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Khushwant Singh

31 quotes

“More than a bomb or gun/ The footwear is a potent weapon,/ For, what years of shouting couldn’t do/ A momentary missile has done/ And, in the bargain, blackened/ A Journalist’s profession;/ Even if justice has won/ Even Bush to Chidambaram/ It is becoming a bit too common;/ Thank God, it is as yet with danger fraught/ Thank God, my wife has yet used it not.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Nelli was an unknown little village till over three thousand people were slain in one orgy of killing. It was Bangladeshi refugees killing Bengalis and Assamese; Assamese and Bengalis killing each other; tribals killing non-tribals; Muslims killing Hindus and Christians; Christians killing Hindus.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) first seen 2014 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Many Faces, p. 29, quoted from Elst, Koenraad (2014). Decolonizing the Hindu mind: Ideological development of Hindu revivalism. New Delhi: Rupa. p 374
“It was the Congress leaders who instigated mobs in 1984 and got more than 3000 people killed. I must give due credit to RSS and the BJP for showing courage and protecting helpless Sikhs during those difficult days. No less a person than Atal Bihari Vajpayee himself intervened at a couple of places to help poor taxi drivers.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) first seen 1989 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Khushwant Singh: 'Congress (I) is the Most Communal Party', Publik Asia, 16-11-1989. , quoted in Elst, Koenraad (2002). Who is a Hindu?: Hindu revivalist views of Animism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and other offshoots of Hindu…
“When I was in England as a student, socialism was much talked about among us. We read and discussed Bertrand Russell and attended lectures by Harold J. Laski. I have not retained many socialistic ideas, but I am still an agnostic.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“This is one of those things - a contradiction. It was an emotional issue for me. I was born and raised in a Sikh family. I still keep my beard and turban and identify myself with the Sikh community.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“R.S.S is a communal organization and dangerous to the country's secular fabric. Look what they did to Muslims in Gujarat. However, they take a different approach with the Sikhs. During the 1984 Sikh pogrom, they did save many Sikh lives. R.S.S. volunteers participated during the tercentenary celebrations of the Khalsa in 1999. They consider the Khalsa to be a military wing of Hinduism and their savior.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sikhs are kesadhari Hindus. Their religious source is Hinduism. Sikhism is a tradition developed within Hinduism. Guru Granth Sahib reflects Vedantic philosophy and Japji Sahib is based on the Upanishads.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Why not all three? I have worked hard on each (stated with pride and an endearing smile).”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I base my opinion on historical evidence. After Guru Gobind Singh's death, Sikh peasantry rose in arms under Banda Bahadur. Then Jats in the Sikh Misl [armed groups] fought all through the 18th century to establish Khalsa raj [rule]. Out of the 12 Sikh misls, 9 were headed by Jat chiefs. In this struggle, they made tremendous sacrifices. If one generation was wiped out, the next generation took up arms. Finally, they emerged victorious at the end of the century.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Indians have sex more often in their brains and not where it should be. Sex is an elemental passion. It's an integral part of our life. All human relationship is based on the desire to have sex. It's human to have desire for sex and when it is not fulfilled, it comes out in *******ed forms. That is why celibacy does not work. The desire to have multiple partners is also normal. Married people commit adultery in their mind - happy married life is a façade. I have a collection of sex jokes, which I hope will be published posthumously.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You are being dishonest if you are not writing about sex in your book. It is very natural and normal. Well, I have earned the name of 'dirty old man' but there is not much sex in my books. What I have written is very serious stuff - biography, history, religious texts, etc.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am disappointed in him. He was an able and clean man. I supported him initially. After 1984, Sikhs did not want to vote for Congress. I put forward his name. He came to thank me. But when he was the Home Minister, and he came with his bodyguards in tow, during an event, I took the liberty to say, "You sowed the seed of communalism in the country and the country will pay for it." Advani doesn't womanize; such men are dangerous.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I supported her [Indira Gandhi] when I thought she was right in imposing the emergency. With some reservations, I supported the Emergency proclaimed by Indira Gandhi on June 25, 1975. Let me explain why. I concede that the right to protest is integral to democracy. You can have public meetings to criticize or condemn government actions. You can take out processions, call for strikes and closure of businesses. But there must not be any coercion or violence. If there is any, it is the duty of the government to suppress it by force, if necessary.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But when she curbed the freedom of press during the emergency, I withdrew my support. Indira Gandhi had the habit of snubbing whoever opposed her. She was waiting for a chance to snub me. I never gave her the chance as I never met her after that.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“My mind is no dirtier than most men's. I am honest and I say it. Fantasising is a common phenomenon and there's no censorship here.