NEW DELHI, Jan 28: Award-winning Hindi writer and journalist Kamleshwar Prasad Saxena, best known for a novel that explored how nations fracture through an allegorical court trial, died late Saturday. He was 75.

A prolific writer of some 30 books that explored contemporary Indian society, Kamleshwar died of a heart attack in New Delhi, relatives said.

His novel, “Kitney Pakistan” (How many Pakistans?), published under the name “Partitions” in English, was an attempt to understand the bloody division of India as it won freedom from British colonial rule in 1947, which created Pakistan.The novel presents a court trial in which historical and political figures and places, including Spanish coloniser Hernando Cortez, Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein, and the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki appear as witnesses.

“Kamleshwar stamped his presence as a fine Hindi litterateur by making important contributions to Hindi short story writing as well as scripts for television and movies,” Kalam said in a statement.

Kamleshwar was awarded the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian honour, in 2006 for his contributions to literature.

He started his career as a scriptwriter at India's state-run Doordarshan television channel and rose up its ranks to become one of its most senior executives, before moving on to edit India's top Hindi daily, Dainik Jagran.

He is survived by his wife and a daughter.—AFP