Priyanka Borpujari | 2012/13

2012-2013 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow

freelance journalist, India

Priyanka Borpujari, the 2012-13 IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow, is an independent journalist based in Mumbai, India. She contributes to media outlets such as The Times of India, OPEN magazine, Montrealserai.com, The Hoot and The Hindu.

Borpujari, 27, has worked as a reporter for six years for publications including Mumbai Mirror, The Asian Age and exchange4media.com. Since launching her freelance career three years ago, she has focused on the plight of indigenous groups that are being systematically displaced from their land.

“My reason for doing journalism independently has been to carve a niche in reporting about human rights issues, highlighting both the tribulations and the triumphs,” Borpujari wrote in her fellowship application.

Borpujari has reported on the ways in which indigenous populations in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh were being caught in a war between a government keen on displacing them to make way for mines and factories, and armed Maoists. Her reports brought focus to what she describes as “deprived, malnourished, burning India,” even as charges were levied against her in an attempt to keep her away from reporting in the region.

“I am excited about my time as an IWMF Elizabeth Neuffer Fellow,” Borpujari said, “as it will sharpen my journalistic skills which would go a long way in my tryst to uncover the many ignored realities of India.”

Borpujari holds a bachelor’s degree in mass media from Wilson College in Mumbai.

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