Chinki Sinha

Master’s in journalism from Syracuse University “personal is political”

[Chinki Sinha @chinkis]

This issue of Outlookindia stands against the dangerous silencing of voices. Poetry must be brought before the general public. In a world of controlled speech and linear narratives, poetry offers the scope that we get affected, that we feel.

@Outlookindia #journalism

[ParanjoyGuhaThakurta @paranjoygt]

The Telegraph editor’s passport not being renewed in Kolkata

Note from R. Rajagopal
Former Editor, The Telegraph
——-
In March this year, my name was deleted from the Ballygunge constituency electoral roll in Kolkata, apparently because the Special Intensive Revision process could not trace either my name or that of my late father in the 2002 voters' list. My father, a Gandhian, retired professor and former State Secretary of the Gandhi Smarak Nidhi in Kerala, passed away in 2016. I remain unable to understand how a conscientious voter like him could have been absent from the rolls.

Like nearly 27 lakh other residents of West Bengal, I was excluded on account of what were described as “logical discrepancies”. No reason was furnished even after I submitted my matriculation certificate, and my appeal is now pending before one of the tribunals constituted pursuant to the Supreme Court's directions. As a consequence, I was unable to vote in the recent election.

More distressing has been the fate of my passport renewal application. Although I completed the biometric formalities on March 19, 2026, police verification has not been cleared because my name no longer appears on the electoral roll. Despite submitting several alternative documents, I have been informed that they are insufficient. In fact, today (June 27, 2026) is the 100th day since my biometrics for passport renewal were taken. I was formally informed last week by the passport-issuing authority that Kolkata Police sent an adverse report, citing the deletion of my name from the voters' list. I have been asked to appear before the Regional Passport Office in Calcutta "immediately" but when I sought an appointment, without which it is difficult to gain entry, the date granted is July 17, 2026.

In between, our daughter, a journalist in California, got married in San Francisco on April 17. Needless to say, it would have been impossible for me to attend the wedding in the absence of an active passport, notwithstanding my possession of a valid ten-year US visa.

For all practical purposes, I find myself in a state of civic uncertainty although recently the government iterated that a passport is no proof of citizenship. Much of my time is now consumed by efforts to reconstruct family records and secure documents dating back several decades….

My days begin with checking my voting right appeal status and then the passport tracker. Then I write to the college where my mother taught in 1965 and to her school from where she passed out in 1959, asking for any document that proves she existed. The school has been very helpful but not the college. Similarly, I speak to prohibition campaign activists in Kerala, running down a list I collected after coming across an activist's name in a group by chance, asking for any news clipping or photographs that show my father campaigning against illegal liquor vends and communalism.

Some close friends and public figures have helped me in all these efforts. However, I am unaware if any media outlet or journalists' association or guild (of which I am not a member) has shown any interest in my situation. A senior journalist reminded me that this situation is by no means unique as "rejection" has been the daily certainty confronting millions of Indians for centuries. I accept that point.

My intention has never been to project myself as a victim. Rather, I have wanted to underline a larger point: if someone who spent his professional life in journalism and edited a relatively known newspaper can encounter such difficulties, one can only imagine what the truly marginalised must endure. Did I approach any newspaper? No, because I do not want it to become an issue concerning me. Do editors and journalists know about my issue? Of course, several do. If they don't, they should not be in the profession, don't you think?

Yet, the complete silence of newspapers on this issue has confirmed my suspicion, now reinforced with personal experience, that so-called mainstream journalism has little to do with my life. I do not "read" any newspaper now. I glance at some but hardly find anything that piques my interest.

[Roman Gautam @romangautam]

Two SOPA Awards for @HimalSouthasian! Some great news amid all the challenges of doing good journalism in the region. Big congratulations to @RomitaSaluja @ArshuJohn @VidyaKrishnan!
This is proof of how so much of the best journalism across South Asia today isn't being done by the big, corporate-owned legacy outlets -- it's being done by tiny teams on tiny budgets who refuse to compromise on their independence and ethics.
We need readers like you to step up as paying supporters so we can keep the flame of journalism burning. Head to https://t.co/AhiLFbRvai and support Himal!

