Kingfisher at 11:01, 6 October 2023

2023-10-06T11:01:29Z

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{{Short description|Indian Punjabi playwright, poet, and editor}}
{{Use Indian English|date=April 2020}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}

{{Infobox person
| image = Swarajbir-N Delhi-1998-Pic Amarjit Chandan.jpg
| alt = Swarajbir in 1998
| caption = Swarajbir in 1998, Photo by [[Amarjit Chandan]]
| name = Swarajbir
| native_name = {{PUNJABI|ਸਵਰਾਜਬੀਰ}}
| native_name_lang = pa
| birth_name = Swarajbir Singh
| birth_date = {{Birth year and age|1958}}
| birth_place = [[Verka]], [[Punjab, India|Punjab]], [[India]]
| death_date =
| death_place =
| nationality = Indian
| education = MBBS
| occupation = Playwright, Poet, Journalist, Administrator
| years_active = 1980s to present
| employer = [[The Tribune|The Tribune Trust]] (editor) [[Indian Police Service]] (Director General of Police) Central Industrial Security Force (Inspector General).<ref>{{cite news |last1=Singh |first1=Nonika |title=Policeman's pen |url=https://m.tribuneindia.com/2011/20110710/spectrum/book9.htm |access-date=4 September 2023 |work=tribuneindia.com |publisher=The Tribune}}</ref> Punjab Civil Medical Services (Doctor) 
| notable_works = Dharam Guru (1999), Krishna (2000), Medni (2002), Shairi (2004), and Masia di Rāt (2013)
| spouse = Arvinder Kaur (Wife)
| children = Manraj Singh (Son)
| awards =
}}

'''Swarajbir Singh''' ({{lang-pa|{{PUNJABI|ਸਵਰਾਜਬੀਰ}}}}; born 24 April 1958) is an Indian Punjabi playwright, poet, administrator, and editor. He received the [[Sahitya Akademi Award]] for his play Masia di Rāt (2016)<ref name="award-ie">{{cite news |last1=Parul |title='I dedicate this award to the people of Punjab', says Sahitya Akademi Award winner Swarajbir |url=https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/i-dedicate-this-award-to-the-people-of-punjab-sayssahitya-akademi-award-winner-swarajbir-4439481/ |access-date=4 September 2023 |work=The Indian Express |date=December 22, 2016}}</ref>

At present he is the editor-in-chief of the daily newspaper [[Punjabi Tribune]].<ref name="pt-editor">{{cite web |title=Swaraj Bir Singh joins as Punjabi Tribune Editor |url=https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/archive/punjab/swaraj-bir-singh-joins-as-punjabi-tribune-editor-645895 |website=The Tribune |access-date=2 September 2023}}</ref> He is also a nominated member of [[Punjabi University]]’s Senate.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Correspondent |first1=HT |title=Punjabi University senate meets after five years |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/others/punjabi-university-senate-meets-after-five-years-101631816710728.html |access-date=4 September 2023 |work=Hindustan Times |date=Sep 16, 2021}}</ref> He served as a Medical doctor in a rural government dispensary in Gurdaspur district during 1983-1984. He entered civil services in India Defence Accounts in 1984. He joined the Indian Police Service in 1986. He was allotted Assam-Meghalaya Cadre<ref>{{cite web |title=Swaraj Bir Singh is new Meghalaya DGP |url=https://www.business-standard.com/article/news-ians/swaraj-bir-singh-is-new-meghalaya-dgp-117032500698_1.html |website=Business Standard |access-date=2 September 2023}}</ref> and retired as Director General of Police Meghalaya, Shillong in July 2018.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Bhattacharjee |first1=Sudipta |title=An Officer and a Gentleman |url=https://www.telegraphindia.com/culture/an-officer-and-a-gentleman/cid/1837622 |website=The Telegraph Online |publisher=The Telegraph | date= 7 November 2021 |access-date=2 September 2023}}</ref>

==Early life==
Swarajbir was born in the village of Verka, district of Amritsar, Punjab, India.<ref>{{cite web |title=SWARAJBIR - Jagjit Singh Anand Memorial Award Winner-2021 |url=https://www.anandawards.in/swarajbir |website=Anand Awards |access-date=2 September 2023}}</ref> His native village is Dharmabad but he grew up in villages Nawan Pind Mallowali and Ghuman in Gurdaspur district. He studied medicine at the Government Medical College, Amritsar.

