Rahul Pandita - Revision history

Bot at 00:19, 13 September 2022

2022-09-13T00:19:19Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 05:49, 13 September 2022
Line 3:		Line 3:
	{{Use Indian English\|date=October 2019}}		{{Use Indian English\|date=October 2019}}
	{{Infobox person		{{Infobox person
	\| name = Rahul Pandita		\| name = Rahul Pandita
	\| birth_date = {{birth date and age\|df=yes\|1976\|02\|07}}<ref name="deduce1"/><ref name="deduce2"/>		\| image_upright = https://jaipurliteraturefestival.org/speaker/rahul-pandita-3873
	\| birth_place = [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)\|Jammu and Kashmir]], India		\| birth_date = {{birth date and age\|df=yes\|1976\|02\|05}}<ref name="deduce1"/><ref name="deduce2"/>
	\| nationality = Indian		\| birth_place = [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)\|Jammu and Kashmir]], India
	\| occupation = Journalist, ~~Author~~		\| nationality = Indian
	\| native_name =		\| occupation = Journalist, author
	\| awards = International Red Cross award (2010)		\| native_name =
			\| awards = International Red Cross award (2010)
	}}		}}

	'''Rahul Pandita''' ({{IPA-hi\|raːɦʊl pŋɖɪt̪aː}}) is an Indian [[author]] and [[journalist]].<ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/rahul-pandita/article5397869.ece\|title=Rahul Pandita\|work=The Hindu\|date=28 November 2013\|access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=https://openthemagazine.com/special/will-the-milk-come-to-a-boil-in-jk/\|title=Two days in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir}}</ref>		'''Rahul Pandita''' ({{IPA-hi\|raːɦʊl pŋɖɪt̪aː}}) is an Indian author and journalist.<ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/rahul-pandita/article5397869.ece\|title=Rahul Pandita\|work=The Hindu\|date=28 November 2013\|access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web\|url=https://openthemagazine.com/special/will-the-milk-come-to-a-boil-in-jk/\|title=Two days in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir}}</ref>

	==Early life==		==Early life==
	Rahul Pandita is a [[Kashmiri Pandits\|~~Kashmire~~ Pandit]] born in the [[Kashmir Valley]].<ref>{{Cite web \|author=Rahul Pandita \|title=Tweet \|date=21 January 2020 \|url=https://twitter.com/rahulpandita/status/1219495570496032768 \|access-date=2022-03-17 \|website=Twitter \|language=en}}</ref> At the age of 14, he had to leave the ~~valley~~ along with his family ~~in January 1990~~ as part of the [[Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits]].<ref name="deduce1">{{cite news \|author=Rahul Pandita \|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/living-as-a-refugee-in-one-s-own-country/story-y0qXanNR4kx6RPxuczCcQP.html \|title=30 years of Pandit exodus: Living as a refugee in one’s own country\|newspaper=Hindustan Times \|date=17 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="deduce2">{{cite web\|title=Rahul Pandita – Author profile \|publisher=The Hindu \|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/rahul-pandita/article5397869.ece}}</ref>		Rahul Pandita is a [[Kashmiri Pandits\|Kashmiri Pandit]] born in the [[Kashmir Valley]].<ref>{{Cite web \|author=Rahul Pandita \|title=Tweet \|date=21 January 2020 \|url=https://twitter.com/rahulpandita/status/1219495570496032768 \|access-date=2022-03-17 \|website=Twitter \|language=en}}</ref> In 1990, at the age of 14, he had to leave the Valley along with his family as part of the [[Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits]].<ref name="deduce1">{{cite news \|author=Rahul Pandita \|url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/living-as-a-refugee-in-one-s-own-country/story-y0qXanNR4kx6RPxuczCcQP.html \|title=30 years of Pandit exodus: Living as a refugee in one’s own country\|newspaper=Hindustan Times \|date=17 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="deduce2">{{cite web\|title=Rahul Pandita – Author profile \|publisher=The Hindu \|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/rahul-pandita/article5397869.ece}}</ref>