[Ramachandra Guha @Ram_Guha]

The brilliant Gujarati writer Chandu Maheria’s memoir has just appeared in English, translated by Hemang Ashwinkumar. It is a remarkable book, a vivid and empathetic portrait of working-class life that is rich, insightful, very moving and often quite witty too.

[Isha @warlordishha]

Red Front Media invites writers, researchers, activists, and correspondents to contribute articles and reports . Maximum word limit is 3000 words . Don't send small essays or articles

[Nilanjana Roy 📚🦊 @nilanjanaroy]

Go see it. For a love story that lasts 78 years. For Naseeruddin's performance.

For every family you knew, Punjab (& Bengal), that sealed loss behind silences and framed photographs.

And because Imtiaz Ali brings perception and healing to these old wounds.

#MainVaapasAaunga

[Virginia @lamamadebambii]

Te podes olvidar de todo, menos de alguien que te hizo ver cosas que nunca hubieras pensado porque tocó una fibra tan íntima que te cambió. Como Murakami cuando escribe: solo una vez en tu vida conocerás a la persona que dividirá tu vida en 2 épocas, antes y después de conocerla.

[Laal Saalan @laalsaalan]

in india, workers could die by having tonnes of molten steel fall on their body and yet there is no outrage from privileged ppl but the same section of society will call workers anti-national if they protest for safer working conditions.

the only reason for this is caste system.

[Anne Applebaum @anneapplebaum]

The details about the Tate brothers in this @newyorker profile are as sick as anything you will ever read. They are rapists, pornographers, traffickers - and heroes to the "conservative" MAGA movement
https://t.co/Zv2l52b9Id

[Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur oPt @FranceskAlbs]

I am more than familiar with Palestine history during the British occupation -its crimes and legacy - and yet. Watching #Palestine36 was a gut-wrenching experience.

Gentle as it can be, Palestinian storytelling cannot hide the horror of the crimes Palestinians have endured.

[Rana Ayyub @RanaAyyub]

Who is even surprised

[Mina @Mina_KindOfBlue]

«En la vida encontrarás muchos imbéciles. Si te hieren, piensa que es su estupidez la que les empuja a hacerte daño. Así evitarás responder a su maldad... Mantén siempre tu dignidad, tu integridad y la fidelidad a ti misma».💎

Gracias,
Marjane Satrapi 🥀

[devanshi @journodevanshi]

read this excellent story by my colleague @khushi_bhuta, she captures how for hours two friends held onto each other under the rubble during the building collapse in south delhi that claimed 6 lives.

[Sayantan Ghosh @sayantansunnyg]

Teacher: “What do you want to be when you grow up?”
Marji: “I’ll be a prophet.”

Marjane Satrapi (1969–2026)

[sunetra choudhury @sunetrac]

When systems fail, individual heroes rise. These are people who rescued people and administered CPR in the hauz rani fire . (L to R) Amir Khan, Mohd Shoaib, Wasim Raja and Mohd Afzal

[هارون خان @iamharunkhan]

This is Armaan, Owner of mattress shop in Malviya Nagar. He laid out all his mattresses so that people trapped in the burning hotel could jump onto them and save their lives. in this way, several lives were saved too.

Armaan is a real life Hero❤️

[Rania Khalek @RaniaKhalek]

Breakthrough News is growing

Support our expanding work 💫

[Nitin Sethi @nit_set]

. @Article14live is perhaps the only other indie newsroom focused on fresh reporting and deep-dive reporting. It does vital and consistent reporting at a grim time for journalism. If you value good reportage (you must), support our friends at Article14. 👇

[Tulika Bose @TulikaBose_]

Editor here, nope. Everyone in this field works unbelievably hard.

Staff journalists often work 12-14 hours a day. I’ve slept in newsrooms for the past 7 years

[Nilanjana Roy 📚🦊 @nilanjanaroy]

"No one is as vulnerable as a dictator. It’s counterintuitive but dictators have so much more to fear from critics because their power is illegitimate, and they are surrounded by people who know that. They fear these people."

~ Daniel Kehlmann

https://t.co/Wjwim1P2HX

[Gabbar @Gabbar0099]

Well said 👏

Richa Chadha, actress with Spine 🔥