Arup K Chatterjee

The writer teaches at O P Jindal Global University and is the author of The Great Indian Railways (2018), Indians in London (2021) and Adam's Bridge (2024).

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More From Arup K Chatterjee

Ports, polities, and partnerships: The history of India-Philippines tiesSubscriber Only

August 20,2025 11:42:00 AM

Amidst the recent camaraderie between the governments of India and the Philippines, a look at the cultural and maritime history that ties the two polities

Wed, Aug 20, 2025

Narendra Modi, Chola grandeur, Chola dynasty, Chola leay, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Narendra Modi Gangaikonda Cholapuram, Narendra Modi Indian democracy, Indian democracy, Magna Carta, Cholas, ballot pots, editorial, Indian express, opinion news, current affairs

Revisiting Chola grandeur with eyes wide openSubscriber Only

August 03,2025 07:05:57 AM

The Cholas occupy a hallowed space in Indian imagination for their pioneering experiments in democracy, but one needs to look beyond their basilica-like monuments, gilded Natarajas and temple vimanas piercing the skylines of Thanjavur, Gangaikonda Cholapuram, and Darasuram.

Sun, Aug 03, 2025

How the Constituent Assembly debated over ‘God’ in the ConstitutionSubscriber Only

November 26,2024 13:26:28 PM

The Constituent Assembly of India debated the role of religion and God in the Constitution on October 17, 1949. The discussions highlighted the complexities of India's diverse religious landscape and the perspectives of its members about the place, politics and semantics of God. The Assembly ensured that the religious freedom for all should not be monopolised by the religious rights of the majority.

Tue, Nov 26, 2024

How the Independence movement altered the ‘dream’ of a casteless societySubscriber Only

August 12,2024 13:11:22 PM

Arup K. Chatterjee writes: "Given the inherent pluralism of the Dalit movements in India and the imminent pressures of the Partition of the subcontinent, the liberatory potential of the Ambedkarite movement was gradually consumed by the need to build India’s constitutional frameworks."

Tue, Aug 13, 2024

How Ruskin Bond made being Anglo-Indian a way of lifeSubscriber Only

May 21,2024 15:49:23 PM

Ruskin Bond, one of India’s most loved authors who recently turned 90, has quietly created a reservoir of hybrid Indian and Anglo-Saxon worlds where social, racial, gendered, sexual, and economic complexities of colonial and postcolonial times are encrusted.

Tue, May 21, 2024

Katchatheevu controversy: Sound and fury signifying nothingSubscriber Only

April 02,2024 20:51:22 PM

Its cession was act of masterful bilateral and international diplomacy. Idea of the current controversy is to deflect attention from national, bilateral and global emergencies

Wed, Apr 03, 2024

The President of the Republic of Maldives Maumoon Abdul Gayoom with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in New Delhi on September 7, 1983. (Express Archive Photo)

Maldives, India, China: history shapes the presentSubscriber Only

January 14,2024 08:10:51 AM

Indo-Maldivian bilateral relationship was formalised with the signing of the Treaty of Friendship in 1981. Nevertheless, Maldivian foreign policy under President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom took a lukewarm turn towards India, despite India’s aid in preserving his regime during a coup attempt.

Sun, Jan 14, 2024

Once upon a time, one could catch a train from Madras to ColomboSubscriber Only

October 29,2023 10:11:08 AM

The inauguration of a new ferry, HSC Cheriyapani linking India and Sri Lanka has brought back memories of the old Boat mail, an express train and ferry service that connected Madras and Colombo via Dhanushkodi. Arup K Chatterjee looks back at the cultural legacy of the Boat Mail and the economic and political signficance of the new ferry service.

Mon, Oct 30, 2023

Katchatheevu: Why an Indian Island went to Sri Lanka and many hope for its symbolic returnSubscriber Only

September 16,2023 10:39:04 AM

The island was ceded by the Indian administration under Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to Sri Lanka in 1974 in an act of bilateral largesse. Since the outbreak of the Lankan civil war, in 1983, the island became the crownless battleground for combats between Indian Tamil fishers and a Sinhala-dominated Lankan navy.

Thu, Apr 04, 2024