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{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2018}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Bal Krishna Sharma
| image = Bal Krishna Sharma Naveen 1989 stamp of India.jpg
| caption = Naveen on a 1989 stamp of India
| birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1897|12|08}}
| birth_place = Bhyana, [[Shajapur district]], [[Madhya Pradesh]], India
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1960|04|29|1897|12|08}}
| occupation = Freedom activist<br/>Poet<br/>Politician<br/>Journalist
| known for = [[Hindi literature|Hindi]] poems
| parents = Jamanadas Sharma<br/>Radhabai
| awards = [[Padma Bhushan]]
}}
{{Short description|Indian journalist, politician and poet (1897-1960)}}
'''Bal Krishna Sharma''' (8 December 1897 – 29 April 1960), known under the [[pen name]] '''Naveen''', was an Indian freedom activist, journalist, politician and a poet of [[Hindi literature]].<ref name="Balkrishna Sharma Naveen on Bharat Darshan">{{cite web |url=http://www.bharatdarshan.co.nz/author-profile/79/balkrishan-sharma-navin-biography.html |title=Balkrishna Sharma Naveen on Bharat Darshan |publisher=Bharat Darshan |date=2016 |access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> He was a member of the [[1st Lok Sabha]], representing [[Kanpur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Kanpur constituency]]<ref name="The First Lok Sabha">{{cite press release |url=http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1951/VOL_1_51_LS.PDF |title=The First Lok Sabha — Page 140 |publisher=Election Commission of India |date=2016 |access-date=5 March 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140404203355/http://eci.nic.in/eci_main/StatisticalReports/LS_1951/VOL_1_51_LS.PDF |archive-date=4 April 2014}}</ref> and served the [[Rajya Sabha]] as a member from 1957 till his death.<ref name="Biographical Sketches 1952–2003">{{cite web |url=http://rajyasabha.nic.in/rsnew/pre_member/1952_2003/s.pdf |title=Biographical Sketches 1952–2003 |publisher=Rajya Sabha |work=List of Former Members |date=2016 |access-date=5 March 2016 |pages=14 of 48}}</ref> He succeeded [[Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi]] as the editor of ''Pratap'' daily and also served as a member of the [[Official Languages Commission]].<ref name="B. K. Sharma on India Post">{{cite web |url=http://www.indianpost.com/viewstamp.php/Color/Grey/B.K.%20SHARMA |title=B. K. Sharma on India Post |publisher=India Post |date=2016 |access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> His poetry anthologies include ''Kumkum'', ''Rashmirekha'', ''Apalak'', ''Kwasi'', ''Vinoba Stavan'', ''Urmila'' and ''Hum Vishpaee Janam Ke'', the last one published posthumously. The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Bhushan]], in 1960, for his contributions to literature.<ref name="Padma Awards">{{cite web |url=http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |title=Padma Awards |publisher=Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India |date=2016 |access-date=3 January 2016 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151015193758/http://mha.nic.in/sites/upload_files/mha/files/LST-PDAWD-2013.pdf |archive-date=15 October 2015}}</ref> [[India Post]] issued a commemorative stamp on Sharma in 1989.<ref name="Commemorative Stamps">{{cite web |url=http://indiapost.gov.in/Pdf/Indian_Postage_Stamp_Catalogue_1947-2011.pdf |title=Commemorative Stamps |publisher=India Post |work=Stamp listing |date=2016 |access-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130117224026/http://indiapost.gov.in/Pdf/Indian_Postage_Stamp_Catalogue_1947-2011.pdf |archive-date=17 January 2013 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

