practice in India, including the critique of the clergy and priests. It earned a lot of acclaim in India.

Death

Singh died of natural causes on 20 March 2014 at his

residence, at the age of 99. The

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

Vice-President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...

and

Prime Minister of India The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

all issued messages honouring Singh. He was cremated at Lodhi Crematorium in Delhi at 4 in the afternoon of the same day. During his lifetime, Khushwant Singh was keen on burial because he believed that with a burial we give back to the earth what we have taken. He had requested the management of the

Baháʼí Faith The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion, essential worth of all religions and Baháʼí Faith and the unity of humanity, the unity of all people. Established by ...

if he could be buried in their cemetery. After initial agreement, they had proposed some conditions which were unacceptable to Singh, and hence the idea was later abandoned. He was born in

, Khushab District in the Punjab Province of modern Pakistan, in 1915. According to his wishes, some of his ashes were brought and scattered in

. In 1943 he had already written his own obituary, included in his collection of short stories ''Posthumous.'' Under the headline "Sardar Khushwant Singh Dead", the text reads: He also prepared an epitaph for himself, which runs: He was cremated and his ashes are buried in Hadali school, where a plaque is placed bearing the inscription:

Honours and awards

* Rockefeller Grant, 1966 *

, Government of India (1974) (He returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the Union government's siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar) * ''Honest Man of the Year'',

Sulabh International Sulabh International is an India-based social service organization that works to promote human rights, environmental sanitation, non-conventional sources of energy, waste management and social reforms through education. The organization counts 50, ...

(2000) *

Punjab Rattan Award The Punjab Rattan Award, is an award given by the Government of Punjab for exceptional excellence and achievement in the service of Punjab or international level in the field of art, literature, culture, science, technology, politics and achievem ...

, The Government of Punjab (2006) *

, Government of India (2007) *

Sahitya Akademi Fellowship The Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is a literary honour in India bestowed by the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters.Quote: "In his acceptance speech when India's National Academy of Letters (Sahitya Akademi) in 1997 conferred its h ...

by Sahitya academy of India (2010) * 'All-India Minorities Forum Annual Fellowship Award' by

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 1950 ...

Chief Minister

Akhilesh Yadav Akhilesh is a given name. Notable people with the name include: * Akhilesh Das (1961–2017), educationist, professor, Indian politician and philanthropist * Akhilesh K. Gaharwar (born 1982), Indian academic and Professor at Texas A&M University * ...

(2012) * Lifetime achievement award by Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai Litfest in 2013 *

Fellow of King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

in January 2014 * 'The Grove Press Award' for the best fiction.

Literary works

Books

* ''The Mark of Vishnu and Other Stories'', (short story) 1950 * ''The History of Sikhs'', 1953 * ''

'', (novel) 1956 * ''The Voice of God and Other Stories'', (short story) 1957 * ''I Shall Not Hear the Nightingale'', (novel) 1959 * ''The Sikhs Today'', 1959 * ''The Fall of the Kingdom of the Punjab'', 1962 * ''A History of the Sikhs'', 1963 * ''Ranjit Singh: The Maharaja of the Punjab'', 1963 * ''Ghadar 1915: India's first armed revolution'', 1966 * ''A Bride for the Sahib and Other Stories'', (short story) 1967 * ''Black Jasmine'', (short story) 1971 * ''Tragedy of Punjab'', 1984 (with Kuldip Nayar) * ''The Sikhs'', 1984 * ''The Collected Stories of Khushwant Singh'', Ravi Dayal Publisher, 1989 * ''More Malicious Gossip,'' 1989 (collection of essays) * '' Delhi: A Novel'', (Novel) 1990 * ''Sex, Scotch & Scholarship,'' 1992 (collection of essays) * ''Not a Nice Man to Know: The Best of Khushwant Singh'', 1993 * ''We Indians'', 1993 * ''Women and Men in My Life'', 1995 * ''Declaring Love in Four Languages,'' by Khushwant Singh and Sharda Kaushik, 1997 * '' The Company of Women'', (novel) 1999 * ''Big Book of Malice,'' 2000, (collection of essays) * ''India: An Introduction,'' 2003 * ''

Truth, Love and a Little Malice ''Truth, Love and a Little Malice'' (published in 2002) is the title of the autobiography of Khushwant Singh, a famous Indian writer, journalist and columnist who is also a qualified Barrister from the Kings College, London. Apart from tracing h ...

:'' ''An Autobiography'', 2002 * ''

With Malice towards One and All "With Malice towards One and All" was the weekly column series published by Indian author and journalist Khushwant Singh in the leading English language dailes of India, occupying two full length columns on the editorial page of the Saturday edition ...

'' * ''The End of India'', 2003 * ''Burial at the Sea'', 2004 * ''A History of the Sikhs'', 2004 (2nd edition) * ''Paradise and Other Stories'', 2004 * ''A History of the Sikhs: 1469–1838'', 2004 * ''Death at My Doorstep'', 2005 * ''A History of the Sikhs: 1839–2004'', 2005 * ''The Illustrated History of the Sikhs'', 2006 * ''Land of Five Rivers'', 2006 * ''Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles'', 2009 * ''The Sunset Club'', (novel) 2010 * ''Gods and Godmen of India'', 2012 * ''Agnostic Khushwant: There is no God'', 2012 * ''The Freethinker's Prayer Book and Some Words to Live By,'' 2012 * ''The Good, the Bad and the Ridiculous'', 2013 (co-authored with Humra Qureshi) * ''Khushwantnama, The Lessons of My Life,'' 2013 * ''Punjab, Punjabis & Punjabiyat: Reflections on a Land and its People'', 2018 (posthumously compiled by his daughter Mala Dayal)

Short story

* ''The Portrait of a Lady'' * ''The Strain'' * ''Success Mantra'' * ''A Love Affair in London'' * ''The Wog'' * ''The Portrait of a Lady: Collected Stories'' (2013)

Play

Television Documentary: Third World—Free Press (also presenter; Third Eye series), 1983 (UK).

Notes

References

* Chopra, Radika
Social Criticism through Social History in Khushwant Singh's non-fiction
. Muse India Journal. Issue 44. July–August 2012. * Chopra, Radika.

. The IUP Journal of English Studies Vol 1. viii, No. 2 June 2013. pp. 59–77.

External links

* *
Profile
at

Essay on Khushwant Singh
on

The Literary Encyclopedia ''The Literary Encyclopedia'' is an online reference work first published in October 2000. It was founded as an innovative project designed to bring the benefits of information technology to what at the time was still a largely conservative li ...

Biography: Khushwant Singh

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Khushwant 1915 births 2014 deaths Indian civil servants Indian Foreign Service officers Modern School (New Delhi) alumni Alumni of King's College London Alumni of the University of London Indian columnists Indian male journalists Indian newspaper editors Indian male novelists Indian sceptics Novelists from Punjab, India Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education People from Lahore People from Khushab District Punjabi people Indian agnostics Government College University, Lahore alumni Indian atheists Former Sikhs Scholars of Sikhism Sikh writers Delhi University alumni Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha 20th-century Indian novelists Indian male short story writers 20th-century Indian short story writers 20th-century Indian dramatists and playwrights Indian male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Indian journalists Journalists from Punjab, India Dramatists and playwrights from Punjab, India 20th-century Indian male writers