Most reportage on Praful Patel — by reporters like me — has shown a pre-occupation with our own concerns. Lots has been written about ecological costs of his tourism model; about the majoritarian impulses of his administration; about the mechanics of his administration… What went missed is his depredations upon the local community. There were some initial reports about job losses but those did not cohere into a bigger picture.
This piece, my very first byline in Caravan, tries to shine some light on that front. It ends with a bigger question. How does one understand an administration that seeks to punish people — and to use its powers for private gain?
In that sense, as I have been saying on twitter, this is a profile of one of India’s new rulers — and the state is being remade into. Do read.
I am an Indian journalist with interests in energy, environment, climate and India’s ongoing slide into right-wing authoritarianism. My book, Despite the State, an examination of pervasive state failure and democratic decay in India, was published by Westland Publications, India, in January 2021. My work has won the Bala Kailasam Memorial Award; the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award; five Shriram Awards for Excellence in Financial Journalism; and, more recently, been a finalist at the True Story Award and GIJN’s Global Shining Light Awards. Write to me at despitethestate@protonmail.com.
“Westland closure: Titles that are selling fast and a few personal recommendations,” by Chetana Divya Vasudev, Moneycontrol. (Because this happened too. In February, a year after DtS was released, Amazon decided to shutter Westland, which published the book. The announcement saw folks rushing to buy copies of Westland books before stocks run out.)
Fractured/Earth 
Leave a comment