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Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference Organizer Suchitra Vijayan’s The Polis Project Exposed For Workplace Harassment By Former Employees

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The Commune
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Dismantling Global Hindutva Conference Organizer Suchitra Vijayan’s The Polis Project Exposed For Workplace Harassment By Former Employees

Just days after the Newslaundry workplace harassment scandal boiled over, yet another so-called liberal leftist organisation, The Polis Project, has been exposed for harassment and retaliatory firing.

It began with a press release dated 19 August 2026, issued by former employees and circulated on social media, alleged that Vijayan “unilaterally fired all three full-time editors” after they raised concerns over governance, editorial independence, workplace culture and the organisation’s financial sustainability, as reported in OpIndia.

The three editors identified in the statement are Aritry Das, Kaashif Hajee and Madhuri Sastry. The statement said they were informed on August 19 that their engagements had been terminated without prior notice or an opportunity to transition their work or communicate with writers whose articles were still in progress.

Editors Raise Concerns Over Suchitra Vijayan’s Control

According to the former employees’ statement, staff formally raised concerns with the organisation’s Board in July under three broad categories: management and staffing, workplace culture, and expectations, compensation and fundraising.

The statement alleged that Vijayan had increasingly centralised both managerial and editorial authority at the organisation.

It claimed that after The Polis Project ceased to have a dedicated Politics Editor in July 2025, Vijayan effectively took over the role and began overseeing commissioning and editorial decisions. It further alleged that she sought to participate in pitch meetings for the Culture section, which was headed by Sastry.

The statement also accused Vijayan of introducing what employees described as increased administrative surveillance, including strict monitoring of absences, repeated meetings and demands for greater managerial discipline.

“Ironically, as the magazine exposed surveillance structures through stories, more disciplinary surveillance structures were popping up within the organization itself,” the statement said.

The former employees further alleged that Vijayan would provide early-stage developmental edits while leaving copy editing, line editing and website publication to assistant editors.

Allegations Of Harassment And Threatening Conduct

The statement contains specific allegations concerning the treatment of an assistant editor.

According to the former employees, Vijayan sent what they described as an implicitly threatening email through an office assistant, using language associated with an HR manager. The editor was allegedly made to understand that their job was precarious.

The statement also alleged that the editor had a debilitating mental health condition for which no accommodation was provided and that Vijayan publicly mocked the individual over these issues during a staff gathering in Mumbai in July.

The former employees further alleged that the editor had been made aware that their financial circumstances left them unable to risk failing to meet conditions imposed by Vijayan.

The statement also accused Vijayan of shouting at assistant editors on several occasions, creating what the employees described as an unsafe and anxiety-inducing workplace.

The Culture section, meanwhile, was allegedly subjected to demands for improved performance and publication timelines despite averaging more than 11 articles a month, according to the statement. It also alleged that Vijayan instructed the section to stop publishing certain writers despite objections from the Culture team.

Board Accountability Also Questioned

The former employees’ statement also raised questions about the relationship between Vijayan and The Polis Project’s Board.

The organisation is registered as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in New York, according to the statement, which said this structure requires Board oversight.

According to the former employees, some Board members took the staff complaints seriously and called for a meeting. The statement alleged that Vijayan initially threatened to dissolve the Board before later backing down after recognising that she did not have the authority to do so.

It further alleged that she did not attend a planned Board meeting convened to address the concerns and subsequently failed to provide dates for future meetings.

The statement said some Board members remained concerned about what they described as Vijayan’s refusal to be accountable to the Board and staff.

It also claimed that Vijayan had indicated that The Polis Project would remain operational for only another 14 months, raising concerns among employees because the organisation relies on grants for its operations.

14 Staff Departures Reportedly In 18 Months

The former employees alleged that the latest terminations were part of a broader pattern of staff attrition.

The statement claimed that 14 employees had been “fired, ousted, or pressured to quit” over the previous 18 months.