==Writing Career==

Swarajbir is a prolific playwright.<ref name="award-ht">{{cite news |last1=Correspondent |first1=HT |title=IPS officer Swaraj Bir Singh wins Sahitya Akademi Award for Punjabi play |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/punjab/ips-officer-swarajbir-wins-sahitya-akademi-award-for-punjabi-playwright/story-aAZbd63TqjsgCtoKb49ZyI.html |access-date=4 September 2023 |work=www.hindustantimes.com |publisher=Hindustan Times |date=Dec 22, 2016}}</ref> His plays have been staged all over India and have won several awards. Swarajbir began writing poetry in the early 1980s.<ref name="award-ie"/> His first collection of poems, Apni Apni Rāt (1985), was awarded the Prof. Mohan Singh Puraskar by Guru Nanak Dev University. He contributed writing to the Punjabi literary magazines Preet Lari, Aks and Wahga

His work has been praised for its strong social and political commentary.<ref name="award-ie"/> His plays often deal with themes of oppression, injustice, and the struggle for freedom. Critic Pankaj K Singh remarks, "Swarajbir’s social commitment and humanistic vision make him repeatedly build an interrogative discourse, questioning the unjust ideologies and practices of the dominant classes and clans in myths, history or contemporary reality and raising the voice of the oppressed."<ref name="book-harjodh"/> In the opinion of contemporary playwright [[Atamjit]], "Swarajbir is known for in-depth study of his material and dramatic action that is largely based either on history or mythology; he invariably addresses the contemporary society.”3<ref>{{cite book |last1=Siṅgh |first1=Ātamajīt |title=New Wave Punjabi Drama: Six Punjabi Plays in English |date=2014 |publisher=Punjabi Academy, Delhi |isbn=9789382455233 |pages=22-23}}</ref>
Swarajbir’s plays based on history and contemporary issues have attracted the attention of historians as well. Historian Anshu Malhotra who has analysed Swarajbir's play 'Shiary (Poetry)' along with Shahryar’s ‘Piro Preman’ and Vijender Das’s ‘Sant Kaviyitri Ma Piro’ writes in context of that play, “Swarajbir puts his heroine in the feminist mold, even while indicating that feminism may be a ruse to categorise women who don’t fit into culturally sanctioned roles”<ref>{{cite book |last1=Malhotra |first1=Anshu |title=Piro and the Gulabdasis : gender, sect, and society in Punjab |date=2017 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New Delhi, India |isbn=9780199468188}}</ref> Historian Raj Kumar Hans has analysed his unpublished but staged play ‘Kachi Garhi’ in the historical context; according to Hans, “Swarajbir consciously searches for the counter currents which have been marginalized from established historiography.”<ref name="book-harjodh"/> Historian Bhagwan Josh has evaluated his play Tasweeran in the historical situation of Punjabi women.<ref name="book-harjodh"/> His poetry is known for its lyrical beauty and its exploration of the human condition.<ref name="interview-lv">{{cite journal |last1=Kaur |first1=Sapanpreet |title=An Interview with Dr. Swarajbir Singh, Sahitya Akademi Awardee for 2016 |journal=Literary Voice |date=March 2018 |volume=1 |issue=8 |pages=5–13 |url=https://www.literaryvoice.in/img/lv_2018.pdf |access-date=2 September 2023}}</ref>

Swarajbir is a major figure in Punjabi literature. He is a recipient of numerous awards and honors,<ref name="award-ht"/>, and his work has been translated into several languages.

