View source for Balbir Punj

{{Short description|Indian journalist, columnist, and political worker}}
{{multiple issues|
  {{BLP sources|date=August 2018}}
  {{advert|date=May 2023}}
}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| image =
| name          = Balbir Punj
| caption       = 
| birth_date    = {{Birth date and age|1949|10|2|df=y}}
| birth_place   = [[Gurdaspur district|Lalowal]], [[East Punjab]], [[India]]
| residence     =[[Noida]]
| death_place   =
| office1             = Former [[Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha]]
| constituency1       = [[Uttar Pradesh]]
| term_start1         = 2000
| term_end1           = 2006
| predecessor1        = 
| successor1          = 
| constituency2       = [[Odisha]]
| term_start2         = 2008
| term_end2           = 2014
| party         = [[Bharatiya Janta Party|BJP]] 
| religion      = 
| spouse        = Shashibala Punj

| children      =  2
| website       =  https://balbirpunj.in/
| footnotes     = 
| date          = 22 November |
| year          = 2010 | 
| source        =  http://india.gov.in/govt/rajyasabhampbiodata.php?mpcode=213
}}
'''Balbir Punj''' is a journalist and columnist from [[India]] who has written on events in Hindi-English newspapers and magazines since the early 1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2024/Mar/05/demand-for-decolonisation |title=Demand for decolonisation}}</ref> 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 [[Indian Institute of Mass Communication|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.<ref>{{cite news |title=GOVERNMENT SETS UP NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR YOUTH SHRI BALBIR PUNJ TO CHAIR THE COMMISSION |url=https://archive.pib.gov.in/archive/releases98/lyr2002/rmar2002/21032002/r2103200211.html |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[Press Information Bureau]] |date=21 March 2002 |language=en}}</ref> He was also a member of the Delhi Finance Commission established by the then [[Government of Delhi|Delhi Government]] in 1996–97. On May 18, 2022, Balbir Punj was conferred the Lifelong Devrishi Narad Samman Award.<ref>{{cite news |title=पत्रकारिता में विशेष योगदान के लिए वरिष्ठ पत्रकार बलवीर पुंज को मिला देव ऋषि नारद सम्मान, दिल्ली में इंद्रप्रस्थ विश्व संवाद केंद्र में देव ऋषि नारद पत्रकार सम्मान समारोह 2022 का आयोजन किया गया |url=https://twitter.com/News18UP/status/1526956247672848385 |access-date=16 June 2022 |work=News18 India |date=18 May 2022 |language=hi}}</ref>

==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]]'', ''[[Amar Ujala]]'' and a bunch of other regional papers. In English dailies, He occasionally writes for ''[[Hindustan Times]]'',<ref>[https://www.outlookindia.com/author/balbir-k-punj-935 "Columns by Balbir Punj", ''Outlook India'']</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The Kashmir Files: A tale of horror and gross injustice |url= https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/the-kashmir-files-a-tale-of-horror-and-gross-injustice-101649341513082.html |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[Hindustan Times]] |date= 8 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Beyond the chintan shivir, Congress's existential crisis |url= https://www.hindustantimes.com/opinion/beyond-the-chintan-shivir-congress-s-existential-crisis-101653228976690.html |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[Hindustan Times]] |date= 22 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref> ''[[The Indian Express]]''<ref>[https://indianexpress.com/profile/columnist/balbir-punj/ "Columns by Balbir Punj", ''Indian Express'']</ref> and "[[ThePrint]]"<ref>{{cite news |title= Left and liberals have crafted a delusory narrative of inevitable Muslim genocide in India |url= https://theprint.in/opinion/left-and-liberals-have-crafted-a-delusory-narrative-of-inevitable-muslim-genocide-in-india/940005/ |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[ThePrint]] |date= 3 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Until some time ago, balbir punj was also writing for years in “[[The New Indian Express]]”,<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20161204220413/http://www.newindianexpress.com/author/Balbir-Punj "Columns by Balbir Punj", ''The New Indian Express'']</ref> ''[[Asian Age]]'',<ref>[http://archive.asianage.com/content/balbir-k-punj "Columns by Balbir Punj", ''Asian Age'']</ref> Mail Today (''[[India Today]]''),<ref>[https://www.dailyo.in/user/9941/balbirpunj "Columns by Balbir Punj", ''DailyO (India Today)'']</ref> and ''[[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]]''.<ref>[https://www.outlookindia.com/author/balbir-k-punj-935 "Columns by Balbir Punj", ''Outlook India'']</ref>

