This is My Truth: Personal and political writings by Dr Sanjukta Basu, Feminist Scholar, Journalist, Lawyer, Photographer and more.
Latest Academic Writing
Latest on Feminism
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Gender and Public Space in London
Recently, I visited the United Kingdom including the cities of London, Oxford, Edinburgh and Newcastle upon Tyne. As I travelled around, I constantly looked at the urban landscape with my gender and public space lens to examine whether women in the first world cities, especially London where I lived the longest, have better access to…
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My Work On The Questions of Gender And Space, Women and Public Space and Spatial Justice
My work on Gender and Space (the travel and photography project I did in five Indian Metro Cities which was published by Firstpost) was mentioned in an EPW Engage article titled, “How Do We Help Women Navigate Cities Designed by Men?” When your work is referred to in academic texts, you are part of the…
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2017 Chandigarh Stalking Case: Varnika Kundu Alleged BJP Leader’s son Vikas Barala Of Stalking And Kidnap
In 2017 Varnika Kundu, a Panchkula-based disc jockey and daughter of an IAS officer registered an FIR against Vikas Barala, the son of the Haryana BJP president and his friend one Ashish Kumar. She alleged that they stalked her on Chandigarh roads by chasing her car and also tried to kidnap her. She called the…
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In Defense Of Rajiv Gandhi In The Shah Bano Case And Muslim Women Protection Bill
Rajiv Gandhi was not the monster he is made out to be for passing the Muslim Women Bill in response to the Supreme Court verdict in Shah Bano case, it wasn’t the greatest disaster India has seen, the shame and blame must stop now. After almost of a year of on the ground protests by…
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Semiotics – Feminist Interpretation Of Print Ad By ‘Trussardi My Name’ Perfume – Women And Gender Studies Assignments
This is an assignment on the topic of semiotics, study of signs, which I completed during my MA in Women And Gender Studies. I have briefly mentioned Ferdinand De Saussure’s work on semiotics, followed by feminist analysis and interpretation of the print advertisement by the brand brand ‘Trussardi My Name – The new fragrance for…
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Anonymity For Rape Victims, In Camera Trial Do Not Help The Victim, says Advocate Rebecca John
In the month of August 2021, Rahul Gandhi and other Congress leaders Twitter accounts remained suspended for a week, and was restored only after Rahul Gandhi broke his silence and released a powerful video on YouTube where he accused Twitter of interfering in nation’s politics and democratic system. “By shutting down my Twitter, they are…
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National Conference on Women Studies – Paper presentation, Indian Women’s Political Space And Gender Trolling
I shared the preliminary findings of my PhD research at the Indian Association of Women’s Studies National Conference in January 2020. The topic of my PhD research is Indian Women’s Political Space And Gender Trolling. I am sharing below the power point presentation I used to present my paper at the conference. This autoethnographic research…
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[Feminist Film Review] Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014)
She may be a NASA scientists but she is still hyper emotional getting crazy in the middle of her work and getting herself in trouble and needs to be saved by Alpha male robots.
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Women are not assets to be owned by men – Rahul Gandhi Calls Out RSS’s Patriarchal Mindset, Weighs In On Feminist Discourse
Rahul Gandhi has shed light on the core problem why women are not treated equally. Simone de Beauvoir called it the ‘othering of women’.
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[Column] No, Sakshi Mishra’s Story Does Not Reveal Hidden Caste Bias, It Reveals How Indian Women are Controlled
A full version of my latest column is available on Daily O titled, ‘Sakshi Mishra hounded: How the society controls a woman’s sexual, matrimonial and reproductive choices’. On the same day that Sakshi posted her video appeal to her father, media reported the killing of Haresh Solanki a 25 year old Dalit man in Gujarat…
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Honour Killing In India is Not About Caste Bias But Patriarchy, Empirical Evidence, Tracking cases since 2017
There are about 437 Google Email Alerts so far since 2017 with reports of honour killing which I am in the process of compiling for an empirical research. Meanwhile, I have made the database public here. Anybody can take a look at it. I also regularly share information on ‘honour killing’ cases in India on…
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Feminist Review: Westworld S-1 Episode 1 – 5, Race, Gender and a 19th Century Genre Trope
I saw Westworld Season 1 back in December 2016. Planning to now catch up with Season 2. I wrote the summary below on Facebook after binge watching the first five episodes. This is incomplete of course, just a glimpse of how my mind works when I start watching a TV series or film. Binge watched…
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Interview With Sanjukta Basu – Feminist Writer, Polymath: Counter Currents
I was interviewed by Pitamber Kaushik for Counter Current, an award winning renowned progressive media platform with an international audience. Most of the questions posed at me gave me an imposter syndrome as I don’t really consider myself so important and successful. But I guess some people see me in that light. So, anyway, you…
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Dear Niece, Life Is Not A Project – A few Things I learnt In 42 years
As my 42nd birthday approaches, a letter to my four year old niece. Life is not a project, make mistakes.
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Media Appearance: On Al Jazeera Stream Debate On Honour Killings
I recently appeared as a guest on the Al Jazeera English program AJ Stream talking on the issue of Honour Killing. The program was in the context of the 2016 Tamil Nadu Honour Killing case in which Kausalya’s parents brutally attacked her and her husband Sankar because she married a Dalit man. Sankar was killed…
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Stop Looking For A Victim In The Legend That Sridevi Was
Can we not accept that she must have had the agency to decide for herself what kind of lifestyle she wanted in her 50s? Can we not accept that if she did go for various surgeries to look less than her age, that must have been what she really wanted out of her free choice?
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Column: Should RSS Decide Whether or Not To Spend Resources On Cervical Cancer Vaccine?
This is my published column. An edited version first appeared on Firstpost on 13 Jan, 2018. All my previous Firstpost columns are here. In the United States, January is the month of Cervical Cancer Awareness. Countrywide efforts are made to raise awareness about the disease which affects 13,000 American women each year. In comparison, approximately…
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Liberalism And Secularism Help Women’s Personal Liberties, Is Why Indian Women Need Congress
Today’s Indian Express Newspaper’s biggest headline was “Economics with Politics” meaning that BJP’s Budget 2018 is more a political strategy with eyes on the forth coming general elections. BJP has learned a lesson from recently held Gujarat elections where it lost quite a few seats to Congress. To course correct, the budget has a lot…
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Arnab Ray aka Great Bong Objects to Swara Bhaskar’s Feminist Review of Padmavati, Proves What Periyar Said About Feminism And Men
Award winning actor Swara Bhaskar’s extremely well crafted hard hitting feminist critique of Padmavati (in an open letter to Bhansali) has gone viral. It is heartening that an industry insider said what needed to be said, and if anybody really have a 56″ chest that is not filled with hollow pride but bravery and integrity,…
