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...

February 12, 2006 00:00 IST
It has been more than 10 years now that I have attended the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos and never have I seen India ...
Sun, Feb 12, 2006
February 05, 2006 00:00 IST
Last week newspapers in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland, in a gesture of solidarity with Denmark, reprinted t...
Sun, Feb 05, 2006
January 29, 2006 00:00 IST
It has been a while since you read about Kashmir in this space. This is because I have been too bored with the subject to write about it. Te...
Sun, Jan 29, 2006
January 22, 2006 00:00 IST
Our Prime Minister is a cautious man, not given to hyperbole, but one of the things he likes saying is that the 21st century is going to be ...
Sun, Jan 22, 2006
January 15, 2006 00:30 IST
If the Sonia-Manmohan Government is remembered for anything other than giving us our first half prime minister it will be for bringing back ...
Sun, Jan 15, 2006
January 08, 2006 00:00 IST
The first politician I met in 2006 was Sharad Pawar. It was a fortuitous meeting because this column now has a new cause. Agriculture. Borin...
Sun, Jan 08, 2006
January 01, 2006 00:00 IST
Anyone writing a column that appears on the first day of a new year is forced to reminisce about the last one. Squashed on this page between...
Sun, Jan 01, 2006
December 25, 2005 00:25 IST
It is true that our political class is venal and contemptible. It is true that the nature of the Indian state is more colonial than democrat...
Sun, Dec 25, 2005
December 18, 2005 00:00 IST
The most intriguing feature of the World Economic Forum’s India Summit last month was that both the Prime Minister and the Finance Mini...
Sun, Dec 18, 2005
December 11, 2005 00:00 IST
Often on my travels, these days, I meet Muslims who complain about being misunderstood by the world. Islam is a religion of peace, they say,...
Sun, Dec 11, 2005
December 04, 2005 00:00 IST
The word ‘‘infrastructure’’ came up so often at last week’s India Economic Summit it became the conference’s b...
Sun, Dec 04, 2005
November 27, 2005 00:00 IST
Last week provided us with a rare moment of hope in politics — the defeat of Mr and Mrs Laloo Yadav. No defeat was more deserved, more ...
Sun, Nov 27, 2005
November 20, 2005 00:00 IST
Delhi is India’s most sycophantic city and even bows, as the old Punjabi saying goes, to the rising sun. So as a conscientious objector...
Sun, Nov 20, 2005
November 13, 2005 00:00 IST
So quietly did our Finance Minister exempt political parties from his infamous fringe benefit tax that only a couple of financial newspapers...
Sun, Nov 13, 2005
November 06, 2005 00:00 IST
Every time there is an act of Islamist terrorism on Indian soil, I draw attention in this column to the jehad against us infidel Hindus and ...
Sun, Nov 06, 2005
October 30, 2005 00:00 IST
If only, ah if only, the Supreme Court had gone a step further than it did last week when it ordered Buta Singh to be thrown out of his Delh...
Sun, Oct 30, 2005
October 23, 2005 00:00 IST
A Pakistani friend called me a few days ago to say relief workers she knew in the earthquake affected areas were appealing desperately for m...
Sun, Oct 23, 2005
October 16, 2005 00:00 IST
Next week, Bihar goes back to the polls in a wasteful, needless electoral exercise that would not have happened had Laloo Prasad Yadav not h...
Sun, Oct 16, 2005
October 09, 2005 00:25 IST
If I told you that all it will take to empower all of India’s destitute, dispossessed children is Rs 6,000 crores (0.2% of GDP) a year ...
Sun, Oct 09, 2005
October 02, 2005 00:00 IST
It is the considered opinion of your humble columnist that V S Naipaul is correct when he dismisses most intellectual discourse in India as ...
Sun, Oct 02, 2005
September 25, 2005 00:22 IST
The only surprising thing about the latest revelations from Vasili Mitrokhin’s archives is that we should be surprised at all. It’...
Sun, Sep 25, 2005
September 18, 2005 00:05 IST
As someone who finds it hard to trust military dictators I am always a little wary about our friendly, neighbourhood General and pay close a...
Sun, Sep 18, 2005
September 11, 2005 00:00 IST
On the day that the UN Human Development Index revealed last week that even Bangladesh was doing better than India in human development, our...
Sun, Sep 11, 2005
September 04, 2005 00:00 IST
Let me begin with a question. Why have Muslims in India remained an underclass despite ‘‘secular’’ governments having ru...
Sun, Sep 04, 2005
August 28, 2005 00:00 IST
It saddened me to see Sonia Gandhi’s Rural Employment Bill passing through the Lok Sabha without a murmur of protest. But then we do no...
Sun, Aug 28, 2005