	== Career ==		== Career ==
	Pandita~~'s recent job was~~ the ~~Opinion~~ and ~~Special Stories Editor~~ of ~~''[[~~The ~~Hindu]]'', one~~ of India's ~~leading newspapers.<ref>{{cite news\|url=~~https://www.~~thehindu~~.~~com~~/~~todays~~-~~paper/tp~~-~~opinion/a~~-~~requiem~~-~~for-moral-coherence~~/~~article6055202.ece \|title=A requiem for moral coherence\|date=28 May 2014\|newspaper=The Hindu\|first=Rahul\|last=Pandita\|access-date=6 October 2019}}<~~/~~ref> He quit ''~~The ~~Hindu'' citing frequent and childish interventions in edit pages by [[Malini Parthasarathy]~~], ~~the owner-editor of the paper~~. He ~~was~~ one of the founding members of the much-acclaimed [[Open (Indian magazine)\|''Open'' magazine]] and has also previously worked with the ''[[The Indian Express\|Indian Express]]'' and the ''[[TV Today Network\|TV Today]]'' group. He is a conflict-writer, who has reported extensively from war zones, including Iraq and Sri Lanka. His vast experience in reporting on India's [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency\|Maoist insurgency]] has resulted in two books: ''Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement'' and ''The Absent State''.		Pandita is the author of three best-selling and critically-acclaimed books: "Our Moon has Blood Clots: A memoir of a lost home in Kashmir" (Penguin Random House, 2013); "Hello, Bastar: The untold story of India's Maoist movement" (Westland, 2011), and "[https://www.amazon.in/Lover-Boy-Bahawalpur-Pulwama-Cracked/dp/9391165109 The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur]: How the Pulwama case was cracked (Juggernaut, 2021). He is one of the founding members of the much-acclaimed [[Open (Indian magazine)\|''Open'' magazine]] and has also previously worked with the ''[[The Indian Express\|Indian Express]]'' and the ''[[TV Today Network\|TV Today]]'' group. He was also the Opinion and Special Stories Editor of ''[[The Hindu]]'', one of India's leading newspapers, which he quit citing frequent and childish interventions in edit pages by [[Malini Parthasarathy]], the owner-editor of the paper. He is a conflict-writer, who has reported extensively from war zones, including Iraq and Sri Lanka. His vast experience in reporting on India's [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency\|Maoist insurgency]] has resulted in two books: ''Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement'' and ''The Absent State''.

