Balbir Punj is a journalist and columnist from India. For last two and a half decades,Punj has been writing on current topics in Hindi-English newspapers and magazines. He specializes in writing about social,economic,and political issues.
Punj started his career in journalism for the publication Motherland in 1971. He worked for Financial Express from 1974 to 1996. Then he worked for The Observer of Business and Politics (A business daily published from Delhi and Mumbai) as an Executive Editor for four years- from May 1996 to March 2000. He was also IIMC chairman for two years until March 2000. IIMC is a known organization in media training in the entire Southeast Asia. Punj also participated in the Delhi Journalists Association,where he served as the President for two consecutive terms between 1989 and 1991. In 1993–95,Punj worked as the General Secretary of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ). He was chairman of the National Commission for Youth.[1] He was also a member of the 'Delhi Finance Commission' established by the then Delhi Government in 1996–97. On May 18,2022,Balbir Punj was conferred with Lifelong Devrishi Narad Samman Award.[2]
In the past,Balbir Punj exposed Booker Prize winner and ultra-Leftist Arundhati Roy's lies in her 7-page-long (approx. 6000 words) article in Outlook titled "Democracy:Who is she when she's at home?",dated 6 May 2002 on the violence in Gujarat.[12] She wrote:"A mob surrounded the house of ex-Congress MP Iqbal Ehsan Jaffri. His phone calls to the director-general of police,the police commissioner,the chief secretary,the additional chief secretary (home) were ignored. The mobile police vans around his house did not intervene. The mob broke into the house. They stripped his daughters and burnt them alive. Then they beheaded Jaffri and dismembered him."[This quote needs a citation] The then Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Punj pointed out,the late Jafri's daughters didn't live in Gujarat –something that was also corroborated by his own son. T.A. Jafri,Jafri son,in a front-page interview titled Nobody knew my father's house was the target (The Asian Age,May 2,2002,Delhi edition),says,"Among my brothers and sisters,I am the only one living in India. And I am the eldest in the family. My sister and brother live in the US. I am 40 years old and I have been born and brought up in Ahmedabad."[This quote needs a citation] As Punj noted:“When a reputed weekly like Outlook publishes a Booker Prize-winner,it is meant to be serious commentary.”[13] In her that article,Arundhati also wrote:"Last night a friend from Baroda called. Weeping. It took her fifteen minutes to tell me what the matter was. It wasn't very complicated. Only that Sayeeda,a friend of hers,had been caught by a mob. Only that her stomach had been ripped open and stuffed with burning rags. Only that after she died,someone carved 'OM' on her forehead".[This quote needs a citation] Balbir Punj took up this incident in his rejoinder published as "Dissimulation In Word and Images" in Outlook,July 8,2002.
He wrote,"Shocked by this despicable 'incident',the then BJP Rajya Sabha MP Balbir Punj got in touch with the Gujarat government. The police investigations revealed that no such case involving someone called Sayeeda had been reported either in urban or rural Baroda. Subsequently,the police sought Roy's help to identify the victim and seek access to witnesses who could lead them to those guilty of this crime. But the police got no cooperation. Instead,through her lawyer,Roy replied that the police had no power to issue summons. Thus,she hedged behind technical excuses?"[14]
Balbir punj also exposes the political games over "Rohith Vemula" suicide case. In his Article,which was published in Outlook dated 15 Feb 2002,he wrote,"The weekly Outlook (February 1) had Rohith on cover and devoted 15 pages to his tragic end and in analyzing the problems of Dalits. Articles and interviews were galore on the subject –of course with a pre-determined common theme. But surprisingly,the magazine did not carry the text of Rohith’s suicide note –without doubt the most important document in this glum episode. Why? Was it because Rohith’s last words would not fit into the secular narrative?... Rohith’s note reads,“the value of a man was reduced to his immediate identity and nearest possibility. To a vote. To a number. To a thing. Never was a man treated as a mind.”Now juxtapose this against the portion which has been struck off where he says “ASA,SFI,anything and everything exist for their own sake. Seldom the interest of a person and this organization match. To get power,to become famous or to be important in between boundaries and to think we are up to changing the system. Very often we overestimate the acts and find solace in trails. Of course I must credit both groups for making,introducing me to wonderful literature and people.”“I myself strike these words,”he wrote below these lines and signed. But did Rohith strike off these lines? Or someone else? And if so,why? Rohith after concluding his last missive,however,added a post-script “No one is responsible for my this act of killing myself. No one has instigated me,whether by their acts or by their words to this act. This is my decision and I am the only one responsible for this. Do not trouble my friends and enemies on this after I am gone”. And what all his so-called friends are doing after his death? Using the tragedy to further their political and ideological agenda!"[15] A Booklet called "Communists and Jehadists at Work in JNU" was also edited by Balbir Punj.[16]
In April 2022,Punj claimed Mahmud of Ghazni. Punj had written Mahmud of Ghazni "took a vow to wage jihad every year against Indian idolators".[17] According to historian Narayani Gupta,History of Mischief,on April 25,2022,Punj had made a similar claim on 12 July 2019 and "there was no other historical source with such a claim".[18] Both articles sparked a debate in social media about Ghazni. Punj then wrote 'Letter to the Editor' of the Indian Express about his claims that "I am grateful to Ms. Narayani Gupta for her informed feedback to my article "Ignorance Isn’t bliss". I am glad she has reproduced a large part of my article in her rejoinder,giving me yet another opportunity to reconnect with the readers.
