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Oct 31, 20242 min read
(news) Centre grabbing coastal people’s land to hand it over to corporates
Writer-activist Meena Kandasamy has dubbed the Union government’s ₹57,991-lakh-crore Sagarmala programme, purportedly for the development...
May 30, 20249 min read
(The Wire) The Radical Rahul Gandhi Nobody Expected
October 2021 When I first rushed to break the news to Cedric, my partner, that I was to meet Rahul Gandhi, he could barely conceal his...
May 18, 20244 min read
(Deccan Herald) Are women writers an easy commodity or a dangerous liability?
In March 2020, I came to Delhi to write about the anti-Muslim violence unleashed on its streets in the wake of the citizenship protests....
Apr 12, 20248 min read
(Outlook) Tamil Nadu: Deep Moats Of The Dravidian Citadel
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has made seven visits to Tamil Nadu in the last forty days, trying hard to woo Tamilians with every trick in...
Oct 19, 20234 min read
(The Guardian) Arundhati Roy is being hounded by the Indian state. This is a test case for its democracy
The climate for media and free speech in India is in a dangerous place. The country is already ranked 161 out of 180 countries in the...
Nov 15, 20226 min read
Acceptance Speech: PEN Germany's Hermann Kesten Prize
Acceptance speech on receiving the HERMANN KESTEN PRIZE 2022, Darmstadt, 15 Nov Good evening! I thank PEN-Center Germany for conferring...
Sep 11, 20226 min read
(The Wire) ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ Is on the Right Track but Congress Also Needs To Get Its Own House in Order
Rahul Gandhi on the first day of the Bharat Jodo Yatra (pic by Kandasamy) There is something about Rahul Gandhi’s carefree physical...
May 26, 20227 min read
(Outlook) Anti-Hindi movement: The Grassroots Struggle For Tamil Pride
On January 25, 1965, a year before the Official Languages Act was to come into force, 27-year-old Keelapaloor Chinnasamy, the only son of...
Feb 21, 202210 min read
(The Quint) Karnataka Hijab Row: Students Recount How the ‘Saffron Protests’ Were Planned
(with G Vishnu, in Udupi) Large sections of media have framed the protests by Muslim girls in Udupi to wear a hijab inside the classroom...
Feb 18, 20227 min read
(Outlook) Behind The Veil: Why Muslim Students Are Fighting For Hijab
(With G. Vishnu, I wrote on how political posturing in the Karnataka hijab row hardened into an ideological stand-off) On February 8, a...
Feb 8, 20226 min read
Keeping people out of education embedded in DNA of Hinduism: Letter to saffron-shawl-wearing kids
Dear saffron-scarf-wearing girls and boys, Namaskaram! I take the liberty of writing to you although I have never met you. When I first...
Dec 1, 20216 min read
(Outlook) Dalits Under Siege: How Lower Castes Are Being Systematically Targeted In Tamil Nadu
When the Suriya-starrer Jai Bhim releÂased on Amazon Prime on NoveÂmÂber 1, it was greeted with uniÂÂversal praise, with the film...
Nov 5, 20212 min read
(Outlook Magazine/ 4-part series) The Long March to Freedom
Sometimes, a photograph arrests your attention and holds you in its thrall. Right at the moment of your first encounter with the image,...
Nov 5, 20211 min read
(Words Without Borders) Interview on Decolonisation, Feminist translation
Suhasini Patni interviews Meena Kandasamy about translating female Tamil combatant poets, anti-imperialist feminism, and her book-length...
Nov 5, 20211 min read
(Tank Magazine) Shatter fascist propaganda in fewer than 280 characters
Oppressive ruling classes in every part of the world have always exerted their hegemony over narrative. In such a context how can – and...
ESSAYS, OP-EDS
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