Senior journalist BRP Bhaskar passes away

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Senior journalist BRP Bhaskar passed away on Tuesday morning. He was 92. He died at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. He has worked for almost all major news outlets covering epoch-making events in independent India. In his eventful journalistic career, BRP has been characterized by in-depth political analytical and interpretive reports, insightful interviews and countless scoops.

He was born on March 12, 1932 in Kollam. He was the son of A K Bhaskar, the owner of Navabharatham daily, and Meenakshi. He started by writing news in Navabharatham without his father's knowledge. He joined as a trainee in The Hindu in 1952. He had worked in The Hindu, Statesman and Patriot. In 1966, he joined UNI, a national news agency. He was bureau chief of UNI in Kolkata and Kashmir. There was an assassination attempt against the BRP for giving news against the Kashmir administration. He had worked for 70 years in media organizations including The Hindu, The Statesman, Deccan Herald, Patriot and UNI.

He was a journalist in Deccan Herald from 1984. When Asianet News started, he was appointed as the consultant of the news section. He retired from journalism in 1991. Lived in Thiruvananthapuram since 1993 and Chennai since 2017. He has received Swadesabhimani-Kesari Media Award of the Kerala Government in 2014. The autobiography was published under the title 'Newsroom'. This work won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for best autobiography in 2023.

He was always at the forefront of journalists' rights struggles and was also active in human rights activities. His wife Rema died in February 2023. His only daughter Bindu Bhaskar died of cancer in 2019.