== Biography ==
Bal Krishna Sharma was born on 8 December 1897 at Bhyana, a small village in [[Shajapur district]] of the Indian state of [[Madhya Pradesh]], in a family of modest financial means to Jamanadas Sharma and Radhabai.<ref name="B. K. Sharma on India Post" /> Due to poverty at home, he could start his formal education only at the age of 11 at a local school in Shajapur where he completed the middle school. Moving to Ujjain, he passed matriculation in 1917 and during this period, he had the opportunity to meet [[Makhanlal Chaturvedi]], the renowned poet, who led him to [[Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi]], who would later precede him as the editor of ''Pratap'' magazine.<ref name="Pandit Balakrishna Sharma Biography">{{cite web |url=http://www.mapsofindia.com/who-is-who/history/pandit-balakrishna-sharma.html |title=Pandit Balakrishna Sharma Biography |publisher=Maps of India |date=2016 |access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> The new personal connections helped him to shift his base to [[Kanpur]] and he joined [[Christ Church College, Kanpur]] to pursue his graduate studies (BA). A turning point in his life occurred during his Kanpur college days when he participated in the [[Non-cooperation movement (1919–22)|Non-cooperation movement]] and this prompted him to abandon his college studies in 1921 to take up politics as a full-time career.<ref name="B. K. Sharma on India Post" />

Sharma became active in the [[Indian freedom movement]] and was incarcerated by the British government six times between 1921 and 1944, the government declaring him as a dangerous prisoner.<ref name="Pandit Balakrishna Sharma 'Navin' on Free India">{{cite web |url=http://www.freeindia.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=449 |title=Pandit Balakrishna Sharma 'Navin' on Free India |publisher=Free India |date=3 February 2003 |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160309111107/http://www.freeindia.org/dynamic/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=449 |archive-date=9 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> He pursued his journalistic career concurrently through his association with ''Pratap'', a [[Hindi language]] daily, and when [[Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi]], the then editor of the newspaper died in March 1931,<ref name="Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BOhrCgAAQBAJ&q=Ganesh+Shankar+Vidyarthi&pg=PT16 |title=Gita Press and the Making of Hindu India |publisher=HarperCollins Publishers India |author=Akshaya Mukul |year=2015 |pages=552 |isbn=9789351772316}}</ref> he was chosen as the editor. After the [[Partition of India|Indian independence]] of 1947, he took up party politics, continuing his alignment with the [[Indian National Congress (Organisation)|Indian National Congress]] (INC). He contested the [[Indian general election, 1951–52|first lok sabha elections]] of 1951–52, and won from the [[Kanpur (Lok Sabha constituency)|Kanpur District South cum Etawah district Lok Sabha constituency]], defeating Chandrasekhar of the [[Congress Socialist Party]] with a margin of over 26,500 votes, securing almost 50 percent of the votes polled.<ref name="The First Lok Sabha" /> In 1957, he was elected to the [[Rajya Sabha]], a post he held till his death.<ref name="Pandit Balakrishna Sharma Biography" /> His active participation in political and social activities together with his oratorical skills earned him the moniker, ''Lion of Kanpur''. When the [[Official Languages Commission]] was established by the Government of India in 1955, he was selected as a member<ref name="Balkrishna Sharma New Biography">{{cite web |url=http://www.bharatdarshan.co.nz/author-profile/79/balkrishan-sharma-navin-biography.html |title=Balkrishna Sharma New Biography |publisher=Bharat Darshan |date=2016 |access-date=6 March 2016}}</ref> and he was also a member of the Cultural delegation which visited a number of countries including Nepal, Mauritius and USA.<ref name="Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QA1V7sICaIwC&q=Bal+Krishna+Navin&pg=PA345 |title=Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M |publisher=Sahitya Akademi |editor=Kartik Chandra Dutt |year=1999 |pages=1490 |isbn=9788126008735}}</ref>

