By Arun Pratap Singh
Dehradun, 23 Feb: Veteran journalist Dr Jaskiran Chopra passed away last evening at Max Hospital, here. She was admitted to the Hospital after suffering a cardiac arrest but the doctors could not save her life. Her untimely death has been condoled by Governor Lt General Gurmit Singh (Retd), Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and former Governor of Uttarakhand Dr KK Paul, amongst others. Several leading journalists, writers and bureaucrats are among those who have condoled the untimely passing away of Dr Jaskiran Chopra.
Governor Singh stated that he was deeply saddened to hear about the passing of senior journalist Jaskiran Chopra. Expressing his condolences to her bereaved family and loved ones during this difficult time, he observed that Jaskiran Chopra had made significant contributions to the field of journalism, and her loss will be deeply felt by many.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed his deep grief over the death of Chopra. He prayed to God to provide peace to the departed soul and strength to the family members to bear the loss. Former Governor and retired IPS officer Dr KK Paul, too, condoled the passing away of Dr Chopra. Praising her accomplishments, Dr Paul observed that Dr Chopra combined the talents of an excellent litterateur while being a film critic. He further recalled that Jaskiran Chopra was a PhD in English Literature from Jaipur University and that her thesis was on the works of Ruskin Bond, a leading author in English from Uttarakhand. He added that the contributions of Jaskiran Chopra would be missed in the realm of literature and culture.
Dr Sanjeev Chopra, retired senior IAS officer and an author on contemporary history, described Jaskiran as a bilingual poet having command over English as well as Urdu, an accomplished author, journalist and critic.
Veteran journalist, academician and currently the BJP’s State Vice President, Dr Devendra Bhasin, too, has condoled the death of Jaskiran Chopra. In his message, Dr Bhasin stated that he is deeply saddened by the demise of famous journalist Dr Jaskiran Chopra. He added that she was a top-class journalist and an excellent writer. She was the author of many books and her articles were published in various newspapers of the country. She was also involved with many organisations. Dr Bhasin also recollected working together for several years in the Times of India Group of Newspapers.
It may be recalled that Dr Jaskiran Chopra has expressed her love for Dehradun through several books including her collection of poems in Urdu, titled ‘Mera Shehar’ and in her book of short stories – ‘Memories of Another Day’ – and also in her first work of fiction, titled ‘Autumn Raga’.
She was an alumna of Convent of Jesus & Mary in Dehradun and spent considerable part of her childhood here and in Mussoorie. Chopra was presently working for the Dehradun edition of Pioneer. She had in the past worked with United News of India (UNI) in Delhi and then in Dehradun, a leading news agency. She then joined Times of India as its in-charge in Dehradun. She was an academician, too, and taught journalism and English Literature at Doon University in Dehradun for some years. Currently, she was associated with The Pioneer as a Special Correspondent.
An accomplished writer, she also penned several books like ‘Autumn Raga’ and ‘Memories of Another Day’. She has written several books including two anthologies of Urdu poetry titled ‘Jashn e Tanhai’ and ‘Mera Sheher’, a novel in English titled Autumn Raga, a collection of stories titled ‘Memories of Another Day’, and a book on the life and work of famous writer Ruskin Bond. Besides being an alumna of Convent of Jesus & Mary in Dehradun during her school days, she is also an alumna of St Stephen’s College, Delhi University, and Indian Institute of Mass Communication, New Delhi.
She was born in a family of writers, with both her parents accomplished writers in Punjabi literature and, her brother, Navtej Sarna, a retired Indian Foreign Service officer, also having penned several books. She contributed several articles for Garhwal Post, also.
