Praful Bidwai, an outstanding journalist, author, commentator, anti-nuclear activist, passed away in Amsterdam on June 23. He was in the Dutch capital for the annual Transnational Institute Fellows’ Meeting.
Praful’s first notable work as a journalist was as a columnist for the Economic and Political Weekly in 1972. In a career spanning four decades, he worked for several magazines and newspapers including Business India, Financial Express and Times of India, eventually becoming the senior editor for TOI. He was also a well-known author and wrote several books on a wide range of issues, including a recent book on climate change and another on the Indian Left that was due to go to print very soon.
He was staunchly anti-communal, and a strong advocate of human rights. Any meeting in support of working people’s struggles in Delhi, and Praful was sure to be there. He was deeply interested in and passionate about the politics of development. Another issue that he was extremely interested in and concerned about was nuclear disarmament. In 1999, he wrote a very well-acclaimed book on India’s nuclearisation together with Achin Vinayak, and the next year, founded the Coalition of Nuclear Disarmament and Peace. Praful Bidwai was also an active supporter of the various people’s struggles against uranium mining and nuclear power plants, and visited both Jaitapur and Koodankulam to express his solidarity with the anti-nuclear struggles there.
Praful was an old friend of Lokayat. He came down to Pune several times at our invitation to speak on various issues, including a seminar on the ‘Roots of Terrorism’, another seminar on American and Israeli terrorism, and also at a seminar on the dangers of nuclear energy. In recent years, we worked together with him and CNDP to build solidarity for the various anti-nuclear struggles taking place across the country. His loss will be deeply felt by all of us at Lokayat.
Neeraj Jain, Lokayat and Socialist Party (India)
