Praful Bidwai

Praful Bidwai

Independent Journalist

Praful Bidwai is a political columnist, social science researcher, and activist on issues of human rights, the environment, global justice and peace. He currently holds the Durgabai Deshmukh Chair in Social Development, Equity and Human Security at the Council for Social Development, Delhi, affiliated to the Indian Council for Social Science Research. 

A former Senior Editor of The Times of India, Bidwai is one of South Asia’s most widely published columnists, whose articles appear in more than 25 newspapers and magazines. He is also frequently published by The Guardian, Le Monde Diplomatique and Il Manifesto.

Bidwai is a founder-member of the Coalition for Nuclear Disarmament and Peace (India). He received the Sean MacBride International Peace Prize, 2000 of the International Peace Bureau, Geneva & London. 

He was a Senior Fellow, Centre for Contemporary Studies, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. Bidwai is the co-author, with Achin Vanaik, of South Asia on a Short Fuse: Nuclear Politics and the Future of Global Disarmament, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999, a radical critique of the nuclearisation of India and Pakistan and of reliance on nuclear weapons for security.  

Work area:

Peace & Security

Areas of expertise:

Nuclear Disarmament in South Asia; Nuclear Weapon Free Zones; Alternative Security; Communalism in India; India; Pakistan; Indian electoral politics

Honours/Awards:

Praful Bidwai is a co-recipient, with Achin Vanaik, of the International Peace Bureau's Sean McBride International Peace Prize for 2000.

Media experience:

Praful Bidwai regularly publishes in Khaleej Times, The New Internationalist, Rediff.com, Navhid Times, The Times of India, Frontline, The Hindu, Inter Press Service and Tehelka.com

Contact

Email: bidwai AT bol.net.in


 

English

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Selected publications

The Politics of Climate change and the Global crisis
New Nukes
The World at the Climate Crossroads

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Recent content by Praful Bidwai

The Politics of Climate change and the Global crisis

January 2012
In his book Bidwai addresses the impacts of climate change and the politics of the international climate negotiations; and second, lndia as an example of an 'emerging economy' major polluter, which can potentially both aid or obstruct the fight against climate change.

Praful Bidwai at the Durban Climate conference, interview with DemocracyNow!

January 2012
Praful Bidwai talks to DemocracyNow!'s Amy Goodman in Durban during the climate conference about the state of the climate negotiations.

Durban’s greenwash outcome

January 2012
The outcome of Durban is a disaster for global climate protection and the survival of millions.   

Averting A Climate Talks Disaster At Durban

November 2011
The numerous rounds of talks held since the Rio Earth Summit of 1992 in Brazil under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) have been called “the most important negotiations ever undertaken in the history of humankind.” This is no exaggeration. Catastrophic, irreversible climate change represents the gravest threat today to human civilisation.

Durban and the climate change deniers

November 2011
The EU could play a valuable role in preventing another flawed climate deal if it neutralises the US and brings other ditherers on board while starting talks on future obligations for the emerging economies.

Shining and starving

August 2011
Under neoliberalism, income and regional disparities have got bloated to a point where the country's rich and the poor live in two separate worlds.

The road to Rio+20: The Green Economy Debate

June 2011
June 2012 will see a 20 year review of the famous 1992 Rio Earth Summit. The buzzword for the Rio+20 conference is "green economy" but what does this mean in practice?

Nukes and India

June 2011
Have our rulers decided to place India on the wrong side of history and arrest her social progress? Going by their policy of forcibly promoting nuclear power regardless of its hazards, environmental damage potential, high economic and social costs, and unpopularity, that seems to be the case.

A test for India’s foreign policy

June 2011
While countries all over the world review their nuclear energy plans and safety measures in the wake of the Fukushima disaster, the Indian government still pushes ahead with it's fiercely opposed Jaitapur plant.

India and Pakistan's hope after Osama

May 2011
Bin Laden's demise may mark a turning point in the relationship between India and Pakistan.