==Works==
Here are list of works by Swarajbir Singh<ref name="book-harjodh">{{cite book |last1=Singh |first1=Harjodh |title=Swarajbir da nāt jagat |date=2016 |publisher=Chetna Parkashan |location=Ludhiana, Punjab |isbn=9789351121886 |pages=446-448 }}</ref>
===Published Plays===

* ''Dharama Guru'' (1999)

* ''Krishna'' (2000)

* ''Medni'' (''The Earth'') (2002)

* ''Shiari'' (''Poetry'') (2004)

* ''Kallar'' (''The Alkaline Earth'' (2006)

* ''Masia Di Rāt'' (''Moonless Night'')(2013)

* ''Tasveeran'' (''Pictures'') (2014, published the anthology Nat-Sarvar edited by [[Kewal Dhaliwal]]) (2017 published independently)

* ''Haq'' (''The Rights'') (2015)

* ''Agni Kund''(''The Fire Put'') (2016)

===Unpublished Plays===

* ''Jan da Meet'' (''A Representative of the People'')

* ''Pul-Sirāt'' (Mythological bridge over hell while crossing over to Heaven on the Day of Judgment)

* ''Kachi Garhi'' (''The Mud-Fortress'')

* '' Fasal'' (''The Harvest'')

* '' Eh Gallan Kade Phir Karange'' (''We will talk about these things sometimes later'') ( Nine monologues)

* '' Ahilaya''

* ''Mahadand'' (''The Great Punishment'')

===Essays===

* ''Teri Dharti Tere Lok'' (''Your Earth Your People''), Monthly Column against the terrorism of the 1980s published in Punjabi Magazine Preet Lari in 1988-89.

===Poetry===
* ''Apni Apni Rāt'' (''Everybody's own night'') (1985)

* ''Sahan Thani'' (''Through our Breath'') (1989)

* ''23 March'' (1993), (''Poems in memory of [[Pash]]'')

==Awards and nominations==
Here are list of awards and nominations<ref name="book-harjodh"/>
{| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year
!Award
!Institute
!Work
!Notes
|-
|1986||Prof Mohan Singh Puraskar||[[Guru Nanak Dev University]]||''Apni Apni Rāt''||
|-
|1995||Kavita Puraskar||[[Punjabi Academy|Punjabi Academy, Delhi]]||''23 March''||
|-
|2000||Natak Puraskar||[[Punjabi Academy|Punjabi Academy, Delhi]]||''Dharam Guru''||
|-
|2001||Ambedkar Puraskar||Manavwadi Manch, Jallandhar||Literature||
|-
|2002||Sukhdev Preet Yadgari Puraskar||Manch-Rangmanch||Literature||
|-
|2002||PULS Manch Puraskar||PULS Manch||Literature|| PULS Manch headed by [[Gursharan Singh (theatre director)|Gursharn Singh]]
|-
|2005||Kalam Puraskar||||Literature||
|-
|2010||Param Sahit Seva Puraskar||[[Punjabi Academy|Punjabi Academy, Delhi]]||Literature|| for overall contribution to Punjabi literature.
|-
|2013||Dr. Jagtar Yadgari Puraskar||||Literature|| An award in the memory of Punjabi poet Jagtar, for Swarajbir’s contribution to Punjabi poetry and drama
|-
|2015||Virsa Vihar Puraskar||Virsa Vihar of Amritsar||Literature|| For overall contribution to Punjabi theatre 2015
|-
|2015||Sahitarth Puraskar||Shabad-Lok Organization||Literature||Given in honour of late Punjabi litterateur Shri Sant Singh Sekhon for Swarajbir’s overall contribution to Punjabi Litterature
|-
|2016||[[Sahitya Akademi Award]]||[[Sahitya Akademi]]||''Masia di Rāt''||
|-
|2018||Punjabi Sahit Sabha Delhi Puraskar||Punjabi Sahit Sabha Delhi||Literature|| Along with [[Amarjit Chandan]] and Jang Bahadur Goyal
|-
|}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Swarajbir}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1958 births]]
[[Category:Punjabi poets]]

Swarajbir Singh - Revision history

Kingfisher at 11:01, 6 October 2023