	Pandita is ~~also~~ the author of the best-selling memoir on Kashmir, ''[[Our Moon Has Blood Clots]],'' covering the [[ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus]], which was described as the "most powerful non-fiction book of the year''".<ref name="Narayan2014">{{cite journal\|last1=Narayan\|first1=Shyamala A.\|year=2014\|title=India\|journal=The Journal of Commonwealth Literature\|volume=49\|issue=4\|pages=535–567\|doi=10.1177/0021989414553750\|s2cid=220679984}}</ref>''<ref name="dna 2013">{{cite web \|title=Book Review: 'Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits' - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis \|website=dna \|date=10 February 2013 \|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review-book-review-our-moon-has-blood-clots-the-exodus-of-the-kashmiri-pandits-1797521 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511085424/http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review-book-review-our-moon-has-blood-clots-the-exodus-of-the-kashmiri-pandits-1797521 \|url-status=dead \|archive-date=11 May 2018 \|access-date=15 May 2018}}</ref> The book inspired many parts of the 2020 Hindi film [[Shikara (2020 film)\|Shikara]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web\|url=https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/bollywood/shikara-movie-review-vidhu-vinod-chopras-account-of-kashmiri-pandit-exodus-is-strikingly-poetic-but-seldom-urgent-8014271.html\|title=Shikara movie review: Vidhu Vinod Chopra's account of Kashmiri Pandit exodus is strikingly poetic but seldom urgent- Entertainment News, Firstpost\|last=Sharma\|first=Devansh\|date=2020-02-07\|website=Firstpost\|language=en\|url-status=live\|archive-url=\|archive-date=\|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>		Pandita is the author of the best-selling memoir on Kashmir, ''[[Our Moon Has Blood Clots]],'' covering the [[ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus]], which was described as the "most powerful non-fiction book of the year''".<ref name="Narayan2014">{{cite journal\|last1=Narayan\|first1=Shyamala A.\|year=2014\|title=India\|journal=The Journal of Commonwealth Literature\|volume=49\|issue=4\|pages=535–567\|doi=10.1177/0021989414553750\|s2cid=220679984}}</ref>''<ref name="dna 2013">{{cite web \|title=Book Review: 'Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits' - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis \|website=dna \|date=10 February 2013 \|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review-book-review-our-moon-has-blood-clots-the-exodus-of-the-kashmiri-pandits-1797521 \|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511085424/http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review-book-review-our-moon-has-blood-clots-the-exodus-of-the-kashmiri-pandits-1797521 \|url-status=dead \|archive-date=11 May 2018 \|access-date=15 May 2018}}</ref> The book inspired many parts of the 2020 Hindi film [[Shikara (2020 film)\|Shikara]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web\|url=https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/bollywood/shikara-movie-review-vidhu-vinod-chopras-account-of-kashmiri-pandit-exodus-is-strikingly-poetic-but-seldom-urgent-8014271.html\|title=Shikara movie review: Vidhu Vinod Chopra's account of Kashmiri Pandit exodus is strikingly poetic but seldom urgent- Entertainment News, Firstpost\|last=Sharma\|first=Devansh\|date=2020-02-07\|website=Firstpost\|language=en\|url-status=live\|archive-url=\|archive-date=\|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>

	Pandita has worked as a [[war correspondent]], and is known for his journalistic dispatches from the war hit countries like [[Iraq]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. However, in the recent years, his focal point has been the [[Maoism in India\|Maoist movement]] in India's [[red corridor]].<ref name="RP-about me">{{cite web \|title=about me \|url=http://rahulpandita.com/about-me/ \|publisher=rahulpandita.com \|access-date=16 October 2013}}</ref> He has also reported from [[North-East]]ern India.<ref name="TAS">{{cite book\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHgnSgAACAAJ\|title=The Absent State: Insurgency as an Excuse for Misgovernance\|publisher=Hachette India (Local)\|year=2010\|isbn=978-93-50092-15-6\|edition=illustrated\|location=Gurgaon\|oclc=636921104}}</ref> In 2009, he ~~became only the third journalist to have interviewed~~ the Maoist supreme commander, [[Ganapathi (Maoist)\|Ganapathi]].<ref>{{Cite document \|title=We Shall Certainly Defeat the Government – Somewhere in the impregnable jungles of Dandakaranya, the supreme commander of CPI (Maoist) spoke to Pandita on issues ranging from the Government's proposed anti-Naxal offensive to Islamist Jihadist movements \|url=https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/visiting/rahulpandita \|work=Rahul Pandita \|publisher=[[OPEN (Indian magazine)\|OPEN]] \|location=Dandakaranya \|date=17 October 2009 \|access-date=16 October 2013}}</ref>		Pandita has worked as a [[war correspondent]], and is known for his journalistic dispatches from the war hit countries like [[Iraq]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. He has also reported from [[North-East]]ern India.<ref name="TAS">{{cite book\|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHgnSgAACAAJ\|title=The Absent State: Insurgency as an Excuse for Misgovernance\|publisher=Hachette India (Local)\|year=2010\|isbn=978-93-50092-15-6\|edition=illustrated\|location=Gurgaon\|oclc=636921104}}</ref> In 2009, he was given a rare opportunity by the Maoist supreme commander, [[Ganapathi (Maoist)\|Ganapathi, to interview him]].<ref>{{Cite document \|title=We Shall Certainly Defeat the Government – Somewhere in the impregnable jungles of Dandakaranya, the supreme commander of CPI (Maoist) spoke to Pandita on issues ranging from the Government's proposed anti-Naxal offensive to Islamist Jihadist movements \|url=https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/visiting/rahulpandita \|work=Rahul Pandita \|publisher=[[OPEN (Indian magazine)\|OPEN]] \|location=Dandakaranya \|date=17 October 2009 \|access-date=16 October 2013}}</ref>

			Pandita was also awarded the [https://www.newindiafoundation.org/fellows New India Fellowship]. In 2015, he was also named a Yale World Fellow.

