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Kavita Chowdhury

Kavita Chowdhury

San Francisco Chronicle

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Indian Government Cracks Down on Video Reels Lampooning PM Modi

Authorities took down a video that mocked Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s undignified behavior while meeting foreign leaders.

26.03.2026 20

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

India’s Refusal to Acknowledge Its Racist Prejudices

Name-calling and violence against youth from the country’s Northeast in India’s cities stem from deep racial prejudice.

17.03.2026 6

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Muhammad Deepak: A Symbol of Defiance Against Hindutva’s Hate Politics

When a mob of Hindutva goons descended on a Muslim shopkeeper, a young gym owner stepped forward to defend him.

27.02.2026 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

India’s Apex Court Declares Menstrual Health and Hygiene a Fundamental Right

The ruling mainstreams menstrual health. But India needs to normalize sex education too. Otherwise, menstruation will be treated as a “dirty...

17.02.2026 7

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

India Scraps 10-minute Delivery by Food and Grocery Delivery Platforms

To meet the deadline, delivery workers were often putting their lives at risk to speed through India’s chaotic and crowded roads.

26.01.2026 7

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Is India’s Film Censor Board Thwarting Tamil Actor-Politician Vijay’s Electoral Plans?

Months ahead of the Tamil Nadu assembly elections, it has delayed the release of his movie, "Jana Nayagan."

16.01.2026 5

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

2025: Another Bad Year for India’s Women, Dalits, and Religious Minorities

A progressive rights-based employment guarantee scheme was scrapped. Inclusive growth remains a pipe dream.

30.12.2025 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Modi Government Rings Death Knell of India’s Legal Right to Employment

The globally acclaimed MGNREGA, enacted when the Congress party was in power, has been replaced by a law that puts in place a discretionary scheme.

26.12.2025 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Turbulence Hits Indian Skies

Flight cancellations by India’s largest flight operator, IndiGo, threw the domestic aviation sector into chaos early this month.

16.12.2025 4

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

The Human Cost of the Largest Electoral Roll Revision Exercise in the World 

After reports of suicides and deaths due to overwork, the Diplomat tracked several Booth Level Officers carrying out the Special Intensive Revision to...

09.12.2025 5

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

As Bengal Elections Near, a Battle Over Bengali Patriotic Songs Grows Shriller

The BJP is using the 150th anniversary of India’s national song, "Vande Mataram," to polarize society and win votes.

27.11.2025 7

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Can the Opposition End the 20 Years of BJP-JD(U) Rule in India’s Bihar?

Bihar has traditionally seen bipolar election contests. With the entry of the Jan Suraaj party, the contest is triangular this time.

05.11.2025 7

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Beleaguered South Asian University Now Accused of ‘Cover-up’ of Alleged Gang Rape on Campus

Lofty aims accompanied the setting up of this university. Right-wing activism has sullied its image.

29.10.2025 6

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Indian Women Journalists Force Taliban Minister to Back Down in Delhi

Initially, Taliban Foreign Minister Muttaqi called an all-male press meet. He was then forced to call another presser where women journalists were...

20.10.2025 4

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Another Celebrity-Fueled Stampede Claims Lives in India

Actor-turned-politician Vijay kept a massive crowd waiting for seven hours in the sweltering heat. A tragedy was waiting to happen.

08.10.2025 20

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Muslim Conservatives Oppose Urdu Academy Event Invitation to Poet Javed Akhtar

The West Bengal government canceled the event to avoid ruffling the feathers of Muslim hardliners.

13.09.2025 5

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Dowry-related Violence Continues to Claim the Lives of India’s Daughters

The taking and giving of dowries is banned. Yet an average of 20 women die every day of dowry-related violence.

30.08.2025 6

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Mass Burials at Dharmasthala Point to Unholy Mix of Religion, Crime and Politics in India

A whistleblower has revealed that he was forced to bury the bodies of murdered men and raped women over several decades in the temple town.

11.08.2025 4

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

How India’s Patriarchy Drove a Woman Student to Self-Immolate

A 20-year-old student’s complaints of sexual harassment by her college professor in Odisha were ignored by the authorities for over 6 months.

28.07.2025 6

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Zohran Mamdani Raises Hackles of India’s Hindu Right-Wing

Supporters of Narendra Modi are upset with his castigation of Modi's alleged role in the massacre of Muslims in Gujarat in 2002.

10.07.2025 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Moral Vigilantism Behind Murder of Social Media Influencer in India’s Punjab

As shocking as the murder is its justification, as well as the deafening silence of the political class and civil society.

28.06.2025 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Rahul Gandhi Calls out Bias of India’s Election Commission

In an article, the Leader of the Opposition detailed the “industrial scale rigging” of the Maharashtra Assembly elections in favor of the ruling BJP.

13.06.2025 8

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

How Indian PM Modi Is Spinning the Ceasefire With Pakistan as a Victory

Pictures of Modi in an Indian Air Force fighter pilot uniform are all over the country, as the BJP works overtime to project him as the dynamic leader...

30.05.2025 5

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

India Deploys Emotive Symbolism of Women in the India-Pakistan Military Conflict

Hindutva supporters deify the nation as "Bharat Mata" (Mother India). But brand women as anti-national if they don’t ascribe to their jingoism.

16.05.2025 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Plummeting Academic Freedom and Autonomy in Modi’s India

India figures in the bottom 15 percent of 179 countries with regard to academic freedom, according to V-Dem’s 2025 report.

25.04.2025 9

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Modi’s India Is a Dangerous Place for Standup Comedians

Right-wing political activists went on a rampage against comedian Kunal Kamra for cracking jokes about ruling party politicians.

09.04.2025 9

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

New Report on Indian Muslims Recommends Nuanced Approach to Uplift Community

It calls for a “spatial approach” of targeted interventions in Muslim-concentrated spaces and “ghettos” and in sectors and occupations...

26.03.2025 6

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Do India’s Domestic Violence Laws Discriminate Against Men?

Official data shows that every third woman in India is a victim of domestic violence

07.03.2025 7

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Hindi Film ‘Mrs’ Shakes up the Myth of Blissfully Married Indian Women

The movie has conservatives and men’s groups up in arms.

25.02.2025 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Indifferent to Alarming Surge in Hate Speech, India Outrages Over Comic’s Crass Comment on YouTube Show

There was a 74 percent increase in hate speech in 2024. But neither the government nor the public seems alarmed.

14.02.2025 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

Delhi Assembly Polls: An Existential Test for All 3 Parties in the Fray

It has been 27 years since the BJP governed the capital. It is determined to unseat the ruling AAP in the state.

28.01.2025 5

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury

The Dark Underbelly of India’s Fast-expanding Gig Economy

Even as India’s online delivery app businesses are booming, the bleak situation of the sector’s “delivery partners” – i.e. the gig workers of the...

07.01.2025 10

The Diplomat

Kavita Chowdhury