Punjab Rattan Award for Khushwant

The award is to felicitate people whose eminence in the field of art, literature & culture "transcends national borders".

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh will honour eminent writer Khushwant Singh with the Punjab Rattan Award on August 31 in New Delhi.

HT Image

The Punjab government instituted the award to felicitate personalities whose eminence in the field of art, literature, culture "transcends national boundaries and frontiers", an official spokesman said on Monday.

Khushwant Singh, who had become a "legend in his lifetime is the sub-continent's most prolific writer, historian, critic and columnist", he said.

The chief minister would present a silver memento and a citation to Khushwant Singh.

Around 20 eminent personalities from Pakistan are likely to participate in the function subject to clearance by the Indian High Commission in Islamabad, the spokesman said.

Born in 1915 in Hadali village in Sargodha district of Punjab (now in Pakistan), he is the bestselling author of over 80 books and two weekly columns syndicated in over 40 English publications.

He joined All-India Radio in 1951 as a journalist and was the editor of National Herald, The Illustrated Weekly of India and the Hindustan Times.

Khushwant Singh was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1974 and was a Rajya Sabha MP from 1980 to 1986.