Blog: In Nandigram, "Begum" Mamata vs Suvendu "The Traitor"

Monideepa Banerjie | Wednesday March 31, 2021

The "this" is communal polarisation that has spiked from an undertow at the start of this year's Nandigram campaign to complete dominance by the end.

Blog: BJP's "Bengalification" To Blunt Mamata Banerjee's "Didi Ke Bolo"

Monideepa Banerjie | Friday August 23, 2019

It is not exactly imitation but poll strategist Prashant Kishor can feel flattered. His mass contact campaign for Mamata Banerjee called Didi Ke Bolo or Tell Didi has prompted BJP Bengal to launch a counter campaign for its chief Dilip Ghosh.

Blog: Sheikh Hasina Back In Power In Bangladesh, With A "No Celebration" Order

Monideepa Banerjie | Monday December 31, 2018

No victory celebrations: That is an order from the Awami League to its supporters across the country and that, in a way, tells the story of the elections in Bangladesh this time.

Blog: Why India Should Care About Elections In Bangladesh

Monideepa Banerjie | Sunday December 30, 2018

What is India's interest in the Bangladesh elections? Given India was an active player in the birth of this 47-year-old nation, Delhi has always looked out for Dhaka. But there is more.

Blog: The Making And Unmaking Of A Bone-Chilling Crime Story In Kolkata

Monideepa Banerjie | Monday September 03, 2018

The discovery of 14 bulging plastic bags tied tightly at the mouth in an empty, overgrown plot of land in south Kolkata caused a flutter on Sunday. But when the city's Mayor, Sovan Chatterjee, arrived and authoritatively declared that inside them were dead newborns wrapped in chemicals so they did not smell, Kolkata gasped.

Blog: Cloak-And-Dagger Games At Sedate CPM Meet To Sideline Party Chief

Monideepa Banerjie | Monday January 22, 2018

If you thought the Communist Party of India Marxist was a musty geriatrics club, only good for some theoretical intra party pedantry, think again. The three-day meet of the Central Committee in Kolkata that ended on Sunday in a devastating blow to party general secretary Sitaram Yechury was a cloak and dagger delight a la 007.

Blog: Xi's Message In 3-Hour Speech: Chinese-Ness

Monideepa Banerjie | Thursday October 19, 2017

When the world is moving Right -- white supremacy, Hindutva, the Neo Nazis -- and the parochial is replacing the 'global village' circa 1990s, what does China do? Xi Jinping has an answer.

Blog: I Covered The Bashirhat Riots. 'They Are Coming,' They Kept Saying

Monideepa Banerjie | Saturday July 15, 2017

Trouble had erupted in Baduria, just three days before July 4, after a blasphemous social media post about the Prophet by a 17-year-old. The road from Kolkata leading up to Deganga was deserted, shops shuttered, unease in the air.

Blog: Open Letter To Prannoy Roy From His Bengal Reporter

Monideepa Banerjie | Thursday May 05, 2016

You men on the show kept talking about the Bengal tiger. I wanted to say, you are in the land of the Royal Bengal Tigress, so beware.

Blog: Is Begum Khaleda Zia Trying to Distance Herself From Jamaat-e-Islami?

Monideepa Banerjie | Wednesday June 17, 2015

The Jamaat-e-Islami party has called a 24-hour 'hartal' in Bangladesh today to demand the release of Ali Ahsan Mohammed Mojaheed, sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for war crimes against Bangladeshis during the 1971 war.

Blog: Not Park Street Rape Survivor, I am Suzette Jordan, She Said.

Monideepa Banerjie | Friday March 13, 2015

When I first saw Suzette Katrina Jordan, she was a silhouette. The back-lights were strong, highlighting her cloud of curly her. Her face, in shadows.

Blog: In Irom Sharmila's Hospital Room

Monideepa Banerjie | Friday August 22, 2014

She's back to the same room where she spent 14 years of her life.

Blog: Finally, Irom Sharmila's Smile Reaches Her Eyes

Monideepa Banerjie | Thursday August 21, 2014

Monideepa Banerjie accompanies the activist on her first day of freedom.

Blog: The Top Moments of PM Modi's Bhutan Trip

Monideepa Banerjie | Thursday June 19, 2014

A reporter's diary on PM's first foreign tour.