Veteran journalist ML Kak passes away at 85

Veteran journalist and noted author ML Kak, who hailed from Naidyar in Rainawari, Kashmir, breathed his last at his residence in Gurugram on Wednesday. He was 85.

Kak started his career with The Tribune after a postgraduate degree in English literature and diploma in journalism. He worked as a correspondent in Haryana, HP and J&K. When the Emergency was imposed, he was among several journalists arrested in June 1975 and lodged in Hisar jail after a showdown with the then Haryana CM, Bansi Lal.

He was transferred to Central Jail, Srinagar. The then PM, Indira Gandhi, had termed Kak’s arrest “misuse of Emergency powers” and ordered his release. Kak has authored many books, including Jailed Without Crime (Untold story of Emergency).