Rustom Khurshedji Karanjia
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Rustom Khurshedji Karanjia (15 September 1912 – 1 February 2008) was an Indian journalist and editor. He typically signed his reports as "R. K. Karanjia". He founded the ''
Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
'', a weekly tabloid with focus on investigative journalism in 1941, and ran it for the next four decades. He also founded The Daily, a daily tabloid which was run by his daughter.


Early life and background

Karanjia was born to a
Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
family in
Quetta Quetta (; ur, ; ; ps, کوټه‎) is the tenth most populous city in Pakistan with a population of over 1.1 million. It is situated in south-west of the country close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is the capital of ...
, now in
Balochistan Balochistan ( ; bal, بلۏچستان; also romanised as Baluchistan and Baluchestan) is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. ...
in the Northern part of
Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 243 million people, and has the world's second-lar ...
.


Career

Karanjia began writing while still in college,. and during the 1930s Karanjia was employed an assistant editor at ''
The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...
''... He left ''The Times of India'' in 1941 to launch ''
Blitz (newspaper) ''Blitz'' was a popular investigative weekly tabloid newspaper or newsmagazine published and edited by Russi Karanjia from Bombay. Started in 1941, it was India's first weekly tabloid and focussed on investigative journalism and political news ...
'', a weekly tabloid with a focus on investigative journalism. It was one of the few Indian newspapers to have carried out interviews with the high and mighty, including the likes of Fidel Castro and
Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 January 1976. Zhou served under Chairman Ma ...
. The Daily and The Blitz were also incubators for the likes of R.K. Laxman, P. Sainath and
Teesta Setalvad Teesta Setalvad (born 9 February 1962) is an Indian civil rights activist and journalist. She is the secretary of ''Citizens for Justice and Peace'' (CJP), an organisation formed to advocate for the victims of 2002 Gujarat riots. Personal life ...
, all of whom started their journalistic careers there. Karanjia served as a war correspondent during the Japanese Burma offensive in
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, reporting on the action in
Burma Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John Wells explai ...
and
Assam Assam (; ) is a state in northeastern India, south of the eastern Himalayas along the Brahmaputra and Barak River valleys. Assam covers an area of . The state is bordered by Bhutan and Arunachal Pradesh to the north; Nagaland and Manipur ...
. ''Blitz'' folded during the mid-1990s and Karanjia retired from public life. Karanjia died at his home, a seafront flat along
Marine Drive Marine Drive may refer to: Roads Bangladesh * Cox Bazar-Tekhnaf Marine Drive, world's longest marine drive road. Canada *Marine Drive (Nova Scotia), a scenic route in Nova Scotia *Marine Drive (Greater Vancouver), a number of roadways in Metropo ...
, in
Mumbai Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...
at the age of 95 on 1 February 2008. In a "departure from
Parsi Parsis () or Parsees are an ethnoreligious group of the Indian subcontinent adhering to Zoroastrianism. They are descended from Persians who migrated to Medieval India during and after the Arab conquest of Iran (part of the early Muslim conq ...
tradition, as per his wishes," his funeral was held in Chandanvadi crematorium, in south Mumbai. Karanjia was survived by one daughter, Rita Mehta, the founder and first Editor-in-chief of
Cine Blitz ''Cine Blitz'' is a Hindi and English film magazine published every month from Mumbai about Bollywood, Hindi cinema. Started in December 1974, as of 2006, it was one of the top three film magazines in India. ''Cine Blitz'' belongs to E.N. Commu ...
magazine. His brother, Burjor, was also a journalist, albeit in the film industry, editor of '' Filmfare''.


Owner editor of Blitz

Karanjia was founder and owner editor of ''Blitz'', a tabloid weekly published from Mumbai.
Kulkarni Kulkarni is a family name native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. The name "Kulkarni" is a combination of two words (''kula'' and ''karni''). ''Kula'' means "family", and ''Karanika'' means "archivist". Historically, Kulkarni was the title gi ...
narrates that the decision to launch ''Blitz'' was taken over a cup of tea, by three patriotic journalists- B. V. Nadkarni,
Benjamin Horniman Benjamin Guy Horniman (17 July 1873 – 16 October 1948) was a British journalist and editor of ''The Bombay Chronicle'', particularly notable for his support of Indian independence. Early life Horniman was born in Dove Court, Sussex, England ...
and Karanjia- at Wayside Inn, a restaurant near
Kala Ghoda Kala Ghoda (IPA:Kāḷā Ghōḍā,(काला घोडा)') is a crescent-shaped art district in Mumbai, India. It hosts several of the city's heritage buildings including museums, art galleries and educational institutions like the Ch ...
, in Mumbai. The first issue of ''Blitz'' was published on 1 February 1941 (the same day that Karanjia died in 2008).
Kulkarni Kulkarni is a family name native to the Indian state of Maharashtra. The name "Kulkarni" is a combination of two words (''kula'' and ''karni''). ''Kula'' means "family", and ''Karanika'' means "archivist". Historically, Kulkarni was the title gi ...
calls his journalism "irreverent, investigative, courageous and a little titillating".
Khwaja Ahmad Abbas Khwaja Ahmad Abbas (7 June 1914 – 1 June 1987) was an Indian film director, screenwriter, novelist, and journalist in Urdu, Hindi and English. He won four National Film Awards in India. Internationally, his films won the Palme d'Or (Golden ...
, writer and film maker, and P. Sainath, Magsaysay award winning journalist, were associated with Blitz. Blitz was radical and idealist, left leaning and pro-Soviet. Karanjia attacked the Congress party, and yet was friendly with Congress leaders
Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...
, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. Karanjia became disillusioned with communism and its
anti-Hindu Anti-Hindu sentiment, also known as Hinduphobia, is a negative perception, sentiment or actions against the practitioners of Hinduism. Examples of anti-Hindu sentiments According to the religious dialogue activist P. N. Benjamin, som ...
secularism Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations. Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
. He became a strong sympathiser of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Ayodhya movement. Kulkarni claims that thus P. Sainath as deputy editor was replaced with him by Karanjia.


Devotee of Satya Saibaba

Initially a fierce critic of the Indian guru Sathya Sai Baba Karanjia became his devotee in 1976.


Books

* 1952: ''China stands up and wolves of the Wild West'' * 1956: ''SEATO: Security or Menace?'' * 1958: ''Arab Dawn'' * 1960: ''The Mind of Mr. Nehru'' * 1961: ''Castro: Storm Over Latin America'' * 1966: ''The Philosophy Of Mr. Nehru'' * 1970: ''Round Germany with Hitler'' * 1977: ''Kundalini Yoga'' * 1977: ''Mind of a Monarch: Biography of the
Shah of Iran This is a list of monarchs of Persia (or monarchs of the Iranic peoples, in present-day Iran), which are known by the royal title Shah or Shahanshah. This list starts from the establishment of the Medes around 671 BCE until the deposition of th ...
'' * 1997: ''God Lives In India''


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karanjia, Russi 1912 births 2008 deaths Indian newspaper editors Indian male journalists Parsi people from Mumbai Followers of Sathya Sai Baba People from Quetta Nominated members of the Rajya Sabha Indian investigative journalists Journalists from Maharashtra 20th-century Indian journalists Writers from Mumbai