Ravik Bhattacharya is assistant editor of Hindustan Times. He has spent over 16 years in journalism covering political, trafficking, crime and human rights issues in various parts of India.
Articles by Ravik Bhattacharya
Haryana, Punjab, Delhi decline death row inmate’s transfer plea
Balbir Singh, 52, who was sentenced to death six months before 1993 Mumbai blasts convict Yakub Memon and behind bars in West Bengal, had a last wish: to return to his home state of Haryana to spend the rest of his time before being hanged. Despite the West Bengal jail authorities’ efforts, he is yet to find a place in the jails of Haryana, Punjab or Delhi.
Updated on Aug 01, 2015 10:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
BJP plans to hold rally against cow slaughter in Bengal
After BJP-led Maharashtra government banned sale and consumption of beef, the Saffron party’s cow development cell has roped in Rajnath Singh among others for a mega rally in Kolkata in October.
Updated on Jul 31, 2015 04:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Fate of jailed Rohingyas in Bengal hangs in the balance
For the past two months, the fate of 62 Rohingya Muslims including 21 children, the first batch among hundreds behind bars in Bengal jails, who were able to send application for refugee status to United Nations high commissioner for Refuges (UNHCR), hangs in a balance.
Updated on Jul 25, 2015 01:14 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
RSS moves against madrasas, claims they teach 'incomplete history'
A storm is brewing in Bengal’s educational politics with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leaders planning to move the Calcutta High Court, alleging state madrasas are teaching an “incomplete history” of the nation that only begins with the Muslim period and omits the Vedic era and the age of emperor Ashoka altogether.
Updated on Jul 18, 2015 09:18 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
BJP prez Amit Shah adopts grading strategy for assembly polls
BJP national president Amit Shah has asked his leaders in Bengal to grade all the 294 assembly seats according to the party’s chances of winning in the run up to the 2016 polls.
Updated on Jul 10, 2015 03:58 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Fake RSS FB page operated from Kolkata stumps Nagpur
The Facebook page, almost similar to the verified official account in terms of content and images, has got more than 35,000 likes including many RSS members.
Updated on Jun 26, 2015 10:54 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
After De family incident, haunted house trips for tourists in Kolkata
Taking advantage of the heightened interest among people about ghosts and spirits in Bengal after the discovery of skeletons in the Robinson House Street, the city-based Paranormal Research Society has firmed up plans to take tourists on spooky trips.
Updated on Jun 19, 2015 01:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Kolkata's Ghostbusters: De family sparks interest in paranormal activity
The skeletons of De family of Robinson Street have triggered a craze about the paranormal in Kolkata and rest of Bengal. Paranormal Research Society, a city-based organization that is affiliated to the International Paranormal Society in the US, is now flooded with phone calls from citizens who have a variety of demands and queries.
Updated on Jun 17, 2015 05:20 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
BJP trying to find political space in Nandigram using the cow
The BJP is trying to establish a political base in Nandigram, the Waterloo for the CPI-M and the launch pad for West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, by using the cow as a vehicle and employing a model borrowed from Gujarat.
Updated on Jun 06, 2015 02:25 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
As Modi visits Dhaka, hilsa could be on the talks table
During Modi's Dhaka visit, exchange of border enclaves, terrorism and Teesta water sharing could be more pressing issues, but the the ban on Bangladeshi hilsa or Ilish exports to India, is likely to be discussed, too.
Updated on Jun 04, 2015 07:41 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya and Sukumar Debnath, Kolkata
RSS mouthpiece reminds PM Modi of Hindus' plight in Bangladesh
‘Bengal’s Diminishing Hindus’ - that is the headline on the cover of the latest issue of Organiser, the English mouthpiece of the RSS. Published in the run-up to PM Narendra Modi’s first visit to Bangladesh, the lead story in the May 24 edition of Organiser showcases the ‘pitiable’ plight of Bengali Hindus in the Islamist nation and its ‘cascading effect on demography’ on this side of the border.
Updated on Jun 03, 2015 02:23 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
RSS registers jump in membership for training camps in West Bengal
At a time when the BJP is losing its momentum in West Bengal, the party’s ideological mentor RSS has seen an increase in the number of people attending its special training camps, the only way to become a trained Sangh member.
Updated on May 20, 2015 02:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
BJP clings to RSS to bolster presence in Bengal, Assam ahead of polls
Battered in the civic polls in Bengal, the BJP is looking to the RSS to bolster its presence in eastern region, where the party’s ideological mentor is ramping up its presence in Assam and West Bengal.
Updated on May 05, 2015 02:09 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya & Digambar Patowary, Kolkata/ Guwahati
Bengal: Retro ‘Peto bombs’ make a comeback in civic polls
A spherical, grenade-like homemade bomb that defined the turbulent political culture of West Bengal in the seventies made a striking comeback in the recent civic polls, marred by allegations of muscle-flexing and widespread rigging.
Updated on May 01, 2015 02:19 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Bengal BJP has task cut out before assembly polls
The Modi wave was evident last year when the BJP surged ahead to hold centerstage in Bengal politics. However, as the civic poll results were announced on Tuesday, it revealed that the party has an uphill task before it faces the Assembly polls next year.
