Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles

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The Emergency has become a synonym for obscenity. Even men and women who were pillars of Emergency rule and misused their positions to harass innocent people against whom they had personal grudges try to distance themselves from their past in the hope that it will fade out of public memory forever. We must not allow them to get away with it,' says Khushwant Singh, while fearlessly stating his own reasons for championing the Emergency. This bold and thought-provoking collection includes essays on Indira Gandhi's government, the Nanavati Commission's report on the 1984 riots and the riots themselves, as well as captivating pieces on the art of kissing and the importance of bathing. Alongside these are portraits of historical figures such as Bahadur Shah Zafar, General Dyer, Ghalib and Maharaja Ranjit Singh as well as candid profiles of the famous personalities he has known over the years, revealing intimate details about their lives and characters. From his reflections on Amrita Sher-Gil's alleged promiscuity to the experience of watching a pornographic film with a stoic R.K. Narayan, this is Khushwant Singh at his controversial and iconoclastic best. Selected and edited by Sheela Reddy, Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles covers three quarters of a century. Straight from the heart, this is unadulterated Khushwant Singh.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Khushwant Singh

Khushwant Singh was born in 1915 in Hadali, Punjab. After university education in Lahore and London, he practiced at the Lahore High court before joining the Indian Ministry of External Affairs. He began a distinguished career as a journalist with all India Radio in 1951. Since then he has been founder-editor of Yojana, editor of the Illustrated Weekly of India and the Hindustan Times and chief editor of New Delhi. Today he is India’s best known columnist. Khushwant Singh has also had an extremely successful career as a writer. His published works include the classic two-volume A History of the Sikhs, the novels Train to Pakistan, Delhi and The Company of Women, his autobiography, Truth, Love and a Little Malice, and a number of translated works and non-fiction books on Delhi, nature, Sikh history and religion, and current affairs. Khushwant Singh was Member of Parliament from 1980 to 1986. Among other honours he was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 by the President of India (he returned the decoration in 1984 in protest against the Union Government’s siege of the Golden Temple, Amritsar).

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Bibliographic information

Title
Why I Supported the Emergency: Essays and Profiles
Author
Edition
1st ed.
Publisher
ISBN
9780670083244
Length
296p.
Subjects