A little objective perusal of history can help us with the relevant source for Mahmud of Ghazni,who “took a vow to wage jihad every year against Indian idolators”. Please refer to “The Age of Wrath”by Abraham Eraly. A number of accounts about the intent and destructive actions of Mahmud are available. His contemporary,Al-Biruni says:“He utterly ruined the prosperity of the country (of India),and performed those wonderful exploits by which the Hindus became like atoms of dust scattered in all directions”(‘Alberuni’s India’edited by Edward &Sachau). According to the Tarikh-e-Sultan Mahmud-e-Ghaznavi Or the History of Sultan Mahmud of Ghazni' (Translated 1908) by George Roos-Keppel,Qazi Abdul Ghani Khan,when offered a huge ransom by a vanquished Hindu king,Mahmud replied,"In the religion of the Musalmans it is (laid down that this is) a meritorious act that anyone who may destroy the place of worship of the heathen he will reap great reward on the day of judgment. I intend to remove entirely idols from the cities of Hindustan". I am not a historian. Does one have to be a historian to recall the horrors of 1947,destruction of temples of Kashi,Mathura and Ayodhya or near complete decimation of non-Muslims in Afghanistan,Pakistan &Kashmir Valley?"[19]
Political career
Punj is a columnist and an active political worker. He was a former member of Rajya Sabha for two terms. He was Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh from 2000 to 2006. In 2008,Balbir Punj was again elected a member of Rajya Sabha from Odisha and retired in 2014. He was the convener of the Intellectual Cell of the BJP for a decade,helping the party chart its ideological course. He was also chairman of the National Commission for Youth (Minister of State status).[20] On 31 March 2013,he was promoted as one of the Vice Presidents of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).[21] Punj has served BJP party as its national secretary,and as in charge of several states,including Gujarat,Punjab,Kerala and Himachal Pradesh. Member of BJP's National Executive from 2000 to 2014. He is a board member (Non-Official) of Bishweshwar Prasad Koirala India-Nepal Foundation (BPKF) under Ministry of External Affairs,India since July 2017.[22][23] He is described as a close associate of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.[24] Punj can be seen on news channels debating issues.
Related Research Articles
Lal Krishna Advani is a controversial Indian politician who served as the 7th Deputy Prime Minister of India from 2002 to 2004. He is one of the co-founders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and a member of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS),a right-wing Hindu nationalist volunteer organisation. He is credited as the chief architect of the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement and Hindutva politics in modern India. His historic 10,000-kilometer Ram Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya spread the Ram Janmabhoomi Movement among common people,and this eventually transformed him into a mass leader. He is also credited for the rise of the BJP from 2 seats in the 1984 general election to become the single largest party in the Lok Sabha during the 1996 general election.
Arun Jaitley was an Indian politician and attorney. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party,Jaitley served as the Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs of the Government of India from 2014 to 2019. Jaitley previously held the cabinet portfolios of Finance,Defence,Corporate Affairs,Commerce and Industry,and Law and Justice in the Vajpayee government and Narendra Modi government.
Smriti Zubin Irani is an Indian politician and former actress,fashion model and television producer. She has been Minister of Women and Child Development since 2019,and also Minister of Minority Affairs since 2022. She previously served as Minister of Human Resource Development,Minister of Textiles,and Minister of Information and Broadcasting. She was the youngest minister in prime minister Narendra Modi's second ministry in 2019.
