FORGOTTEN HISTORY: 16 | History Defined

From Umar Khalid to Sharjeel Imam: Being Muslim in Modi’s India

Jailed student activist Umar Khalid’s friends and mentor Banojyotsna Lahiri, Anirban Bhattacharya, and Shuddhabrata Sengupta join TNM Executive Editor Sudipto Mondal to discuss their book ‘Umar Khalid and His World’.

Newslaundry · Jul 1

The making of Champat Rai: From trusted organiser to Ayodhya’s most controversial figure

In 1990, when L K Advani set out on his Rath Yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya, the journey didn’t survive contact with Bihar – Lalu Yadav’s government had him arrested in Samastipur. Into that vacuum stepped Ashok Singhal, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s then general secretary, who slipped into Ayodhya and…

Newslaundry · Jul 1

Missing in print: The Telegraph ignores its former editor’s ordeal

For four days now, the passport troubles of R Rajagopal, former editor of The Telegraph, have consumed social media and drawn the attention of the Editors Guild of India, the Press Club of India, opposition politicians and a clutch of senior journalists.

Newslaundry · Jul 1

Army vs police in Kishtwar: What does it tell us about civil-military balance?

Nothing like a narrow mountain road in a remote district of Jammu and Kashmir to test India’s civil-military relations. Reams have been written on why the supremacy of civilian institutions in India makes it so different from – and need it be said, so much better than – Pakistan. But…

Newslaundry · Jun 30

Review of Gaza journalist deaths: CPJ board votes to affirm definition of journalist

The Committee to Protect Journalists’s Board of Directors has voted to affirm the organisation’s existing definition of who is a journalist and rejected claims it planned to change its definition to exclude particular groups.

Newslaundry · Jun 30

‘Getting threats continuously, fear for our lives’: ‘Kumbh girl’ Monalisa tells TNM

A few months ago, Monalisa Bhosle was one of the most recognisable faces on the internet. Videos of the young woman selling rudraksha beads at the Prayagraj Kumbh Mela had made her a viral sensation. Soon afterwards came modelling assignments, film offers, and then a wedding in Kerala to a…

Newslaundry · Jun 30

South Central 81: Ayodhya Ram temple trust allegations and the politics of defections

Was the lack of structure in the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Trust by design? With allegations of corruption surfacing in the temple’s management, does the buck stop at the Prime Minister’s door?

Newslaundry · Jun 29

Typos, AI claims: The strange story of the award created days before Modi’s Seychelles visit

Just days before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Seychelles, the island nation created a new presidential distinction – the “Guardian of the Blue Horizon”. It then made Modi its first recipient.

Newslaundry · Jun 29

Why the Delhi Gymkhana eviction should terrify every housing society and hospital in India

Part 1 of this series tracked the chaotic five-year descent of the Delhi Gymkhana Club under state control, where court mandates for corporate democracy were buried under a mountain of unadopted accounts, questionable political appointees, and a literal security crisis at the Prime Minister's doorstep.

Newslaundry · Jun 29

How Mumbai’s poor waste segregation contributes to methane emission spikes

Earlier this year, Mumbai’s Kanjurmarg landfill—a place that takes in most of the city’s waste—was found to be one of the largest emitters of the greenhouse gas (GHG) methane in the world, and one of only two landfills from India to make it to the top 25 list. As global…

Newslaundry · Jun 29