			Pandita is currently writing a screenplay for a web series<ref>{{Cite news \|title=Series on 2019 Pulwama attack in the works for SonyLIV, film-maker Onir to director it \|work=The Economic Times \|url=https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/magazines/panache/series-on-2019-pulwama-attack-in-the-works-for-sonyliv-film-maker-onir-to-director-it/articleshow/87127298.cms?from=mdr \|access-date=2022-08-09}}</ref> for Sony Liv, based on his book on Pulwama, to be directed by the filmmaker Onir. It is supposed to be out by 2023.

	==Works==		==Works==
Line 32:		Line 37:
	=== Hello, Bastar ===		=== Hello, Bastar ===

	The book covers the [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency]] in the [[Bastar district]] beginning the 1980s.<ref name="toi2">{{cite news\|last=Sharma\|first=Jyoti\|date=19 July 2011\|title='Hello Bastar' an untold story of India's Maoist movement\|work=The Times of India\|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Hello-Bastar-an-untold-story-of-Indias-Maoist-movement/articleshow/9285262.cms\|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref> The book includes several interviews and real life accounts and was published by ~~Tranquebar~~.<ref name=":0">{{cite web\|title=Hello Bastar: The Untold Story Of Indias Maoist Movement\|url=http://books.rediff.com/book/hello-bastar--the-untold-story-of-indias-maoist-movement/9789380658346\|access-date=23 November 2018\|work=Rediff.com~~}}</ref> He claimed to have worked on the subject for 12 years in a bid to differentiate between a terrorist and a naxal.<ref name="toi2" />~~		The book covers the [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency]] in the [[Bastar district]] beginning the 1980s.<ref name="toi2">{{cite news\|last=Sharma\|first=Jyoti\|date=19 July 2011\|title='Hello Bastar' an untold story of India's Maoist movement\|work=The Times of India\|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Hello-Bastar-an-untold-story-of-Indias-Maoist-movement/articleshow/9285262.cms\|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref> The book includes several interviews and real life accounts and was published by Westland.<ref name=":0">{{cite web\|title=Hello Bastar: The Untold Story Of Indias Maoist Movement\|url=http://books.rediff.com/book/hello-bastar--the-untold-story-of-indias-maoist-movement/9789380658346\|access-date=23 November 2018\|work=Rediff.com}}</ref>

	~~;Reception~~

	Jasodhara Banerjee of ''[[Forbes India]]'' felt that the book "leaves much unanswered, much unasked." Writing: What is starkly absent is the touch of his own experience of spending time in some of the most feared regions of the country."<ref name=":1">{{cite news\|last=Banerjee\|first=Jasodhara\|date=7 September 2011\|title=Book Review: Hello, Bastar\|work=Forbes India\|url=http://www.forbesindia.com/article/appraisals/book-review-hello-bastar/28182/1\|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref> Freny Manecksha of ''[[Daily News and Analysis]]'' called it a "hastily produced and written" book that "suffers from a lack of focus and clarity of thought."<ref name=":3">{{cite news\|last=Manecksha\|first=Freny\|date=4 September 2011\|title=Book review: 'Hello Bastar: The Untold Story Of India's Maoist Movement'\|work=Daily News and Analysis\|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-book-review-hello-bastar-the-untold-story-of-india-s-maoist-movement-1582961\|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref> Akash Banerjee of ''[[India Today]]'' wrote: "Hard-hitting, well researched and penned with a lot of passion, this book has all the ingredients of a fictional socio-political thriller; ambition, deceit, love, revenge and nationalism, except that it's not."<ref name=":4">{{cite news\|last=Banerjee\|first=Akash\|date=29 July 2011\|title=Review of Hello, Bastar\|work=India Today\|url=http://blogs.intoday.in/headlinestoday/Review-of-Hello-Bastar-62438.html\|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref>