Keshubhai Patel was an Indian politician who was the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 1995 and from 1998 to 2001. He was a six-time member of Gujarat Legislative Assembly. He was a member of RSS since 1940s,of Bharatiya Jana Sangh in 1960s,Janata Party in 1970s,and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 1980. He subsequently left the BJP in 2012 and formed the Gujarat Parivartan Party. He was elected from Visavadar in the 2012 state assembly election but later resigned in 2014 due to ill health and merged his party with BJP. He was awarded India's third highest civilian award the Padma Bhushan posthumously in 2021.
Shankersinh Vaghela is an Indian politician and former Chief Minister of Gujarat. He was the Leader of Opposition in 13th Gujarat Legislative Assembly.
Chandan Mitra was an Indian journalist and politician who was the editor and managing director of The Pioneer newspaper in Delhi.
Aruvanpalli Puthiyapurakkal Abdullakkutty(born 8 May 1967) is an Indian politician. He was elected as the National Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party on 26 September 2020. He has also served as the BJP Vice President of Kerala state. He is also a former member of Lok Sabha from Kannur and former MLA from Kannur constituency of Kerala state.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is a junior minister in the incumbent Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and Electronics and Information Technology of India. He is also an entrepreneur,technocrat and a member of parliament in the Rajya Sabha from BJP representing Karnataka. He served as National Spokesperson of BJP and was vice-chairman of the Kerala faction of the BJP-led coalition National Democratic Alliance.
Ehsan Jafri was an Indian politician and former member of the 6th Lok Sabha for the Congress Party,who was killed in the Gulbarg Society massacre.
The Gulbarg Society massacre took place on 28 February 2002,during the 2002 Gujarat riots,when a crowd started stone pelting the Gulbarg Society,a Muslim neighbourhood in the eastern part of Chamanpura,Ahmedabad in the Indian state of Gujarat. Most of the houses were burnt,and at least 35 victims,including a former Congress Member of Parliament,Ehsan Jafri,were burnt alive,while 31 others went missing after the incident,later presumed dead,bringing the total deaths to 69.
Amit Anil Chandra Shah is an Indian politician who is currently serving as the 31st Minister of Home Affairs since 2019 and the 1st Minister of Co-operation of India since 2021. He served as the 10th President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from 2014 to 2020. He has also served as chairman of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) since 2014. He was elected to the lower house of Parliament,Lok Sabha,in the 2019 Indian general elections from Gandhinagar. Earlier,he had been elected as a member of the upper house of Parliament,Rajya Sabha,from Gujarat from 2017 to 2019.
Dinanath Mishra was an Indian journalist and writer belonging to the Hindu nationalist movement. He authored a seminal work RSS:Myth and Reality on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) from a nationalist point of view. He was elected to the Upper House of the Indian Parliament and served a five-year term.
Raghav Chadha is an Indian politician and a member of the Aam Aadmi Party. He is the youngest Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha from Punjab constituency. He was the former Vice Chairman of the Delhi Jal Board and MLA from the Rajendra Nagar assembly constituency in Delhi till 2022. Chadha has been elected as Member of Parliament,Rajya Sabha. He is also a practising chartered accountant.
Mansukh Laxmanbhai Mandaviya is an Indian politician currently serving as the Minister of Health and Family Welfare and Chemicals and Fertilizers of India. He is also a Rajya Sabha member from Gujarat.
Rohith Chakravarti Vemula was an Indian PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad. From July 2015,the university stopped paying Rohith his monthly stipend of ₹25,000,with friends alleging that he was targeted for raising issues on campus under the banner of Ambedkar Students' Association (ASA),an Ambedkarite student organization.
Lahar Singh Siroya is an Indian politician of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He got elected to Rajya Sabha as a Member of Parliament from Karnataka in July 2022. Previously Lahar Singh was a Member of the Karnataka Legislative Council for two consecutive terms from June 2010 to June 2022.
Raju Parmar is an Indian politician. He was a Member of Parliament,representing Gujarat in the Rajya Sabha the upper house of India's Parliament as a member of the Indian National Congress(INC). In August 2022,he left INC and joined Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The 2024 elections in India includes the general election and elections to the Rajya Sabha,to state legislative assemblies,to Panchayats and urban local bodies.
↑ bjp announce core team, bjp announce core team. "bjp announce core team". ibnlive. Archived from the original on 2 April 2013. Retrieved 31 March 2013.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
