KARACHI: The recent death of Praful Bidwai, noted Indian columnist, peace activist and vocal opposer of nuclear power, is a huge loss for social activists in India and Pakistan and to commemorate his many years of activism, a condolence reference was held at the PMA House on Friday where civil society, human rights and peace activists of the country were present.

Images of Mr Bidwai were displayed on a screen that showed his life in various stages of struggle. At demonstrations to protest the atomic bomb tests, panel discussions to encourage the deweaponisation of India, holding slogans outside government buildings, with family and friends, as well as at different gatherings in Pakistan. A regular visitor to the country, Mr Bidwai has worked closely with Pakistani activists in a bid to foster friendly relations between the two countries.

For Dr Jaffar Ahmed, director of the Pakistan Study Centre, Mr Bidwai “was a window into India’s politics and development, who offered a rare perspective that not many have been able to bring to the table”. Dr Ahmed insisted that Mr Bidwai’s superior research-based journalism allowed him to be an effective peace activist and his years as a senior editor at The Times of India allowed him to further hone his skills.

‘He, together with activists from Pakistan, denounced both countries going nuclear’

“Mr Bidwai believed in focusing on the grass-root level of activism and in 2000 he decided to cofound the Coalition of Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (CNDP). He, together with activists from Pakistan, denounced both countries going nuclear,” said Mr Jafar.

Nuclear weaponry was criticised by Mr Bidwai as was the use of it in energy production. Numerous columns published in Indian as well as in international publications have a similar refrain –– no form of nuclear energy in the country will benefit its citizens.

Mr Bidwai’s vocal disapproval of the Department of Atomic Energy in India stemmed not just from his disdain of nuclear power, but also the lack of safety measures in place as well as the innumerable expenses the department has done.

Mr Bidwai worked to bring public opinion from both countries and represent them in his extensive oeuvre that encompassed fields as diverse as economics, trade union movements in India, climate change in an Indian-specific and global perspective, as well as analysing the future of the Left in India.

Dr Ahmed said that such different shades of activism within one individual were hard to come by which was why in 2000 Mr Bidwai won the Sean MacBride Peace Prize of the International Peace Bureau.

Dr Kaiser Bengali, senior economist and adviser to the chief minister of Balochistan, decided to address all the children sitting in the audience, who to his delight were numerous. He realised the need to make the subject matter of Mr Bidwai’s innumerable contributions more accessible for the younger audience and described his peace activism in detail.

He then spoke about how the world was evolving to accommodate more and more peace movements, and people like Mr Bidwai were needed in great numbers. “There have been some very important agreements that took place and will set the stage for a more peaceful world. One is the signing of a nuclear deal between the US and Iran, which will see sanctions being lifted from Iran after decades of being ostracised from establishing friendly relations with other countries and trade. The other is the restoration of diplomatic ties between Cuba and the US.”

Dr Bengali also spoke about the need for younger activists to further the struggle to establish a classless society in the country. “This struggle has been forgotten by many and must be fought again with fervour,” he said. This message is very much in line of what Mr Bidwai strove for during his life.

A speech that Mr Bidwai gave at the Pakistan Peace Conference in Karachi (February, 1999) was also read out to highlight the basic premise of his arguments. In it, he unapologetically insists that “nuclearisation has not given security either to India or to Pakistan” and instead turned them into “semi-pariah states throughout the world”.

The speech also shows his opposition to the increases in military budget in both countries, especially in India.

Nuclear non-proliferation has remained an important element in Mr Bidwai’s research, as well as the blending of defined borders between countries.

Mr Bidwai was attending a conference in Amsterdam where he died after he choked on his food. His new book, The Phoenix Moment: Challenges Confronting the Indian Left, will hit the market in October 2015.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2015

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