Swapan Dasgupta
Swapan Dasgupta | |
---|---|
Member of Parliament, Rajya Sabha | |
In office 1 June 2021 – 24 April 2022 | |
Constituency | Nominated (Journalism) |
In office 25 April 2016 – 16 March 2021 | |
Succeeded by | Himself |
Constituency | Nominated (Journalism) |
Personal details | |
Born | PhD) Nuffield College, Oxford (Post-doctoral Fellow) | 3 October 1955
Occupation | Journalist, Writer, Political analyst |
Awards | Padma Bhushan (2015) |
Swapan Dasgupta (born 3 October 1955) is an Indian journalist and politician.[1] He is influential within the Indian right wing,[2][3][4] writing columns for leading English dailies espousing Indian nationalism.[5] He was a nominated member of the Rajya Sabha. In 2015, Dasgupta was conferred with the Padma Bhushan for his contribution to literature and education.[6]
Early life and education
Dasgupta was born into a Bengali
However, within a year, Dasgupta returned to the United Kingdom as a Junior Research Fellow at Nuffield College, Oxford, where he taught and researched South Asian Politics.[7][8] During this time, an excerpt from his thesis concerning the intersectionality of local politics in the Midnapur district was published in one of the Subaltern Studies volumes.[7]
Career
Dasgupta has served in editorial positions over several English dailies in India including The Indian Express, The Times of India, The Statesman, India Today et cetera.[7][9] He is a frequent guest on news channels in English-language debates on Indian politics and international affairs.[7]
In February 2015, Swapan Dasgupta was appointed on the Board of Directors of Larsen and Toubro as a nominee of the
In 2019, he published Awakening Bharat Mata: The Political Beliefs of the Indian Right.[13]
He was conferred Honorary Visiting Professorship at Center for Media Studies (CMS) at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in recognition to his excellent expertise on journalism and media.[14]
Dasgupta led the first edition of the Delhi University Literature Festival as its festival director alongside Sanjeev Sanyal as the festival patron in March 2023.[15]
Politics
Dasgupta started as a Trotskite during college but became a Thatcherite in England; since then, he has self-identified with centre-right politics. Dasgupta has been active in national politics since the early 90s as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP); he believed in the potential of the Mandal Commission recommendations and the Ram Rath Yatra to forge a common Hindu identity.[16][7][17]
Mushirul Hasan, writing in 1997, held him the chief spokesperson of BJP in the English language press.[18] In the early 2000s, Dasgupta blogged:[19]
The Right is an endangered community in India's English-language media. I happen to be one of the few to have retained a precarious toe-hold in the mainstream media.
Throughout these years, Dasgupta emphasized the value of English in reaching out to the elites — who were allegedly mass-committed to the left-liberal cause — and winning them over towards hindutva;[20] he was one of the most fierce critics of the pro-vernacular policies followed by the communist government of West Bengal.[21]
Legislation
In April 2016, the incumbent
Reception
Meera Nanda finds Dasgupta among India's most prominent center-right public intellectuals.[23][24] Arvind Tajagopal found Dasgupta among the most vocal enthusiasts for the spread of Hindutva, in English language press in the 80s.[25] Scholars have located parallels between his writings and the thought school of Hindu nationalist organisations.[26][27][28]
Personal life
He is married to Reshmi Ray Dasgupta, Lifestyle Editor at The Economic Times and has a son who is a practicing lawyer in the Supreme Court of India.[8] They reside in New Delhi.[8]
Bibliography
- ISBN 9788185990309.
- The Ayodhya Reference: The Supreme Court Judgement and Commentaries. India: South Asia Books. 1995. p. 208. ISBN 9780670091690.
External links
- Bal, Hartosh Singh (28 December 2015). "The challenge to Jaitley is a challenge to business as usual in Lutyens' Delhi". The Caravan. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- Swapan Dasgupta on Twitter
References
- ^ "Subramanian Swamy, Sidhu, Suresh Gopi, Swapan Dasgupta nominated for Rajya Sabha". The Indian Express. 23 April 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ISBN 9780190494520.
- ISBN 978-1-107-14987-8. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ Joseph, Tony. "The real reason Indian intellectuals are backing Narendra Modi". Quartz. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-107-14987-8. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ "Press Information Bureau". pib.nic.in. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-107-14987-8. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ a b c Soni, Aayush (6 June 2014). "Swapan Dasgupta: The Face to Ring in Modi's New India". OZY. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ISBN 9788132109914.
- ^ "Business Standard". Business Standard India. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2015.
- ^ "Swapan Dasgupta is not untouchable for me". Rediff. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ Saikia, Arunabh (10 July 2015). "Hartosh Bal Versus Swapan Dasgupta. And Others Caught in the Crossfire". Newslaundry. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ Pushkarna, Vijaya (10 June 2019). "Understanding the Indian right". The Week. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ "CMS Faculty".
- ^ "It's raining lit fests at Delhi University". The Indian Express. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
- ISBN 9780521648394.
- ISBN 9780812215854.
- S2CID 242620789.
- ISBN 978-1-107-14987-8. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ISBN 978-1-107-14987-8. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
- ^ Kapoor, Richa (2008). Understanding and Interpreting English as a School Discipline in Postcolonial India (Thesis). University of Minnesota.
- ^ "Official: Swamy, Sidhu, Swapan Dasgupta and Mary Kom nominated to Rajya Sabha by PMO - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis". dnaindia.com. 22 April 2016. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
- ISBN 9781583672501.
- ^ Basu, Manisha (2008). Fathers of a Still-born Past: Hindu Empire, Globality, and the Rhetoric of the Trikaal (Thesis). University of Pittsburgh.
- ISBN 9780521648394.
- JSTOR 4396965.
- ^ Thakore, Aloke (2004). Reporting ethnic violence: context, text, and practice of journalism in an Indian city (Thesis). University of Wisconsin–Madison.
- JSTOR 4399339.