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I've always been indifferent to dressing. Amita Malik got it right when she put me among the worst dressed men in India. But yes, I am a born joker.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No, love is an ephemeral and illusive concept, it doesn't last; lust lasts.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Very important. A sense of belonging, and that's why I gave up the Padma Bhushan after Operation Bluestar. I was the only Indian to criticise Bhindranwale. I called him a homicidal maniac when I was in The Hindustan Times. And he threatened to finish us all. And then I had all this security for 15 years. They've all gone now. Nobody wants to kill me anymore.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I’ve no patience with Hindi films. I find them so unreal. But some I was taken to, like Raj Kapoor’s Satyam Shivam Sundaram.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yes, in fact I was almost single-handed in protesting about holding the prisoners of war. It was largely on the pressure of Mujibur Rahman that Mrs Gandhi was holding them. Because she obviously recognised Bangladesh and his (Mujibur's) stand was clear: Let them recognise Bangladesh as an independent state and then we will free them. And that's what we did later.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't think so. I don't think any editor can make a difference to a daily paper because more than half, even three quarters is wire material and from correspondents in different places all over the country. And foreign news. And really the only thing the editor has is writing the editorials.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, my faith--if there is any, because I am an agnostic--I have faith in good people which I think is all that one can do. The principle I tried to follow is: Try not to lie, because then you tie yourself up in knots; you have to follow it up with other lies. The only religion I subscribe to is the one word--ahimsa--try not to hurt.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In a public figure, if he tries to put himself out as a man of great virtue then it is justified in exposing him. If he has a little mistress tucked away or frequents massage parlours, then it's his business. But if he in addition preaches morality then I think he should be exposed.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I write what I believe in and don't care a damn about the consequences.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think humour can be a very lethal weapon.You make somebody a laughing stock and you kill him. But most journalists don't do it. They get angry, which doesn't serve the purpose.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have to teach myself to do nothing. In the last phase of a man's life, according to the Hindu tradition, you're meant to be a forest dweller.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am trying hardest to see no one, because I find it tiresome. I have people descending on me and flattering me. I fall for flattery.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I couldn't give a damn, [he said]. Writing is where I succeeded. I was a flop in everything else.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Under its first two Indian editors [The Illustrated Weekly] became a vehicle of Indian culture devoting most of its pages to art, sculpture, classical dance and pretty pictures of flowers, birds, and dencing belles. It did not touch controversial subjects, was strictly apolitical and asexual (save occasional blurred reproductions of Khajuraho or Konarak). It earned a well-deserved reputation for dull respectability. I changed all that. What was a four-wheeled victoria taking well-draped ladies out to eat the Indian air I made a noisy rumbustious, jet-propelled vehicle of information, controversy and amusement. I tore up the unwritten norms of gentility, both visual and linguistic… . And slowly the circulation built up, till the Illustrated did become a weekly habit of the English-reading pseudo-elite of the country. It became the most widely read journal in Asia (barring Japan) because it reflected all the contending points of view on every conceivable subject: politics, economics, religion, and the arts.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) first seen 1981 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Khushwant Singh's editor's page, IBH Pub. Co., 1981, p. 4
“What matters most is whether or not India will continue to remain a secular state committed to socialism or become a Hindu Rashtra wearing a secular mask with an agenda of its own, including building a mammoth [[w:Ram Janmabhoomi|Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, preserving the Ram Setu and other relics associated with Hinduism. The choice is between an India of the dreams of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru on the one side (secular), and those of Vir Savarkar and Guru Golwalkar on the other (Hindutva). By no stretch of the imagination can it be called secular. We have to choose between remaining what we are or opt to become a Hindu Rashtra.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...but religion I think should be completely separated (from journalism). I have no grievance against people who believe in God, go to places of worship and waste a lot of time in prayer. It's their business, if they get something out of it, they are welcome. But institutionalised religion is a breeding ground for prejudice and hatred without exception and therefore I have very little use for it and I criticise insitutionalising religion and fatwas and hukumnamas and things like that. I think they should be banned if the government has the courage to say: mind your own business and don't stick your nose into things that don't concern you strictly.That is possible in the kind of society we have in India.”
Khushwant Singh (1915–2014) said by 2014 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source