Ram Puniyani (born 25 August 1945) is an Indian author and former professor of

biomedical engineering Biomedical engineering (BME) or medical engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology for healthcare applications (e.g., diagnostic or therapeutic purposes). BME also integrates the logica ...

, affiliated with the

Indian Institute of Technology Bombay The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT- Bombay or IIT-B) is a public research university and technical institute in Powai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. IIT Bombay is mainly known for the highly competitive four-year Bachelor of Tech ...

as a senior medical officer. He began his medical career in 1973 and served at IIT in various capacities for 27 years, starting in 1977. He participated in

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

activities and initiatives opposing religious Hindu fundamentalism in

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 ...

. He is currently the President of the Executive Council of the Centre for Study of Society and

Secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

(CSSS). He is also an advisory board member of the '' Muslim Mirror''.

Activism

He has been associated with various secular initiatives and has participated in several investigations concerning violations of minorityhuman rights. He also served on an Indian People's Tribunal that investigated the violation of the rights of minorities in the states of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

and Madhya Pradesh. He conducts seminars and workshops on topics such as communal politics, human rights, the

secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on naturalistic considerations, uninvolved with religion. It is most commonly thought of as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state and may be broadened ...

in the Uniform Civil Code debate, the Partition of India, and the Kashmir Imbroglio. His articles and essays regularly appear in various Indian magazines and newspapers. He also runs a fortnightly e-bulletin, ''Issues in Secular Politics''. In March 2019, men in plain clothes, claiming to be from CID, inquired about the whereabouts of his children. In early June 2019, he reported receiving threatening phone calls from unknown individuals who demanded that he cease his activities and leave the country. After these incidents, Puniyani filed a report with the

Mumbai Police The Greater Mumbai Police (Marathi language, Marathi: बृहन्मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Brihanmumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay City Police'') is the Police, police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a cit ...

Awards

* Maharashtra Foundation (US) award for Social Awareness about the threat of Communal Politics (2002) * National Communal Harmony Award (2007) * NCHRO's Mukundan C.Menon award (2015)

Works

* ''Clinical Hemorheology: New Horizons'' (New Age International, 1996), * ''Applied Clinical Hemorheology'' (with Hideyuki Nimi, Quest Publications, 1998), * ''The Other Cheek: Minorities under Threat'' (Media House, 2000), * ''Second Assassination of Gandhi'' (University of Leicester, 2002), * ''Communalism: What is False: What is True'' (with Khalid Azam, Bombay Sarvoda Friendship Center, 2002) * ''Communal Politics: Facts Versus Myths'' (2003), * ''Communalism: Illustrated Primer'' (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust and J&P Publications, 2004), * ''Hindu Extreme Right-Wing Groups : Ideology and Consequences'' (Media House, 2004), * ''Fascism of Sangh Parivar'' (Media House, 2004), * ''Religion, Power and Violence: Expression Of Politics In Contemporary Times'', (SAGE, 2005), * ''Contours of Hindu Rashtra: Hindutva, Sangh Parivar And Contemporary Politics'' (Kalpaz, 2006), * ''Indian Democracy, Pluralism and Minorities'' (Global Media, 2006), * ''The Politics behind Anti-Christian Violence'' (compilation of investigation committee reports, Media House, 2006), * ''Terrorism: Facts versus Myths'' (Pharos Media, 2007), * ''Fundamentalism: Threat to Secular Democracy'' (eBook, IdeaIndia.com, 2007), ASIN B005D7FCYY * ''Contemporary India: Overcoming Sectarianism: Terrorism'' (Hope India, 2008), * ''Communalism: India's Nemesis?'' (eBook, IdeaIndia.com, 2009), ASIN B005INISXU * ''Dalit and Social Justice'' (Mythri Books, 2009) * ''Mumbai" Post 26/11 - An Alternative Perspective'' (with Shabnam Hashmi, SAGE, 2010), * ''Deconstructing Communalism in India: Striving for Harmony'' (All India Secular Forum, 2010) * ''Samajik Nyaya Ek Sachitra Parichay'' (in Hindi, Vani Prakashan, 2010), 9789350001479 * ''Communal Threat to Secular Democracy'' (Kalpaz, 2010), * ''Malegaon to Ajmer: The Trail of Terror'' (edited, All-India Secular Forum, 2010) * ''Communalism Explained! A Graphic Account'' (with Sharad Sharma, Vani Prakashan, 2011) * ''Making Sense of Ayodhya Verdict'' (co-edited with Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer, Vitasta Publishing, 2011), . * ''God Politics'' (Vitasta Pub, 2012), * ''Sectarianism, Politics and Development'' (with Uday Mehta, Rawat, 2012), * ''Muslims in Indian Democracy'' (Kalpaz, 2013), * ''Quest for Social Justice: An Illustrated Primer'' (Arth Prakashan, 2013), ASIN B00J6AN412 * ''Tribute Volume For Dr. Asghar Ali Engineer Striving For Peace And Harmony'' (Bhashya Prakashan 2014), * ''Caste and Communalism'' (Mythri Books 2011), ASIN: B00HR1PB04 * ''Communalism & Anti Christian Violence'' (Mythri Books 2011), ASIN: B00HWWISMG * ''Osama, America and Terrorism'' (Mythri Books 2012), ASIN: B00HWWIUP6 * ''Religion and Politics'' (Mythri Books 2009), ASIN: B00HWWMF7U * ''Making of a Nation'' (Mythri Books 2012), ASIN: B00HWWMHWI * ''Saampradaayiktaa (''2011), * ''Aatankvaad Explained- A Graphics Account'' (Arth Prakashan 2013), * ''Mathaveri'' (Uyirmmai Pathippagam 2009)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Puniyani, Ram 1945 births Living people Indian bioengineers Writers from Nagpur Academic staff of IIT Bombay Indian critics of religions Scientists from Nagpur Indian religious writers Indian political writers 20th-century Indian biologists 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Activists from Maharashtra Indian writers