The former Editor of the Hindustan Times and The Indian Express Boobli George Verghese died due to prolonged illness in Gurgaon on Tuesday. Mr. Verghese had suffered a back injury earlier this year and contracted dengue in November.
After being discharged from hospital, he was staying with his son Rahul. He succumbed to multiple ailments around 5.30 p.m. at his son’s home.
Mr. Rahul told The Hindu that one of the last things his father said was, “I have a lot of unfinished business.” Mr. Verghese was 88.
A Magsaysay Award winner and Information Adviser to former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, Mr. Verghese was born in Maymyo, Burma, now known as Pyin U Lwin, Myanmar, in 1926. He studied at Doon School, Dehradun, and St. Stephen’s College, Delhi, before getting a Master's Degree from Trinity College, Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He began his journalism with The Times of India .
He is remembered for his editorial titled “Kanchenjunga, here we come” in Hindustan Times after Sikkim merged with India in 1975. In the editorial, Mr. Verghese had called the operation “less than proper.” He had to leave Hindustan Times after that due to his criticism of Ms. Gandhi.
In his later years, he was associated with the Centre for Policy Research and The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI).
