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. 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.Her recent scholarship while based at King's College London includes a critical analysis of the intersection of Indian ethnonationalism, enabling news media, and the reduction of press freedoms, as well as the imperilment of journalists and the crisis of the Indian press. Her work on Ethnonationalist Drivers of the Indian Media Truth Telling Crisis has been published by Routledge Studies in Media, Communication and Politics.

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Pieces of my work

• For the Indian Muslim, Ayodhya is everywhere
• Justice Ahmadi, my grandfather
• Indian Irredentism and the Ukraine Crisis
• Hindi, Hindu, Hindutva – Ethnonationalism in India
• The limits of Sino-Russian ‘no-limits’ alliance: The ties between China and Russia have endured over many decades. But Beijing may be unwilling to go the full stretch to support its longtime ally.
• A not quite fine balance: The war in Ukraine has India walking a tightrope in dealing with Russia and Western powers.
• The power of the people: In India, amid loss of life, human rights violations, and an illiberal democracy, the year that was demonstrated that the power of the people is much stronger than the people in power.
• The politics of polarization: India’s extremist Hindu nationalist movement has plunged the nation into a state of hate.
• Modi and the Indian diaspora: From 'Howdy, Modi!' to 'How could you do this, Modi?' | 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
• 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

Research and Publications