Rakesh Batabyal

Educated at St. Xavier's College, Ranchi and at Centre for Historial Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Rakesh Batabyal has been a fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla (1996-1999), National Institute of Panjab Studies (2004), and was the Inaugural Chair of Contemporary Indian History at Tokyo University (2010). As Deputy Director of the Academic Staff College of Jawaharlal Nehru University, he is credited with making the college one of the most dynamic academic centres in the country. Batabyal teaches history of Media at the Centre for Media Studies in JNU.Rakesh Batabyal's Communalism in Bengal: From Famine to Noakhali (1943-47), (Sage Publications, 2005) and The Penguin Book of Modern Indian Speeches, (Penguin Books, 2007) are widely received works in Modern Indian History. Batabyal brings his training in philosophy to examine issues of contemporary history.