Many bid final farewell to Nayar

Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former vice president Hamid Ansari and hundreds of well-wishers turned up bid a final farewell to veteran journalist Kuldip Nayar at the Lodhi Road crematorium here on Thursday.

Nayar's sons Sudhir and Rajiv conducted the last rites before his mortal remains were consigned to flames in an electric crematorium in the presence of family, friends and well wishers.

Among those who paid their last respects at the crematorium include Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, Union Ministers Harsh Vardhan and Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore, social activists Aruna Roy and Swami Agnivesh, former union minister Arun Shourie, Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi and senior journalist H K Dua.

Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and his wife Gursharan Kaur offered their condolences to Nayar's wife Bharti.

Singh also penned a condolence letter to Nayar's wife hailing the veteran journalist as a "person who wore many hats in his decades of public life".

President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condoled the veteran journalist’s demise.

Kovind called Nayar "a determined champion of democracy during the Emergency".

Modi hailed Nayar's resistance to Emergency. "His strong stand against the Emergency, public service and commitment to a better India will always be remembered.

The Editors Guild of India hailed Nayar as a doyen of Indian journalism who as a founder member of the guild and provided it with a energetic and visionary leadership.

"His many legendary news scoops will continue to inspire generations of young journalists for their sharpness, credibility, speed and standards of due diligence," the guild said in a statement.

A prayer meeting for Nayar will be held on Saturday at 4.00 pm at the Siri Fort Auditorium here.