Updated on Apr 29, 2015 01:40 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Subhas Chandra Bose’s family to ask Modi for SIT probe under SC judge
Members of Subhas Chandra Bose’s family will demand a special investigation team (SIT) be formed under a sitting Supreme Court judge to probe the freedom fighter’s last days when they meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi next month, Netaji’s grand nephew said on Monday.
Updated on Apr 21, 2015 12:56 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Kolkata: Meat festival called off as politics plays spoiler
It was billed as a unique protest against the ban on cow slaughter in some states. However, politics has cast a spoiler on what was to be the city’s show of defiance against the assault on taste.
Updated on Mar 31, 2015 12:01 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Bengal polls 2016: BJP to reach out through social media
The team behind slogans such as 'ap ki bar, Modi sarkar' in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls is preparing to for the crucial Bengal assembly elections next year. This time the will also promote the BJP across cyberspace – Facebook, Whatsapp and Twitter.
Updated on Mar 28, 2015 03:36 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
You may soon have to ink a deal with your maid
You may have to draw a contract with your domestic help, pay hourly wages, give bonuses and four days of paid leave per month—these are among the demands of domestic helps, who are slowly congregating under a banner to press the government for their legal recognition and welfare.
Updated on Mar 28, 2015 01:04 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Kolkata to organise beef festival to protest against ban
Sizzling hot, and just off the grill or tandoor oven! This Tuesday, make sure you starve yourself of breakfast to be able to gorge on the whole array of mouth-watering hariyali, shahi, sheek, kasturi and malai kebabs and tandoori rotis for lunch, with chicken, mutton and beef rolls as starters, at the meat festival at Muslim Institute, near Subodh Mullick Square, in Kolkata.
Updated on Mar 27, 2015 12:51 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Sangh affiliates reach out to Bengali hearts through football
The easiest way to make way into a Bengali heart is through football, so believes the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Updated on Mar 26, 2015 10:37 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
As polls near, it is focus Bengal for RSS
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has refocused its Bengal strategy with an overhaul of the leaders in the state. Three of the key members put at the helm of affairs earlier served as assistants of RSS chiefs K Sudarshan and Mohan Bhagwat.
Updated on Mar 18, 2015 02:44 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Eye on polls, RSS overhauls its top leadership in West Bengal
The RSS overhauled its top leadership in West Bengal on Monday with two men close to its chief taking over as the Hindu body looks to get more involved in the state that goes to the polls next year.
Updated on Mar 16, 2015 10:57 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
For speaking up, Park Street rape victim was hounded and harassed
Ostracised by society, hounded by neighbours and shunned by prospective employers, the Park Street rape victim had a harrowing time after she was gang-raped in February 2012 as the trial in the case dragged on amid prying eyes.
Updated on Mar 13, 2015 09:08 PM IST
None | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Kolkata civic elections: Aam aadmi knocks on BJP door
BJP leaders in the state are scheduled to hold a meeting on March 13, after which the party will fix a date to announce the names of its candidates. The polls are scheduled to be held around mid April and the party is racing against time to come out with a list of candidates.
Updated on Mar 12, 2015 01:29 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
BJP forms rapid action groups in WB to prevent cattle trafficking to Bangladesh
Picketing on West Bengal’s roads and highways leading to the Bangladesh border, young men from Bharatiya Janata Party-led groups stop cattle-ferrying trucks, inform police and sometimes release cows by the hundreds.
Updated on Mar 12, 2015 01:12 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
WB: BJP prevents cows being ferried to Bangladesh for slaughter
After Maharastra enforcing a beef ban and neighbour Jharkhand preparing for similar legislative steps, BJP has got active in West Bengal to take the first steps towards the same end. The party has formed groups who screen the national and state highways to prevent the ferrying of cows to Bangladesh for slaughter.
Updated on Mar 11, 2015 04:51 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Rose Valley scam: More TMC leaders under scanner, says CBI
Actor-turned-MP Tapas Pal is not the only Trinamool Congress leader under the Central Bureau of Investigation’s (CBI) lens for alleged links to the Rose Valley chit fund scam, sources have claimed.
Updated on Mar 07, 2015 11:03 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
More TMC faces under scanner for Rose Valley links
Actor-turned-MP Tapas Pal is not the only Trinamool Congress leader who is under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged links with the Rose Valley chit fund group. Sources claimed a number of politicians, most of them associated with Bengal’s ruling party, had financial relations with the group that is believed to have raised more money from the public than the Saradha group.
Updated on Mar 07, 2015 05:44 PM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata
Tapas Pal not alone, many more Trinamool leaders under CBI lense
Actor-turned-MP Tapas Pal is not the only Trinamool Congress leader who is under the scanner of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged links with the Rose Valley chit fund group. Sources said a number of politicians, most of them associated with the ruling party, had financial links with the group
Updated on Mar 07, 2015 11:23 AM IST
Hindustan Times | Ravik Bhattacharya, Kolkata