Focus Merit

Hindi Novel ‘Balwa’ penned by Cabinet Minister Mukhtar Naqvi

Minister of Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has penned a Hindi novel titled “Balwa”, which loosely translates to turmoil. The Hindi book, published by Diamond Books, is first of Naqvi’s three-novel series to be out this year. Balwa, which means public violence or lynching is set in the 1990s, at a time when India is grappling with a major communal churn.

The other two – “Raj Leela” and “Cyber Supari” – revolve around social and political exploitation of tribals, and fake news, respectively. Naqvi, who wrote his last book “Vaisali” in 2008, said it took him almost two years to finish Balwa and Raj Leela. Cyber Supari, would take another month to finish.