	== Awards ==		== Awards ==
	Pandita was awarded the ''International Red Cross award'' for his reportage from the Maoist-affected areas in central and east India, in 2010.<ref name="RP-about me" /> In 2015, he was named a [[Yale World Fellow]].<ref name="Sharma 2015">{{cite web\|last=Sharma\|first=Betwa\|date=18 April 2015\|title=Two Indians Named 2015 Yale World Fellows In US\|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/18/2015-yale-world-fellows_n_7091230.html\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126212543/https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/18/2015-yale-world-fellows_n_7091230.html\|archive-date=26 November 2015\|access-date=15 May 2018\|website=HuffPost India}}</ref>		Pandita was awarded the ''International Red Cross award'' for his reportage from the Maoist-affected areas in central and east India, in 2010.<ref name="RP-about me">{{cite web \|title=about me \|url=http://rahulpandita.com/about-me/ \|access-date=16 October 2013 \|publisher=rahulpandita.com}}</ref> In 2015, he was named a [[Yale World Fellow]].<ref name="Sharma 2015">{{cite web\|last=Sharma\|first=Betwa\|date=18 April 2015\|title=Two Indians Named 2015 Yale World Fellows In US\|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/18/2015-yale-world-fellows_n_7091230.html\|url-status=live\|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126212543/https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/18/2015-yale-world-fellows_n_7091230.html\|archive-date=26 November 2015\|access-date=15 May 2018\|website=HuffPost India}}</ref>

	== References ==		== References ==

ImportMaster: robot: import pages using Special:Import

2022-03-20T12:27:33Z

robot: import pages using Special:Import

New page

{{short description|Indian author and journalist}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Rahul Pandita
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1976|02|07}}<ref name="deduce1"/><ref name="deduce2"/>
| birth_place = [[Jammu and Kashmir (state)|Jammu and Kashmir]], India
| nationality = Indian
| occupation = Journalist, Author
| native_name =
| awards = International Red Cross award (2010)
}}

'''Rahul Pandita''' ({{IPA-hi|raːɦʊl pŋɖɪt̪aː}}) is an Indian [[author]] and [[journalist]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/rahul-pandita/article5397869.ece|title=Rahul Pandita|work=The Hindu|date=28 November 2013|access-date=26 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://openthemagazine.com/special/will-the-milk-come-to-a-boil-in-jk/|title=Two days in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir}}</ref>

==Early life==
Rahul Pandita is a [[Kashmiri Pandits|Kashmire Pandit]] born in the [[Kashmir Valley]].<ref>{{Cite web |author=Rahul Pandita |title=Tweet |date=21 January 2020 |url=https://twitter.com/rahulpandita/status/1219495570496032768 |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=Twitter |language=en}}</ref> At the age of 14, he had to leave the valley along with his family in January 1990 as part of the [[Exodus of Kashmiri Pandits]].<ref name="deduce1">{{cite news |author=Rahul Pandita |url=https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/living-as-a-refugee-in-one-s-own-country/story-y0qXanNR4kx6RPxuczCcQP.html |title=30 years of Pandit exodus: Living as a refugee in one’s own country|newspaper=Hindustan Times |date=17 January 2020}}</ref><ref name="deduce2">{{cite web|title=Rahul Pandita – Author profile |publisher=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/books/books-authors/rahul-pandita/article5397869.ece}}</ref>

