Passionate activist and journalist (1949-2015)
When news reached India that Praful Bidwai had passed away in Amsterdam on 23 June 2015, where he was participating in a conference, there was a palpable sense of disbelief. Journalists, peace activists, academics, scientists and environmentalists could not believe that the prolific, passionate, quintessential journalist-activist was no longer going to be around – to harangue, cajole, argue, convince readers, listeners and sceptics that nuclear disarmament was the only way ahead for the human race. No subject that concerned human rights, politics, social justice, environment and international peace escaped his interest and researcher’s intellect.
His writings spanned four decades and appeared in the Economic & Political Weekly, Business India, Financial Express, the Times of India, Hindustan Times and Frontline. He also wrote for the Guardian (London), Le Monde Diplomatique I (Paris) and Il Manifesto (Rome), apart from a host of lesser known publications. He was a Marxist and a shining light of that very small tribe in India – a public intellectual who was unafraid to speak his mind and write what he believed was the truth. Not everybody, certainly not the powers that be, agreed with him, but his refreshing frankness and fearlessness in going against popular opinion won him a legion of admirers all over the world.
He was a critic of India’s nuclear weapons strategy and the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP) which he co-founded, did yeoman work in this regard. He never tired of attempting to convince cynical power brokers and nuclear armament supporters of the danger and futility of their ways.
Bidwai was a passionate lover of classical music and a trained singer. Not surprisingly, he had tremendous knowledge of classical Indian music and attended not just concerts but took every opportunity to “educate” his friends.
Had he wished he could have had a lucrative career in the corporate world. Born in Dewas in Madhya Pradesh, of a family that originally hailed from Maharashtra, he joined IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), Bombay, for a course in electrical engineering in 1966. There he was influenced by progressive and left leaning teachers and senior students, who were in turn influenced by civil rights and progressive movements in the United States, Latin America, Africa and Europe. Their subjects of protest were apartheid and racism, Zionism, militarism, imperialism and all the other issues that they flagged as oppressive and exploitative. Bidwai began working with Dalit youth and workers in the city’s poorer areas and then took the momentous decision to leave IIT mid-way. He began working with a group in Dhule district (Maharashtra) among the adivasis there, who faced horrendous exploitation. From there on, his life encompassed all issues of social justice and human rights. He was a part of almost all movements that worked for these issues and garnered fame also as a journalist.
The Bhopal gas disaster, the Narmada Bachao Andolan, and many other events and issues were grist to his mill. He wrote forcefully, but only after tedious research, interviews and careful marshalling of his arguments. While many of his articles/books would be considered worthy of praise and study, his article in Business India in 1978 is considered a landmark in Indian journalism. It was a lucid exposition of nuclear reactors in the country, and what they did not just to the environment, but also to their employees.
Nothing can be a greater tribute to an intellectual than appreciation by people at the grassroots. Aruna Roy of the Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sanghatan (MKSS) said “In Praful Bidwai’ s passing away, India’s poor and marginalised citizens, and the earth’s fragile and beleaguered environment have lost a compassionate, fearless, and powerful voice of reason. Praful was at his best when he faced the most powerful and seemingly indomitable opposition”.
Till the end, he continued to write and speak and discuss and argue on these subjects that are connected to the fate of the human race. His death has diminished us all.