Mr. R. Venkataraman, former President of India On Mr. Prem Bhatia.
	Mr. Prem Bhatia was handsome, gentle, elegantly dressed with a dignified bearing. Even in those young days he was respected and had easy access to the Cabinet Ministers.   He had a charming way of eliciting information without appearing to do so. While regaling the listener with anecdotes of which he had an inexhaustible store, he would slip in his query and get the information from the unsuspecting listener.   As a political correspondent of The Statesman for nearly twelve years that Prem Bhatia established his reputation. This period offered him opportunities to accompany Prime Minister Nehru on several of his official visits to countries like the Soviet Union, China, United States, Britain, Indonesia to name only a few and meet with world statesmen like Khrushchev, Mao Tse Tung, Chou-En-Lai, Tito, Nasser, Sukarno, Eisenhower, Kennedy and other celebraties.   The list of national leaders with whom he had close association is equally impressive. Nehru, Azad, Pant, Kidwai, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Tandon, Jaya Prakash narayan, Sardar Patel, Dr. Radhakrishnan, Indira Gandhi, Zail Singh and a host of others treated Prem Bhatia more as a friend than as a journalist. Prem Bhatia was totally committed to the freedom of the Press. In his volume "of Many Pastures" he says "My own feeling during the Emergency was a deep sense of humaliation, resulting especially from ruthless censorship. On the morning censorship was imposed, I felt I had been slapped on the face………………" and later adds it was a most unpleasant period of his life as a journalist. His candid characterisation of the heroes of emergency makes very interesting reading in retropect.   As a writer Prem Bhatia was clear, concise and crisp. There was hardly any rhetoric or flamboyancy in his writings but they were elegant and informative. He was a stickler for correct language.   I could talk freely to Prem Bhatia for never even once did he ever embarrass me by quoting me in my columns. He was also a source of information about current affairs relating to administration, political parties and public reactions. He always proved correct in his assessments. Above all, Prem Bhatia approximated to Cardinal Newman’s definition of a gentleman. "His was a noble life worthy of admiration of all and emulation by the younger generation of journalists".
	MR. K.R. NARAYANAN THE PRESIDENT OF INDIA (The President of India was then the Vice-President of India.) IN PREFACE TO PREM BHATIA’S BOOK "WITNESS TO HISTORY"
	In the preface he wrote if independent Indian has a Hall of fame for journalism, Prem Bhatia would figure at a prominent spot in the top row. No Indian journalist had had such a close look at history, from a ring side seat as long as Prem Bhatia had.   There have been others with longer stint in journalism than Prem Bhatia, but 60 years and more working life were embellished by distinguished forays in to diplomacy, army, public relations. He adorned everything he touched with a sense of commitment and a nit-picker’s insistence on perfection and accuracy. Besides enjoying personal rapport with the great names of Indian politics from the 40’s to 80’s Prem Bhatia had interacted at personal levels with heads of state of countries around the world from Queen Elizabeth, Jomo Kenyatta, Lee Kuan Yew, to heads of goverments of most countries of the world.   Thus, while all the pieces were written as contemprory responses to events, there is permanence in every piece and the subjectwise rather than chronological presentation, affords the readers to understand an issue in its full perspective in the background of unfolding history. The parts of Pakistan, Punjab and Kashmir are particularly fresh and enlightening even for those who are well acquainted with the region and its politics.    The Bhatia legacy is a continuation of tradition that upholds the highest value of journalism, truth, fairness, and excellence in writing and reportage.