Sharma wrote several poems, under the [[pen name]] ''Naveen'', since his college days which reflected patriotic fervor<ref name="Hindi Literature ">{{cite web |url=http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Hindi+Literature |title=Hindi Literature |publisher=The Free Dictionary |date=2016 |access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> and published many anthologies such as ''Kumkum'', ''Rashmirekha'', ''Apalak'', ''Kwasi'', ''Vinoba Stavan'' and ''Urmila''. He was the editor of the Hindi language literary magazine, ''Prabha''.<ref name="Balkrishna Sharma Naveen on Bharat Discovery">{{cite web |url=http://en.bharatdiscovery.org/india/%E0%A4%AC%E0%A4%BE%E0%A4%B2%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%83%E0%A4%B7%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%A3_%E0%A4%B6%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%AE%E0%A4%BE_%E0%A4%A8%E0%A4%B5%E0%A5%80%E0%A4%A8 |title=Balkrishna Sharma Naveen on Bharat Discovery |publisher=Bharat Discovery |date=2016 |access-date=6 March 2016}}</ref> The Government of India awarded him the third highest civilian honour of the [[Padma Bhushan]] in 1960, a few months before his death on 29 April 1960; while he was serving as a member of the [[Rajya Sabha]].<ref name="Padma Awards" /> Some of his poems were compiled by Gyanpeeth after his death and published under the title, ''Hum Vishpaee Janam Ke''.<ref name="B. K. Sharma on India Post" /> His prose writings, ''Balkrishna Sharma Gadya Rachanavali'' is available in 5 volumes and poems, ''Balkrishna Sharma Kavya Rachanavali'' has been published in 3 volumes.<ref name="Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M" /> His poems have been reported to have influenced many, including the former Indian Prime Minister, [[Atal Behari Vajpayee]].<ref name="There was no time to get married: PM">{{cite web |url=http://www.thehindu.com/2002/12/25/stories/2002122506491200.htm |title=There was no time to get married: PM |date=25 December 2002 |work=[[The Hindu]] |access-date=6 March 2016}}{{dead link|date=April 2021|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The India Post honored him with a commemorative stamp in 1989<ref name="B. K. Sharma on India Post" /> and the ''[[Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan]]'' has instituted an award, ''Bal Krishna Sharma Naveen award'', in his honor.<ref name="Bal Krishna Sharma 'Naveen' award">{{cite web |url=http://www.bhu.ac.in/performing_arts/dance/vidhinagar.php |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130930155819/http://www.bhu.ac.in/performing_arts/dance/vidhinagar.php |url-status=dead |archive-date=30 September 2013 |title=Bal Krishna Sharma 'Naveen' award |publisher=Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan |date=2016 |access-date=5 March 2016}}</ref> A college in [[Shajapur]] managed by the Government of Madhya Pradesh, ''Government Balkrishna Sharma Navin Post Graduate College'', has been named after him.<ref name="Government Balkrishna Sharma Navin Post Graduate College">{{cite web |url=http://highereducation.mp.gov.in/GuestLecturer0910/JoiningStatus/GuestLecturerBudgetAllotment08122009_123.pdf |title=Government Balkrishna Sharma Navin Post Graduate College |publisher=Government of Madhya Pradesh |date=2016 |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306224026/http://highereducation.mp.gov.in/GuestLecturer0910/JoiningStatus/GuestLecturerBudgetAllotment08122009_123.pdf |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="MP Colleges">{{cite web |url=http://www.mpcolleges.nic.in/bksnpgcshajapur/d1.html |title=MP Colleges |publisher=Government of Madhya Pradesh |date=2016 |access-date=6 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140822182038/http://www.mpcolleges.nic.in/bksnpgcshajapur/d1.html |archive-date=22 August 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> His life has been documented in a biography, ''Balkrishna Sharma Naveen'', written by Vishnu Tripathi and published in 2013.<ref name="Balkrishna Sharma Naveen">{{cite book |url=http://www.prabhatbooks.com/balkrishna-sharma-naveen.htm |title=Balkrishna Sharma Naveen |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |author=Vishnu Tripathi |year=2013 |pages=128 |isbn=9789350482551}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{Div col|colwidth=30em}}
* [[List of postage stamps of India]]
* [[Official Languages Commission]]
* [[Makhanlal Chaturvedi]]
* [[Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi]]
{{div col end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book |title=Balkrishna Sharma Naveen |publisher=Prabhat Prakashan |author=Vishnu Tripathi |year=2013 |pages=128 |isbn=9789350482551}}

{{PadmaBhushanAwardRecipients 1960–69}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naveen, Bal Krishna Sharma}}
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education]]
[[Category:1897 births]]
[[Category:1960 deaths]]
[[Category:People from Shajapur district]]
[[Category:Indian independence activists from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Indian male journalists]]
[[Category:Indian male poets]]
[[Category:Journalists from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Rajya Sabha members from Uttar Pradesh]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians]]
[[Category:Poets from Madhya Pradesh]]
[[Category:Hindi-language poets]]
[[Category:Hindi-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian writers]]
[[Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers]]

Bal Krishna Sharma Naveen - Revision history

Vanmathiscp at 07:43, 31 December 2025