Balbir Punj
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Balbir Punj is a journalist and columnist from
India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
who has written on events in Hindi-English newspapers and magazines since the early 1990s. 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. He then worked for The Observer of Business and Politics (a business daily published from Delhi and Mumbai) as an Executive Editor from May 1996 to March 2000. He was also chairman of the IIMC, a Southeast Asian media training organization, for two years until March 2000. Punj also participated in the Delhi Journalists Association, where he served as 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. 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 the Lifelong Devrishi Narad Samman Award.


Columnist

Punj has written columns in the National English & Hindi Daily and Indian weekly magazine. Currently, he writes a regular column for the daily newspaper '' Punjab Kesari'', ''
Dainik Jagran ''Dainik Jagran'' () is an Indian Hindi-language daily newspaper. In terms of circulation, it was ranked 5th in the world in 2016 and 1st in India in 2022. In 2019 Quarter 4, according to Indian Readership Survey, Dainik Jagran reported a to ...
'', ''
Amar Ujala ''Amar Ujala'' () is a Hindi-language daily newspaper published in India which was founded in 1948. It has 22 editions in six states and two union territories covering 180 districts. It has a circulation of around two million copies. The 2019 ...
'' and a bunch of other regional papers. In English dailies, He occasionally writes for ''
Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...
'', ''
The Indian Express ''The Indian Express'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper founded in 1932 by P. Varadarajulu Naidu. It is headquartered in Noida, owned by the ''Indian Express Group''. It was later taken over by Ramnath Goenka. In 1999, eight y ...
'' and "
ThePrint The Print is an Indian online newspaper, owned by Printline Media Pvt Ltd. It was launched by journalist Shekhar Gupta in August 2017. History Printline Media Pvt. Ltd, founded by journalist Shekhar Gupta, was incorporated in New Delhi, Ind ...
" Until some time ago, balbir punj was also writing for years in “
The New Indian Express ''The New Indian Express'' is an Indian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper published by the Chennai-based Express Publications. It was founded in 1932 as ''The Indian Express'', under the ownership of Chennai-based P. Varadarajulu Naidu ...
”, '' Asian Age'', Mail Today (''
India Today ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...
''), and ''
Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, also referred to as ''the classic Outlook'' an e-mail client and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook for Windows, also referred to as ''the ...
''.


Journalism

In the past, Balbir Punj exposed Booker Prize winner and ultra-Leftist
Arundhati Roy Suzanna Arundhati Roy (; born 24 November 1961) is an Indian author best known for her novel ''The God of Small Things'' (1997), which won the Booker Prize for Fiction in 1997 and became the best-selling book by a non-expatriate Indian author. ...
's lies in her 7-page-long (approx. 6000 words) article in
Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, also referred to as ''the classic Outlook'' an e-mail client and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook for Windows, also referred to as ''the ...
titled "Democracy: Who is she when she's at home?", dated 6 May 2002 on the violence in Gujarat. 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." 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 ''The Asian Age'' is an English-language Indian daily newspaper with editions published in Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata. It also prints an "international edition" in London. It was launched in February 1994. The same publishing company also pro ...
, 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." As Punj noted: “When a reputed weekly like Outlook publishes a Booker Prize-winner, it is meant to be serious commentary.” 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". 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?" Balbir punj also exposes the political games over " Rohith Vemula" suicide case. In his Article, which was published in
Outlook Outlook or The Outlook may refer to: Computing * Microsoft Outlook, also referred to as ''the classic Outlook'' an e-mail client and personal information management software product from Microsoft * Outlook for Windows, also referred to as ''the ...
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!" A Booklet called "Communists and Jehadists at Work in JNU" was also edited by Balbir Punj. In April 2022, Punj claimed
Mahmud of Ghazni Abu al-Qasim Mahmud ibn Sabuktigin (; 2 November 971 – 30 April 1030), usually known as Mahmud of Ghazni or Mahmud Ghaznavi (), was Sultan of the Ghaznavid Empire, ruling from 998 to 1030. During his reign and in medieval sources, he is usuall ...
. Punj had written Mahmud of Ghazni "took a vow to wage jihad every year against Indian idolators". 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". 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 Abraham Eraly (15 August 1934 – 8 April 2015) was an Indian writer of history, a teacher, and the founder of Chennai-based magazine '' Aside''. Early life Abraham Eraly was born in the village of Ayyampalli in Ernakulam district, Kerala on ...
. A number of accounts about the intent and destructive actions of Mahmud are available. His contemporary,
Al-Biruni Abu Rayhan Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Biruni (; ; 973after 1050), known as al-Biruni, was a Khwarazmian Iranian scholar and polymath during the Islamic Golden Age. He has been called variously "Father of Comparative Religion", "Father of modern ...
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 Sir George Olaf Roos-Keppel, (7 September 1866 – 11 December 1921) was a British military officer who served in the capacities of Political Agent to the Governor-General in Kurram and Khyber, and later as Chief Commissioner, North West F ...
, 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?"


Political career

Punj is a columnist and an active political worker. He was a former member of
Rajya Sabha Rajya Sabha (Council of States) is the upper house of the Parliament of India and functions as the institutional representation of India’s federal units — the states and union territories.https://rajyasabha.nic.in/ It is a key component o ...
for two terms. He was
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
(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). On 31 March 2013, he was promoted as one of the Vice Presidents of the
Bharatiya Janata Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; , ) is a political party in India and one of the two major List of political parties in India, Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. BJP emerged out from Syama Prasad Mukherjee's ...
(BJP). Punj has served BJP party as its national secretary, and as in charge of several states, including
Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...
,
Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...
,
Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
and
Himachal Pradesh Himachal Pradesh (; Sanskrit: ''himācāl prādes;'' "Snow-laden Mountain Province") is a States and union territories of India, state in the northern part of India. Situated in the Western Himalayas, it is one of the thirteen Indian Himalayan ...
. 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 Ministry may refer to: Government * Ministry (collective executive), the complete body of government ministers under the leadership of a prime minister * Ministry (government department), a department of a government Religion * Christian mi ...
since July 2017. He is described as a close associate of the
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS,, ) is an Indian right-wing politics, right-wing, Hindutva, Hindu nationalist volunteer paramilitary organisation. It is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar ( ...
. Punj can be seen on news channels debating issues.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Punj, Balbir Living people Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Punjab Indian male journalists 1949 births People from Gurdaspur district Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha members from Odisha