== Career ==
Pandita's recent job was the Opinion and Special Stories Editor of ''[[The Hindu]]'', one of India's leading newspapers.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/a-requiem-for-moral-coherence/article6055202.ece |title=A requiem for moral coherence|date=28 May 2014|newspaper=The Hindu|first=Rahul|last=Pandita|access-date=6 October 2019}}</ref> He quit ''The Hindu'' citing frequent and childish interventions in edit pages by [[Malini Parthasarathy]], the owner-editor of the paper. He was one of the founding members of the much-acclaimed [[Open (Indian magazine)|''Open'' magazine]] and has also previously worked with the ''[[The Indian Express|Indian Express]]'' and the ''[[TV Today Network|TV Today]]'' group. He is a conflict-writer, who has reported extensively from war zones, including Iraq and Sri Lanka. His vast experience in reporting on India's [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency|Maoist insurgency]] has resulted in two books: ''Hello, Bastar: The Untold Story of India's Maoist Movement'' and ''The Absent State''.

Pandita is also the author of the best-selling memoir on Kashmir, ''[[Our Moon Has Blood Clots]],'' covering the [[ethnic cleansing of Kashmiri Hindus]], which was described as the "most powerful non-fiction book of the year''".<ref name="Narayan2014">{{cite journal|last1=Narayan|first1=Shyamala A.|year=2014|title=India|journal=The Journal of Commonwealth Literature|volume=49|issue=4|pages=535–567|doi=10.1177/0021989414553750|s2cid=220679984}}</ref>''<ref name="dna 2013">{{cite web |title=Book Review: 'Our Moon Has Blood Clots: The exodus of the Kashmiri Pandits' - Latest News & Updates at Daily News & Analysis |website=dna |date=10 February 2013 |url=http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review-book-review-our-moon-has-blood-clots-the-exodus-of-the-kashmiri-pandits-1797521 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511085424/http://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/review-book-review-our-moon-has-blood-clots-the-exodus-of-the-kashmiri-pandits-1797521 |url-status=dead |archive-date=11 May 2018 |access-date=15 May 2018}}</ref> The book inspired many parts of the 2020 Hindi film [[Shikara (2020 film)|Shikara]].<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=https://www.firstpost.com/entertainment/bollywood/shikara-movie-review-vidhu-vinod-chopras-account-of-kashmiri-pandit-exodus-is-strikingly-poetic-but-seldom-urgent-8014271.html|title=Shikara movie review: Vidhu Vinod Chopra's account of Kashmiri Pandit exodus is strikingly poetic but seldom urgent- Entertainment News, Firstpost|last=Sharma|first=Devansh|date=2020-02-07|website=Firstpost|language=en|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-02-07}}</ref>

Pandita has worked as a [[war correspondent]], and is known for his journalistic dispatches from the war hit countries like [[Iraq]] and [[Sri Lanka]]. However, in the recent years, his focal point has been the [[Maoism in India|Maoist movement]] in India's [[red corridor]].<ref name="RP-about me">{{cite web |title=about me |url=http://rahulpandita.com/about-me/ |publisher=rahulpandita.com |access-date=16 October 2013}}</ref> He has also reported from [[North-East]]ern India.<ref name="TAS">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PHgnSgAACAAJ|title=The Absent State: Insurgency as an Excuse for Misgovernance|publisher=Hachette India (Local)|year=2010|isbn=978-93-50092-15-6|edition=illustrated|location=Gurgaon|oclc=636921104}}</ref> In 2009, he became only the third journalist to have interviewed the Maoist supreme commander, [[Ganapathi (Maoist)|Ganapathi]].<ref>{{Cite document |title=We Shall Certainly Defeat the Government – Somewhere in the impregnable jungles of Dandakaranya, the supreme commander of CPI (Maoist) spoke to Pandita on issues ranging from the Government's proposed anti-Naxal offensive to Islamist Jihadist movements |url=https://casi.sas.upenn.edu/visiting/rahulpandita |work=Rahul Pandita |publisher=[[OPEN (Indian magazine)|OPEN]] |location=Dandakaranya |date=17 October 2009 |access-date=16 October 2013}}</ref>

