Insiyah Vahanvaty
Journalist ▪ Columnist ▪ Author ▪ Scholar
Insiyah Vahanvaty is an independent Indian journalist, commentator, and scholar with an interest in the subjects of minority rights, media studies, hate politics, gender and caste-based violence as well as the critical examination of institutionalised human rights violations, particularly in religious and racial contexts.Her columns have appeared in Indian Express, Al Jazeera, India Today, Asian Age, Deccan Chronicle, Asia Democracy Network, and The Quint amongst others. Her work has also been quoted by Reuters.She is the author of The Fearless Judge, a biography of her grandfather and the 26th Chief Justice of India, Justice Aziz Mushabber Ahmadi.Her work on the themes of right-wing politics, as well as the larger geopolitical implications of domestic political ideologies and policies have been published by think tanks and geopolitical analyses and advisory firms including Stimson Centre and Oxford Analytica.Insiyah holds a Master's Degree from King's College London in Global Affairs, where her research focused on the intersection of Indian ethnonationalism, media dynamics and the erosion of press freedoms. Her work on Ethnonationalist Drivers of the Indian Media Truth Telling Crisis has been published by Routledge Studies in Media, Communication and Politics.She also serves as a Trustee of The Ahmadi Foundation.
WORDS
- Light in darkness: At last, there is hope for Indian secularism | Indian Express
- The Supreme Court and India’s Secular Soul | Mero Tribune
- For the Indian Muslim, Ayodhya is everywhere | Al Jazeera
- Justice Ahmadi, my grandfather | Indian Express
- Indian Irredentism and the Ukraine Crisis | South Asian Voices
- Hindi, Hindu, Hindutva – Ethnonationalism in India | The Probe
- The limits of Sino-Russian ‘no-limits’ alliance | Asia Democracy Chronicles
- A not quite fine balance: The war in Ukraine has India walking a tightrope in dealing with Russia and Western powers. | Asia Democracy Chronicles
- The power of the people: In India, amid loss of life, human rights violations, and an illiberal democracy... | Asia Democracy Chronicles
- The politics of polarization: India’s extremist Hindu nationalist movement has plunged the nation into a state of hate. | Asia Democracy Chronicles
- Modi and the Indian diaspora: From 'Howdy, Modi!' to 'How could you do this, Modi?' | Asia Democracy Chronicles | Asia Democracy Chronicles
- While our leader counts his votes, we count our dead | Asia Democracy Chronicles
- Farmers’ Agitation: Are India’s Protestors the ‘New Opposition’? | The Quint
- The "Love Jihad" Conspiracy Theory with Insiyah Vahanvaty | Youtube
- Losing our religion, reimagining identity | Asian Age
- UP anti-conversion law pushes women back under parental and community control | Indian Express
- COVID-19 and the curse of caste | Asia Democracy Chronicles
- Not ‘just words’: How to counter hate speech | Asian Age
- Why India is shrouded in a culture of impunity | Asia Democracy Chronicles
BOOK
"A startling account of a man who dared to speak truth to power."One of India’s best-known and beloved judges, Justice Ahmadi was a true trailblazer. Chief Justice of India from 1994 to 1997, he was celebrated for fiercely safeguarding fundamental rights, upholding the tenets of the constitution, and advocating for swift justice delivery.In “The Fearless Judge,” a candid yet meticulously researched biography by his granddaughter, the journalist Insiyah Vahanvaty, readers are offered a rare glimpse not only into the career of a formidable judge – but also the mind of the man behind the robe.This intimate portrait, drawn from a rich treasure trove of Justice Ahmadi’s private writings, public speeches, and family memories, is a journey through the corridors of power, the complexities of legal reasoning, and a startlingly honest account of a man who dared to speak truth to power no matter the consequences.
REVIEWS
RESEARCH
Khan, A., & Vahanvaty, I. (2024). Ethnonationalist drivers of the Indian media truth telling crisis. In J. Harsin (Ed.), Re-thinking Mediations of Post-truth Politics and Trust: Globality, Culture, Affect (1st ed., pp. 196–218). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003388975-11
Vahanvaty, Bhattacharya and Singh (2022), Media Freedoms in Ethnonationalist Contexts: Exploring the intersection of ethnonationalism, an enabling media and the reduction of press freedom in India. King’s College, London.
Vahanvaty (2022), The Imperilment of Journalists and Crisis of Press Freedom in India. King’s College, London.
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