Tavleen Singh is a distinguished Indian journalist, political reporter, and author, currently serving as a leading columnist for The Indian Express. With a career spanning over four decades, she is widely recognized for her incisive commentary on Indian politics, public policy, and governance.
Professional Experience & Journey: Singh began her journalistic career in the United Kingdom with the Evening Mail in Slough, where she trained under the Westminster Press training scheme. She returned to India in 1974, joining The Statesman as a reporter. Her extensive fieldwork includes tenure as a Special Correspondent for The Telegraph in 1982 and as the South Asia Correspondent for the Sunday Times, London. Over the years, she has contributed to major publications including India Today and has played a pioneering role in Indian television journalism, heading the Delhi bureau for Plus Channel.
Expertise & Focus Areas: Renowned for her deep understanding of India's political landscape, Singh has covered some of the most critical events in the nation's history, including the Punjab insurgency and the conflict in Kashmir. Her writing often bridges the gap between the "Durbar" of Delhi’s political elite and the ground realities of rural India. She currently writes the popular weekly column "Fifth Column" for The Indian Express, appearing every Sunday, where she offers critical analysis of government policies and political shifts.
Authoritativeness & Recognition Singh is a celebrated author of several best-selling books that serve as important records of contemporary Indian history. Her notable works include:
Kashmir: A Tragedy of Errors (1995)
Lollipop Street: Why India Will Survive Her Politicians (1999)
Durbar (2012)
India's Broken Tryst (2016)
Messiah Modi: A Tale of Great Expectations (2020)
Her fearless reporting has earned her significant accolades, including the Chameli Devi Jain Award for Outstanding Woman Mediaperson (1988) and the Sanskriti Award (1985) for her comprehensive coverage of the Punjab crisis.
Trust & Credibility As a veteran voice in Indian media, Singh is known for her unyielding candor and independent perspective. Her long-standing association with The Indian Express, a publication known for its "Journalism of Courage," reinforces her standing as a...

March 14, 2021 03:38 IST
The ‘experts’ who predicted that there would be 500,000 deaths in India by last July have been proved so wrong. Where are those experts by the way?
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
March 07, 2021 02:05 IST
If only PM would learn from the major western countries that liberal democracy and free markets are the two main reasons why they have been role models for half-developed countries like ours.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
February 28, 2021 04:36 IST
Tavleen Singh writes: Every time sedition charges are recklessly made against a student, an activist or a journalist, it diminishes our democracy a little bit more. Dissent is the lifeblood of democracy. Without it, democracy dies.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
February 21, 2021 03:45 IST
Tavleen Singh writes: It is now time for PM Modi to realise that only when he delivers on the ground what he has put in words will we see a revival of that optimism that we saw in 1991.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
February 14, 2021 04:35 IST
Tavleen Singh writes: When the Prime Minister himself is paranoid it stands to reason that his ministers and supporters will go further to launch their own campaigns to ferret out ‘anti-nationals’ and ‘urban Naxals’. This has been going on for a while.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
February 07, 2021 04:11 IST
Tavleen Singh writes: Instead of trying to shut down foreign voices it would be better for the Prime Minister to concentrate his energies on trying to win back the trust of our farmers.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
January 31, 2021 03:05 IST
On the farm laws, all that is left to say is that there is a total breakdown of trust. Farmers believe the new laws will destroy existing farm markets and throw them into the hands of private traders.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
January 24, 2021 03:50 IST
The farmers' tractor parade seeks not to disrupt the official parade but to make the point that the government has stopped listening to the people.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
January 17, 2021 02:00 IST
The vaccines have been produced by private companies, but decades of socialism have trained us to allow political leaders to take credit for everything.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
January 10, 2021 03:30 IST
If you run into one of these ‘new Indians’, remember that it is useless getting into any sort of discussion with them. It will take you nowhere.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
January 03, 2021 04:10 IST
It has become evident that in the ‘new India’, anyone who questions Modi’s policies will be treated as ‘anti-national’. Dissent is the lifeblood of democracy, so the harm done by this contempt for dissension is incalculable.
Sun, Jan 02, 2022
December 27, 2020 00:41 IST
Tavleen Singh writes: The farmers have shown Narendra Modi that this kind of contempt for the people is not something that even the most powerful political leaders can get away with. The PM has been forced finally to step out of his echo chamber into the real world.
Sun, Dec 27, 2020
December 20, 2020 03:30 IST
What worries me today is that we seem in India to be regressing into a Hindu version of Pakistan. What worries me more is that laws are being passed that specifically target women’s rights and that our usually vocal feminists are mysteriously silent.
Sun, Dec 20, 2020
December 13, 2020 03:50 IST
Is it just that sort of moment when Indian reality becomes so surreal that it is hard to see clearly what reality is any more. Through the fog of surrealism what is clear is that the voice of ‘the people’ is not being heard.
Sun, Dec 13, 2020
December 06, 2020 03:45 IST
In a democracy, the people’s voice is not heard just through the ballot box, and it is beginning to look as if Prime Minister Modi has forgotten this.
Mon, Dec 07, 2020
November 29, 2020 03:45 IST
After 26/11 the lesson we have learned is that it is no longer about Kashmir. It is about harming India in every way possible and the reason why Mumbai has been on target, is with the specific aim of weakening India’s economy.
Sun, Nov 29, 2020
November 22, 2020 04:24 IST
When it comes to dog whistles it is true to say that both Hindu and Muslim ‘leaders’ are guilty. But, it is those who hold high office in Modi’s government who have the highest platforms and the loudest whistles, so they need to show the highest responsibility.
Sun, Nov 22, 2020
November 15, 2020 01:30 IST
PM Modi's economic failures, that began with demonetisation, should reduce any satisfaction he gets from his political successes.
Sun, Nov 15, 2020
November 08, 2020 03:50 IST
For a while it seemed as if Modi’s reason for never having given a press conference was that he did not know how to deal with the media.
Sun, Nov 08, 2020
November 01, 2020 04:00 IST
Narendra Modi’s Kashmir policy will be counted as a miserable failure if he does not bring peace and normalcy to the Valley so if the demands of leaders like Farooq and Mehbooba are reasonable they will be met.
Sun, Nov 01, 2020
October 25, 2020 03:30 IST
In India, there is no room for either the Islamic State, its evil ideology, or for ‘scholars’ who talk such rubbish. Our religions and the foundational values of our nation do not sanction primitive concepts like blasphemy and apostasy.
Sun, Oct 25, 2020
October 18, 2020 04:59 IST
Tavleen Singh writes: It is my fervent hope that the efforts being made to demean and perhaps destroy Bollywood fail, but there is no point in denying that the men who want to see it destroyed are today extremely powerful.
Mon, Oct 19, 2020
October 11, 2020 02:10 IST
The most disturbing development of the past six years has been that the nature of Indian democracy has been deliberately changed from liberal to illiberal.
Sun, Oct 11, 2020
October 04, 2020 03:50 IST
What happened in Hathras has come as a grotesque reminder of how important it is for this to change.
Sun, Oct 04, 2020
September 27, 2020 03:50 IST
It is hard to believe that private conversations on private cellphones would persuade a judge to send Deepika Padukone, Sara Ali Khan or Rakul Preet Singh to jail, but what has been achieved is their public humiliation.
Sun, Sep 27, 2020




