Kuldip Nayar, a journalist, author, human rights activist and parliamentarian, passed away at the age of 95 after a brief illness.

Born in Sialkot (now in Pakistan) in 1923, Nayar graduated in law. He studied journalism and began his career with an Urdu newspaper called Anjam. Over the course of his career, Nayar worked with several media organisations, like The Statesman and The Indian Express. He authored 15 books, including Beyond the Lines, India after Nehru and Emergency Retold. In 2015, the Express group honoured Nayar with a Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to journalism at the eighth edition of the Ramnath Goenka Awards. He was felicitated by Union minister Arun Jaitley.

Newslaundry spoke to Nayar’s colleagues, Raghu Rai and Coomi Kapoor, on his legacy and what he stood for.

Raghu Rai, renowned photographer and journalist, worked with Nayar for over a decade, and remembers him as a “magnificent man”. Nayar was Rai’s first editor and was also present at the release of Rai’s photography magazine, Creative Image, in 2015. In his autobiography, Beyond The Lines, Nayar also refers to Rai as a “gifted photographer”.

Rai told Newslaundry, “Nayar sahab was almost a century of living history who has just left us. But a history that was born out of honesty, truthfulness and explorations. He never flickered, never dimmed in his energy and commitment towards the country that he loved so deeply. From S Mulgaonkar to Kuldip Nayar—these are the breed of great editors. When they write, the governments shake.”

Rai speaks fondly about Nayar and their time together. He says, “He was one of those rarest breeds, and nobody else has been like him. Here was a man who was also a kind of a social scientist, social worker and an activist, apart from being a great journalist.”

During the Emergency imposed by then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, several journalists were arrested. Nayar, a staunch opposer of the Emergency, was also jailed during that period under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act. He was arrested for leading a protest against the excesses of the administration.

Speaking about Nayar’s arrest, Rai says, “He was one of those rare guys who stood up. In the first few days, we published pictures and stories which were anti-government. But then they [the government] would edit our pictures or not allow us to publish our pictures.” Nayar’s way of standing up to the administration was to leave the space blank in the newspaper for the photograph.

Nayar was not only Rai’s editor but also his best editor. Rai remembers anecdotes from those days, including the time Nayar asked for his resignation. It was the early 1970s, and The Statesman’s photo section, of which Rai was a part, was in dire need of new camera equipment. When Rai told Nayar, the latter promised to bring it up with the managing director in Calcutta, CR Irani, whom Rai says “was so arrogant that he literally destroyed The Statesman”.

But Nayar returned from his trip with no results, saying Irani had been too busy for them to discuss it. Rai told him, “I am sorry, then we are not going to be doing any photo assignments,” and promptly told the same thing to his staff.

The next day, however, on June 14, 1972, Japan Airlines Flight 471 crashed into the banks of the Yamuna River, killing 86 passengers. Remembering it, Rai said, “And that was a huge thing for a newspaper. Everybody carried big, beautiful pictures except The Statesman … And we had some small pigley pictures from somewhere.” He had reminded Nayar of his statement to do no further assignments until they got their equipment. To which Nayar said, in anger, “Why don’t you resign and go, since you aren’t taking care of important assignments?”

Rai was furious. He says, “I had spent weeks convincing him that he did not have good equipment. So I said ‘you should resign and go because I have spent more years in the Statesman.'”

Following this, Rai slammed Nayar’s door shut and left. Barely five or seven minutes later, Nayar apologised to Rai. Nearly four decades after the incident, Rai recalls how both of them hugged each other and cried subsequently. A choked-up Rai adds, “He was that rare breed of editors who had the humility and goodness to come to my room and apologise.”

Rai describes his relationship with Nayar as amazing. He says, “He respected people who had the honesty to do things.”

He talks about the time Nayar refused to publish one of his photographs. This was during the elections of 1977. “I had come back from the shooting with a picture of family planning posters and Indira’s posters being put into the dustbin. I showed him the picture and he said, ‘what a wonderful, editorial statement it is’. But he said, we can’t use it because if she [Indira] doesn’t lose, then both of us will be jail,” Rai says with a chuckle.

“I was very upset. And I told him, ‘Nayar sahab, I am not a political analyst. But I am a sniffer and an intuitive person. And the mood is that they are losing it.’ But he refused to use the picture. I was so angry that I threw the picture and went away. I didn’t go to the office the next day. By 5 pm, the results had started coming in. He started looking for me and rang me up at the house.” Finally, the picture was displayed prominently as a photo editorial, to sum up the situation.

Rai says Nayar has left behind a legacy of truth and honesty. “He was a man of love, affection and dignity—a magnificent man. His passing away is not sad at all. He has lived a glorious life. He was above 90 and the eternal truth is we all have to go. His legacy should be an inspiration to all honest and committed journalists.”

Newslaundry also spoke to Coomi Kapoor, consulting editor with The Indian Express, who describes Nayar as her mentor. She says, “He not only mentored me but many young journalists; not necessarily from his newspaper. He always took an interest.” Kapoor says Nayar was a warm-hearted and enterprising person and a go-getter as a journalist. She also says Nayar persevered to bring peace between India and Pakistan.

Kapoor recalls the days of the Emergency, and the role Nayar played in the newsroom. “When the Emergency was introduced, we as reporters did nothing. Then he [Nayar] called us and said, ‘you get your act together, and even if you can’t write anything for the newspaper, at least keep a record of what’s happening in the country, keep a diary to know what is going on’. It was for our own benefit. But of course, we never did!”

Speaking about Nayar’s role in her personal life, Kapoor says, “In my particular case, when he [Nayar] was arrested, my husband was arrested as well. And when he came out, he was very sympathetic and supportive to me.”

On Nayar’s legacy and what one can learn from him, Kapoor says, “One should always keep their courage, show some conviction, and not be suppressed by the government of the day.”