==Journalism==
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 (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] titled "Democracy: Who is she when she's at home?", dated 6 May 2002 on the violence in Gujarat.<ref>{{cite news |title= Democracy: Who's she when she's at home? |url= https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/democracy/215477 |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] |date= 6 May 2002 |language=en}}</ref> 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."{{quote without source|date=May 2023}} 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."{{quote without source|date=May 2023}} As Punj noted: “When a reputed weekly like Outlook publishes a Booker Prize-winner, it is meant to be serious commentary.”<ref>{{cite news |title= Fiddling With Facts As Gujarat Burns |url= https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/fiddling-with-facts-as-gujarat-burns/215755 |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] |date= 18 May 2002 |language=en}}</ref> 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".{{quote without source|date=May 2023}} 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?"<ref>{{cite news |title= Dissimulation In Words And In Images |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/dissimulation-in-words-and-in-images/216351 |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] |date= 8 July 2002 |language=en}}</ref>

Balbir punj also exposes the political games over "[[Rohith Vemula]]" suicide case. In his Article, which was published in [[Outlook (Indian magazine)|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!"<ref>{{cite news |title= In The Dark Of His Troubles |url=https://www.outlookindia.com/magazine/story/in-the-dark-of-his-troubles/296583 |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[Outlook (Indian magazine)|Outlook]] |date= 15 Feb 2016 |language=en}}</ref> A Booklet called "Communists and Jehadists at Work in JNU" was also edited by Balbir Punj.<ref>{{cite news |title=Smriti Irani briefs RSS, ABVP members on Rohith Vemula, JNU issues |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/smriti-irani-briefs-rss-abvp-members-on-rohith-vemula-jnu-issues/ |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[The Indian Express]] |date=8 March 2016 |language=en}}</ref>

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".<ref>{{cite news |title=Face the facts on communal violence in India |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/face-the-facts-on-communal-violence-in-india-jahangirpuri-clash-delhi-7879251/ |access-date=16 June 2022 |work=The Indian Express |date=21 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref> 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".<ref>{{cite news |title=The problem with cherry-picking facts from history |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/s-y-quraishis-on-hate-speech-and-indian-political-culture-of-cherry-picking-facts-from-history-7885481/ |access-date=11 May 2022 |work=The Indian Express |date=26 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref> 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-[[Mahmud of Ghazni|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?"<ref>{{cite news |title=Letter to the Editor |url=https://twitter.com/balbirpunj/status/1519168511242694656 |access-date=16 June 2022 |work=The Indian Express |date=27 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

==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).<ref>{{cite news |title=GOVERNMENT SETS UP NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR YOUTH SHRI BALBIR PUNJ TO CHAIR THE COMMISSION |url=https://archive.pib.gov.in/archive/releases98/lyr2002/rmar2002/21032002/r2103200211.html |access-date=16 June 2022 |work= [[Press Information Bureau]] |date=21 March 2002 |language=en}}</ref> On 31 March 2013, he was promoted as one of the Vice Presidents of the [[Bharatiya Janata Party]] (BJP).<ref>{{cite news|last=bjp announce core team|first=bjp announce core team|title=bjp announce core team|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bjp-announces-parliamentary-board-narendra-modi-reinducted/382191-37-64.html|access-date=31 March 2013|newspaper=ibnlive|archive-date=2 April 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130402012508/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/bjp-announces-parliamentary-board-narendra-modi-reinducted/382191-37-64.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite news |title= B.P. Koirala India-Nepal Foundation 34th Board Meeting on 20-21 July 2018 at Gangtok, India |url=https://in.nepalembassy.gov.np/2585-2/ | date= 21 July 2018 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title= Introduction |url=https://in.nepalembassy.gov.np/introduction/}}</ref> He is described as a close associate of the [[Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh]].<ref>{{cite news |title=RSS may make Aligarh Muslim University's minority status an issue in poll bound Uttar Pradesh |url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rss-may-make-aligarh-muslim-universitys-minority-status-an-issue-in-poll-bound-uttar-pradesh/articleshow/52825480.cms/ |access-date=16 June 2022 |work=The Economic Times |date=20 June 2016 |language=en |archive-date=20 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160620101742/http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/rss-may-make-aligarh-muslim-universitys-minority-status-an-issue-in-poll-bound-uttar-pradesh/articleshow/52825480.cms |url-status=dead }}</ref> Punj can be seen on news channels debating issues.

==References==
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{{Rajya Sabha Members from Orissa}}

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