It alleged that employees were sometimes hired for specific roles and salaries but subsequently expected to take on substantially more work than originally agreed, leaving them vulnerable to termination or resignation.

The statement concluded by accusing Vijayan’s leadership of being based on “unethical labor practices, a harsh and intolerant communication style, and a rejection of the very values that she espouses publicly.”

Former Employee Shares His Own Account

A former employee identified as Devraj also took to X to describe his experience at The Polis Project.

Devraj alleged that he reported alleged misconduct by the organisation’s head of communications and received a threatening email in response. He claimed that he was subsequently subjected to a disciplinary meeting lasting more than two hours after calling the individual “casteist.”

He alleged that he was effectively given a choice between apologising and losing his job.

“Months of hard work, staying up late and working on weekends just to be told your work is not valuable,” he wrote.

Devraj further alleged that Vijayan would yell at employees during meetings when they expressed opinions different from hers.

He described the workplace as “horrible” and alleged that the organisation was no better than institutions it had previously criticised.

He also alleged that although Vijayan presented The Polis Project as a non-hierarchical organisation where employees could freely express their views, he was labelled a “misogynist Ambedkarite activist” after doing so.

He subsequently described The Polis Project as a “two-faced organisation masquerading as progressive.”

Who Is Suchitra Vijayan And How Did The Polis Project Operate?

Suchitra Vijayan is the founder and executive director of reportedly a Soros-funded organisation, The Polis Project, a New York-based publication that presents itself as a progressive, leftist platform.

But its editorial record shows a far more sharply ideological approach to India, particularly on Kashmir, Hindutva, terrorism and communal violence.

The organisation describes itself as a platform documenting resistance, authoritarianism and right-wing movements, and says its work is explicitly feminist, anti-caste and anti-imperialist.

Vijayan was also one of the organisers of the Dismantling Global Hindutva conference.

Vijayan’s own political associations have also been visible. Her now-deleted Twitter account showed open support and admiration for Umar Khalid, an accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case.

Image Source: OpIndia

In 2023, she also supported journalist Irfan Mehraj after his arrest in a terror-funding case. The NIA had identified Mehraj as a close associate of activist Khurram Parvez and a member of the Jammu and Kashmir Coalition of Civil Societies (JKCCS).

As per a Disinfo Lab thread, the organisation also had a Pakistan-based admin, says a lot about her anti-India propaganda portal. On the 2020 Delhi riots, The Polis Project repeatedly described the violence as a “pogrom against the Muslim community”. Its editorial line has similarly portrayed India as a country where Muslims are systematically subjected to persecution.

The platform has also published material on separatist figures including Burhan Wani and Yasin Malik. Its coverage has repeatedly portrayed Indian security and state institutions as instruments of oppression while amplifying allegations of human-rights violations.

The Polis Project’s coverage of Kashmir has consistently adopted the language of separatist and anti-India narratives. It has referred to Kashmir as “Indian-administered” rather than Indian territory, described India as a “settler-colonialist” power and claimed that a “genocide” was underway in Kashmir.

The publication has also attacked the Indian media ecosystem, describing sections of the Indian media as a “BJP propaganda machine”. Its coverage of the Pulwama terror attack questioned the Indian account of Pakistan’s involvement, drawing criticism for what critics described as effectively absolving Pakistan.

The platform’s ideological reach has also extended to organisations associated with the Kashmir separatist ecosystem. The Polis Project has regularly featured at events organised by the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC). Content produced by The Polis Project has also been used by the banned Jamaat-e-Islami in its “Stand With Kashmir” course material.

In effect, The Polis Project has functioned not merely as a conventional news publication but as an advocacy-driven platform with a consistent ideological position on India. Its coverage has repeatedly framed Kashmir through a separatist lens, described India as a colonial or genocidal power, amplified allegations of anti-Muslim persecution and promoted narratives sharply at odds with the Indian state’s position.

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