Noted Punjabi novelist Jaswant Singh Kanwal died at his house in Dhudike village of Moga district on Saturday morning. He was 101.
“He was getting weak with age and prone to illness. He woke up as usual this morning and collapsed after coming out of the bathroom,” Kanwal’s grandson Sumail Singh Sidhu said.
The last rites will be held at the village cremation ground on Sunday.
Known as the ‘Writer of movements’ his works on the Naxalbari (Left), Muzara Lehar (tenancy) and Khalistan (separatist) movements in Punjab, Kanwal penned about 100 books.
Born on June 27, 1919, two-and-a-half months after the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, he spent his childhood in the village but moved to the British Malaya as a young man. Upon returning to India, he began writing on Punjab’s social and political issues.
Kanwal wrote his first book in 1940 but had to struggle to get it published. His famous novel, Lahu Di Lau (Dawn of the Blood), which was published from Singapore in the 1970s, was smuggled to Punjab during the Emergency.
He received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his novel Taushali Di Hanso in 1997.
He penned novels, short stories and essays, including Raat Baaki Hai, Sach Nu Phansi, Ainion Chon Utho Surma, Mukti Maarag, Haani, Pali, Puranmaashi, and Civil Lines.