Meena Kotwal

Meena Kotwal is a Dalit journalist, human rights defender, and the founder of The Mooknayak, an online news channel and website focused on social justice for the Dalit minority and marginalised people.

Meena Kotwal
Born
Uttar Pradesh, India
Alma materIndian Institute of Mass Communication (2013-14 batch)
Jamia Millia Islamia
Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University
OccupationJournalist
Years active2015–present
Notable workthe founder of ‘The Mooknayak’

Biography

Meena was raised in a Dalit neighborhood in New Delhi.[1] Her parents earned little from their work as laborers.[1] Meena attended the Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Delhi (2013-14 batch) and studied radio and television journalism.[2] She also attended Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI), Delhi, and Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University.[2]

Meena had worked as a broadcast journalist at the Hindi language division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) in New Delhi, India from September 2017 to July 2019.[3] She has said her BBC contract was not renewed after she was outed as Dalit by a colleague and then experienced discrimination, and had her formal complaint denied as lacking "merit or substance" by the BBC.[1]

She also contributes opinion pieces for The Wire, The Print, The Shudra, Youth Ki Awaz and Feminism in India.[4][5] Her open letter to popular Indian actress Kangana Ranaut was published by The Wire.[6] She has also worked for National Dastak, an online platform which focuses on the stories of marginalised identities.

On 25 December 2021, she posted an online video of herself burning the Manusmriti.[7] She then began to receive death threats and rape threats, and the Delhi Police registed a FIR about the threats.[7] In January 2022, she explained her reasoning for burning the Manusmriti: "The Manusmriti contains a lot of anti-women and anti-Dalit content. Babasaheb Ambedkar had also burned the Manusmriti, on 25 December 1927. Since then, Ambedkarites have been observing the day as Manusmriti Dahan Divas."[7] In February 2022, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders and others at the UN wrote to the Indian government to express concern about the threats directed at Kotwal.[8]

She founded The Mooknayak in 2021, and by 2023, employs 15 journalists, including 9 full-time.[9] She has described it as "a Dalit-centred newsroom."[9] The stories published in The Mooknayak cover issues concerning Dalits and other marginalized groups in India.[1]

Honours and awards

Personal life

Meena resides in New Delhi and has a daughter.She married Raja Pandey.[1]

  • "India: intimidation and threats against Meena Kotwal (joint communication)". UN SR Human Rights Defenders. 7 April 2022. Retrieved 10 April 2022.

References
  1. Singh, Karan Deep (6 March 2023). "With Stories of Her Oppressed Community, a Journalist Takes Aim at the Walls of Caste". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
  2. "Twocircles.net journalist Meena Kotwal wins IIMCAA Awards". TwoCircles.net. 12 February 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2022.
  3. "Dalit journalist accuses BBC Hindi of discrimination, says was let go due to caste". ThePrint. 13 August 2019. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
  4. "Meena Kotwal : Exclusive News Stories by Meena Kotwal on Current Affairs, Events at The Wire". The Wire. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  5. Kotwal, Meena. "Author: Meena Kotwal". फेमिनिज़म इन इंडिया. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  6. "A Letter to Kangana Ranaut On Caste and Reservation". The Wire. Retrieved 3 March 2022.
  7. Bose, Meghnad (12 January 2022). "'Right Wingers Threatening to Rape Me for Burning Manusmriti': Dalit Journalist". The Quint. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  8. "UN writes to India over inaction on death threats to Dalit journalist". Pakistan Today. 9 April 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2022.
  9. Sharma, Saurabh (13 February 2023). "'Leading the voiceless' - how low-caste Indian journalists are crowdfunding their own newsrooms". Al Jazeera Journalism Review. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
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