Ram Puniyani

Ram Puniyani
Ram Puniyani
Born	(1945-08-25) 25 August 1945
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	writer, communal harmony volunteer, public speaker, doctor, teacher, medical researcher

Ram Puniyani (born 25 August 1945) is a former professor of biomedical engineering and former senior medical officer affiliated with the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay. He began his medical career in 1973 and served IIT in various capacities for 27 years, beginning 1977. In December 2004, he took voluntary retirement to work full-time for communal harmony in India.^[1][2] He is involved with human rights activities, communal harmony and initiatives to oppose the rising tide of fundamentalism in India.^[3][4] He is associated with the organisations All-India Secular Forum, Center for Study of Society and Secularism and ANHAD. In 2006, he was awarded the Indira Gandhi Award for National Integration.

Bio

Puniyani was born in British India (1945), and raised in a Hindi speaking Punjabi Khatri business family in the central Indian town of Nagpur. He completed a Visharad in Hindi literature alongside matriculation, and thence both MBBS and MD at the Nagpur Medical college. Upon graduation he moved to Mumbai where, after a brief stint as a medical researcher, he found a permanent job as senior medical officer(SMO) at the Indian Institute of technology campus in Powai, Mumbai. After about 10 years of service as a physician, he diverted into the then fledgling Blood Rhealogy lab set up in collaboration with various Electrical and Mechanical Engineering faculty. After successfully producing more than 5 doctoral students and mentoring numerous talented Masters students, he decided to dedicate himself to the then burning cause of restoring secular principles to post Babri masjid demolition India. He resides in Powai, Mumbai right outside the IIT Mumbai campus, with his wife who is a practising physician. He has two sons who are settled as professionals in various organizations

Activism

Puniyani has been spreading the message of peace and amity through lectures, publications, workshops and meetings and by travelling extensively to different parts of the country disseminating messages of secularism, pluralism and communal harmony. His lectures focus on the need for national integration and communal harmony. He is also the Course Director of 'Peace and Conflict Resolution' Workshop, being conducted by Center for Study of Society and Secularism. Is associated with various secular initiatives and has been part of various investigation reports on violation of human rights of minorities.^[5] Has been part of an Indian People's Tribunal that investigated the violation of rights of minorities in Orissa and Madhya Pradesh,^[6] His approach and views have also been criticised as anti Hindu. He is known for his articles and essays which regularly appears in Indian magazines and newspapers.^[7][8] He also runs a fortnightly e-bulletin 'Issues in secular politics'.^[9]

Awards

• Maharashtra Foundation (US) award for Social awareness about threat of Communal Politics-2002^[10]

• Association For Communal Harmony in Asia-ACHA Star Award for Peace and Communal Harmony-2004^[11]

• Fr. Machio Memorial Foundation Humanitarian Award 2005^[12]

• Indira Gandhi National Integration Award 2006^[13]

• National Communal Harmony Award 2007^[14]

Works

• Clinical Hemorheology: New Horizons (New Age International, 1996), ISBN 9788122407754

• Applied Clinical Hemorheology (with Hideyuki Nimi, Quest Publications, 1998), ISBN 9788187099062

• The Other Cheek: Minorities under Threat (Media House, 2000), ISBN 9788174950819

• Second Assassination of Gandhi (University of Leicester, 2002), ISBN 9788174951489

• Communalism: What is False: What is True (with Khalid Azam, Bombay Sarvoda Friendship Center, 2002)

• Communal Politics: Facts Versus Myths (2003), ISBN 9780761996675

• Communalism: Illustrated Primer (Safdar Hashmi Memorial Trust and J&P Publications, 2004), ISBN 978-8186219324

• Hindu Extreme Right-Wing Groups : Ideology and Consequences (Media House, 2004), ISBN 9788174951731

• Fascism of Sangh Parivar (Media House, 2004), ISBN 9788174951953

• Religion, Power and Violence: Expression Of Politics In Contemporary Times, (SAGE, 2005), ISBN 9788132102069

• Contours of Hindu Rashtra: Hindutva, Sangh Parivar And Contemporary Politics (Kalpaz, 2006), ISBN 9788178354736

• Indian Democracy, Pluralism and Minorities (Global Media, 2006), ISBN 9788188869190

• The Politics behind Anti-Christian Violence (compilation of investigation committee reports, Media House, 2006), ISBN 9788174952370

• Terrorism: Facts versus Myths (Pharos Media, 2007), ISBN 978-81-7221-033-5

• Fundamentalism: Thread to Secular Democracy (eBook, IdeaIndia.com, 2007), ASIN B005D7FCYY

• Contemporary India: Overcoming Sectarianism: Terrorism (Hope India, 2008), ISBN 9788178711454

• 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), ISBN 9788132104926

• Deconstructing Communalism in India: Striving for Harmony (All India Secular Forum, 2010)

• Samajik Naya Ek Sachitra Parichay (in Hindi, Vani Prakashan, 2010), 9789350001479

• Communal Threat to Secular Democracy (Kalpaz, 2010), ISBN 978-8178358611

• 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 Asghar Ali Engineer, Vitasta Publishing, 2011), ISBN 9380828500.

• God Politics (Vitasta Pub, 2012), ISBN 9789380828633

• Sectarianism, Politics and Development (with Uday Mehta, Rawat, 2012), ISBN 9788131605233

• Muslims in Indian Democracy (Kalpaz, 2013), ISBN 9788178359281

• Quest for Social Justice: An Illustrated Primer (Arth Prakashan, 2013), ASIN B00J6AN412

References

External links

• http://www.pluralindia.com/drPuniyani.htm
• http://www.biomedexperts.com/Profile.bme/1145105/RR_Puniyani

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