Almost every protest or movement unwittingly has one enduring image which becomes the photograph through which millions understand the entire movement. In July, to me, that image was of Rhiya Ahir, a 27-year-old model-actress, who stood alone in front of a police van, filled with young Mumbaikars who had been rounded up by the police as they came out on the streets to protest the NEET question paper leaks and ask for reforms in the education system.
The impact of climate change is felt disproportionately by women, especially those who are poor, marginalised, and dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.
May 3 is observed across the globe as World Press Freedom Day. But this year there is not much to cheer about.
According to the World Press Freedom Index 2026 recently released by Reporters Without Borders, India has slipped to the 157th position, down six places from 2025.
No one expected that in the middle of the US-Israel war on Iran and an LPG crisis in India, the Transgender Persons (Protection of Rights) Amendment Bill, 2026 would be fast-tracked through both Houses of Parliament in the last week of March, receive the President’s assent within days and become an Act almost immediately.
For women war reporters, the battlefield has two frontlines.