Guha Thakurta as EPW editor welcomed

Eminent academicians, journalists and activists compliment trustees on making 'excellent choice'

Sixty six eminent academicians, journalists and activists on Thursday welcomed the appointment of senior journalist Paranjoy Guha Thakurta as the next editor of the Economic and Political Weekly (EPW).

EPW is a widely respected academic journal published by the Sameeksha Trust. “We are confident that Paranjoy will be a worthy successor to an outstanding editor, Rammanohar Reddy, and keep the EPW flag – and the 50-year-old magazine's core secular, democratic, and progressive values – flying high,” their letter to the Board of Trustees stated.

The group complimented the trustees on making the “excellent choice” in Thakurta. He will succeed Reddy, who quit after 11 years as editor. Thakurta is to begin his stint on April 1.

However, the 66, who described themselves in the letter as “longstanding readers, admirers, and friends” of the journal, said they continued to remain “concerned about the governance issues at EPW”, which they had raised in their letter to the trustees on January 15. The group stated that they “renew” their “appeal to the Board of Trustees to address these issues at the earliest.”

Those who signed the letter included Isher Ahluwalia, Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Abhijit Banerjee, Ramachandra Guha, Zoya Hasan, Christophe Jaffrelot, N Ram, Abhijit Sen, Pronab Sen, and Yogendra Yadav, among others.