The Network of Women in Media, India (NWMI), an organisation that presents itself as a platform supporting women journalists and media professionals; it says newsrooms must be safe, that abuse and harassment have no place in them. But now, it has been conspicuously silent on the serious workplace harassment allegations involving one of its own, The Polis Project and its founder Suchitra Vijayan. More striking is the silence from feminist champion, Dhanya Rajendran, who is also a member of the NWMI.
When the Newslaundry issue broke, NWMI paid lip service by writing a vague and generic post that “recent social media posts about toxic work culture in mostly male-driven newsrooms” were worrisome. Abuse, harassment and misogyny, it said, “have no place in the newsroom.” The organisation added it had spent August 2024 compiling a guidelines document, built on complaints its own members had flagged from personal experience.
10 days later, it has gone silent when another issue broke.
Allegations Against Suchitra Vijayan’s The Polis Project
On 20 August 2026, a statement circulated by journalist Riddhi Dastidar and former employees of The Polis Project alleged that Vijayan unilaterally terminated all three of the organisation’s full-time editors after they raised concerns about governance, editorial independence, workplace culture, compensation and financial sustainability. The three editors named were Aritry Das, Kaashif Hajee and Madhuri Sastry.
The former employees also alleged a pattern of centralisation of authority, administrative surveillance, intimidating conduct and verbal outbursts. The statement claimed that Vijayan increasingly took control of editorial and managerial decisions after the organisation ceased to have a dedicated Politics Editor.
More serious allegations were made concerning an assistant editor. The former employees alleged that the individual received an implicitly threatening email concerning their employment and that Vijayan publicly mocked the employee over a debilitating mental health condition for which, they alleged, no workplace accommodation had been provided. They also accused her of shouting at assistant editors, creating what they described as an unsafe and anxiety-inducing workplace.
The allegations did not stop with the three editors who were terminated.
The former employees claimed that 14 staff members had been “fired, ousted, or pressured to quit” over an 18-month period. They further alleged that employees were sometimes recruited for particular roles and salaries before being expected to undertake substantially more work than originally agreed.
A former employee identified as Devraj separately alleged that he reported alleged misconduct by the organisation’s head of communications and subsequently received a threatening email. He claimed that he was later subjected to a disciplinary meeting lasting more than two hours after referring to the individual as “casteist”. He also alleged that employees were yelled at during meetings when they expressed views contrary to Vijayan’s.
But allegations of this weight, made on the record by named former employees, are exactly the kind of complaint NWMI says it exists to take seriously.
NWMI’s silence
At the time of publishing this report, NWMI has not commented on the Polis Project allegations. Not a statement, not an acknowledgement, nothing asking for due process.
This is not a demand that NWMI convict Vijayan in public. Acknowledging a serious allegation is not the same as declaring guilt. NWMI could say, in a single line, that workplace harassment claims deserve a fair hearing regardless of who is accused. It has not.
Feminist Champion Dhanya Rajendran’s silence
This is where the story sharpens. Dhanya Rajendran is not a bystander to NWMI’s advocacy, she is a member and has been for years. She recently posted how NWMI had spoken in support of the victim in the Tarun Tejpal case.
For those who do not know, Rajendran is also Editor-in-Chief of leftist propaganda outlet The News Minute.
She has said nothing about the allegations against Vijayan and The Polis Project, at the time of publishing this report.
The fact that the person accused is a woman running a self-described feminist organisation does not lower the bar for scrutiny, if anything, a movement built on workplace safety cannot afford to look away simply because the accused sits on the “right” side of it politically. A journalist who has built part of her public profile around workplace safety and gender equity in media, and who sits inside the organisation making these very demands of others, has stayed silent on a case sitting squarely inside her own professional community.
The Consistency Problem
The leftist organisation, The Polis Project presents itself as a feminist, anti-caste, anti-imperialist platform and yet it indulges in (alleged) workplace harassment.
If workplace safety is a principle, it cannot depend on who is accused. NWMI’s August 10 posts did not name Newslaundry. Today, it is silent about the allegations against The Polis Project. Then, they spoke about a general pattern. Now, a specific and serious case has emerged within the community NWMI represents.
How would the same people have responded if a non-left publication or conservative media figure had faced the same allegations — former employees coming forward, an 18-month pattern? It is hard to imagine NWMI or other media voices who speak about workplace accountability staying this quiet. Statements would likely have come within hours, not after more than a week of silence.
That is the point: a principle that is applied only to one side is not really a principle. It becomes a weapon.
As an NWMI member and a working editor who has spoken for women, for accountability in the media, where is Dhanya Rajendran’s voice on this?
Why are they unable to apply the same standard to everyone, regardless of who is involved?
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