==Works==
*''The Absent State'' (2010)
*''Hello, Bastar'' (2011)
*''[[Our Moon Has Blood Clots]]'' (2013)
*''[[The Lover Boy of Bahawalpur]]'' (2021)

=== Hello, Bastar ===

The book covers the [[Naxalite–Maoist insurgency]] in the [[Bastar district]] beginning the 1980s.<ref name="toi2">{{cite news|last=Sharma|first=Jyoti|date=19 July 2011|title='Hello Bastar' an untold story of India's Maoist movement|work=The Times of India|url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Hello-Bastar-an-untold-story-of-Indias-Maoist-movement/articleshow/9285262.cms|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref> The book includes several interviews and real life accounts and was published by Tranquebar.<ref name=":0">{{cite web|title=Hello Bastar: The Untold Story Of Indias Maoist Movement|url=http://books.rediff.com/book/hello-bastar--the-untold-story-of-indias-maoist-movement/9789380658346|access-date=23 November 2018|work=Rediff.com}}</ref> He claimed to have worked on the subject for 12 years in a bid to differentiate between a terrorist and a naxal.<ref name="toi2" />

;Reception

Jasodhara Banerjee of ''[[Forbes India]]'' felt that the book "leaves much unanswered, much unasked." Writing: What is starkly absent is the touch of his own experience of spending time in some of the most feared regions of the country."<ref name=":1">{{cite news|last=Banerjee|first=Jasodhara|date=7 September 2011|title=Book Review: Hello, Bastar|work=Forbes India|url=http://www.forbesindia.com/article/appraisals/book-review-hello-bastar/28182/1|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref> Freny Manecksha of ''[[Daily News and Analysis]]'' called it a "hastily produced and written" book that "suffers from a lack of focus and clarity of thought."<ref name=":3">{{cite news|last=Manecksha|first=Freny|date=4 September 2011|title=Book review: 'Hello Bastar: The Untold Story Of India's Maoist Movement'|work=Daily News and Analysis|url=https://www.dnaindia.com/lifestyle/report-book-review-hello-bastar-the-untold-story-of-india-s-maoist-movement-1582961|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref> Akash Banerjee of ''[[India Today]]'' wrote: "Hard-hitting, well researched and penned with a lot of passion, this book has all the ingredients of a fictional socio-political thriller; ambition, deceit, love, revenge and nationalism, except that it's not."<ref name=":4">{{cite news|last=Banerjee|first=Akash|date=29 July 2011|title=Review of Hello, Bastar|work=India Today|url=http://blogs.intoday.in/headlinestoday/Review-of-Hello-Bastar-62438.html|access-date=23 November 2018}}</ref>

== Awards ==
Pandita was awarded the ''International Red Cross award'' for his reportage from the Maoist-affected areas in central and east India, in 2010.<ref name="RP-about me" /> In 2015, he was named a [[Yale World Fellow]].<ref name="Sharma 2015">{{cite web|last=Sharma|first=Betwa|date=18 April 2015|title=Two Indians Named 2015 Yale World Fellows In US|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/18/2015-yale-world-fellows_n_7091230.html|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151126212543/https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2015/04/18/2015-yale-world-fellows_n_7091230.html|archive-date=26 November 2015|access-date=15 May 2018|website=HuffPost India}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{official}}
* [http://www.openthemagazine.com/category/author/rahul-pandita Rahul Pandita's articles in OPEN], ''[[OPEN (Indian magazine)|OPEN]]''
* [http://www.ndtv.com/video/player/just-books/just-books-rahul-pandita-on-our-moon-has-blood-clots/263149 Just Books: Rahul Pandita on 'Our Moon Has Blood Clots'], ''[[NDTV]]''

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandita, Rahul}}
[[Category:Journalists from Jammu and Kashmir]]
[[Category:Indian political journalists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1976 births]]
[[Category:Writers about the Kashmir conflict]]