Dr. Partha Banerjee is a human rights activist, writer,[4] educator,[5] public speaker,[6] media critic,[7] and musician.[8] Born and raised in Kolkata (Calcutta), Banerjee now lives in New York with frequent visits to India. He considers himself a disciple of world-renowned scholar Noam Chomsky. Reputed organization Brooklyn For Peace has recently nominated him to receive its coveted Pathmakers to Peace award.
Biography
Banerjee spent the first half of his life in India, and the second half in the U.S. He has taken a voluntary retirement from his prestigious labor educator position at International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 3, to spend extensive time in India. He is busy working with secular and progressive groups and movements for peace, equality, social and religious harmony, and justice.
Life in India
Banerjee grew up in Calcutta (now Kolkata).[9] His father Jitendra Nath Banerjee (1924-2017) was a grassroots political organizer in Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS)[10] and its erstwhile political wing Bharatiya Jana Sangh (now Bharatiya Janata Party or BJP). Banerjee received his first training in political organizing from his father while with RSS.[citation needed] Banerjee quit RSS out of ideological disillusionment with the organization's alleged militant, fundamentalist doctrine, yet without disavowing his deep roots in Hinduism.[11]
In 1985, Banerjee came to USA as an international student in biology.[12]
Educator and Organizer
Banerjee has been a human rights activist and organizer with a focus on immigrants and workers.[13] Since moving to New York, he has worked first as a grassroots immigrant rights organizer,[14] and then as a labor educator.[15] He has also written major articles to champion the rights of women[16] especially women in the Indian subcontinent.
Life in USA
In 1985, after teaching biology at a remote, rural college[17] in West Bengal for four years, Banerjee left for USA to pursue a PhD in biological sciences. He earned his second master's degree[12] from Illinois State University,[18] and then went on to earn his doctorate degree in plant biology[19] from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.[20] In 1992, he earned his PhD[21] with a dissertation research award, and started working as a postdoctoral research scientist with the state system in Albany, New York.[22]
In 1999, Dr. Banerjee quit his science career, and moved to New York City to pursue his third master's degree, this time from the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University.[4] He received a prestigious Sevellon Brown award for his understanding of American media and ethics. He also received a Scripps-Howard fellowship[23] to travel with a group of fellow students to Israel, Palestine and Jordan, to report on religions of that region.
After a brief stint as a science journalist, and producing a number of two-minute-long stories for ScienCentral, an ABC TV-affiliate company in New York, he began working for a grassroots immigrant rights group New Immigrant Community Empowerment,[24] in the aftermath of the tragedies of September 11, 2001. NICE became known for its work against bigotry and hate crimes.[25] Later, New Jersey Immigration Policy Network, a statewide policy organization, hired him as its executive director. Banerjee organized a number of immigrant rights conferences,[26] and put together an umbrella coalition of rights and justice groups.
Partha Banerjee introducing Noam Chomsky at Brooklyn For Peace's Pathmakers to Peace Award ceremony in 2014.
In 2005–2006, New York Civil Liberties union chose Dr. Banerjee as one of its five plaintiffs on a nationally publicized lawsuit[27] to challenge against the post-9/11 subway bag searches run by the New York Police Department.
In 2007, Dr. Banerjee was employed by the Harry Van Arsdale Center for Labor Studies[28] at Empire State College in New York to teach English writing, immigration and diversity, and media to its labor union workers, and also as an Outreach Coordinator.[29] In 2011, Dr. Banerjee was hired to work as a labor educator and educational program developer at the Joint Industry Board of the Electrical Industry.[30] One of his major responsibilities has been to design and teach an April-to-November, interactive, critical-thinking labor workshop[31] on various political, social and economic subjects.
Writer
Publications in the U.S.,[32] India[33] and Bangladesh have published Dr. Banerjee's books and articles in English and Bengali languages. He has written both professional and popular articles on a diverse array of subjects. He has also translated Bengali short stories, poetry and songs. A Bangladesh-based, online literary magazine[34] has published Ghotikahini,[35] his Bengali-language memoir, in weekly segments. Ghotikahini is now published as a 350-page book (December, 2015) by Ravan Prakashana, Calcutta, India.
Bengali memoir "Ghotikahini" launch in Calcutta, December 2015.
In February 2018, his translation of Bengali short stories Music Box and Moonshine came out.[36]
He has published a number of new books in the past few years. For a full list, see List of Books and Journal Articles section below.
Educator
Dr. Banerjee has taught for many years – first in India, and then for over thirty years in the U.S. Since 2007, he has been teaching as the labor educator at IBEW Local 3 and Joint Board of Electrical Industries in New York. His critical-thinking interactive workshops are enormously popular: he has taught on political, economic, social, scientific, and environmental subjects. He speaks fluently in English and Bengali.[37]
Public Speaker
Dr. Banerjee has earned reputation as a public speaker addressing large and small gatherings in indoor and outdoor settings. In April 2019, he was the keynote speaker at IBEW Local 3's Annual Scholarship Breakfast program for college-bound children of the union members.[6]
Work with Media
Noted publications such as the New York Times,[38] CNN,[39] the Progressive,[32] Outlook India,[40] Ananda Bazar Patrika,[41] Ebela, The Statesman and Aajkaal have published his letters and articles, or quoted him on various issues, especially his work on human rights and rights and justice for underprivileged immigrants.[42] A number of Bengali-language newspapers from USA have published his articles and interviews.[43]
Media Criticism and Ethics
Partha Banerjee interviewing Noam Chomsky on Zoom, 2022
A student of Noam Chomsky, world-renowned intellectual and critic of U.S. foreign policy and corporate media, Dr. Banerjee has written extensively on political and economic interests of mainstream media.[44] His interviews with Noam Chomsky have been picked up by many news outlets and blogs.[15] Dr. Banerjee's association with Noam Chomsky is well known across the peace and justice community.[45] In 2005, after having worked as the post-production translator of Oscar-winning documentary Born into Brothels, he came out with a strong critique[46] of the movie, pointing out its "ethical and stylistic flaws."
Bengali and Indian Diaspora
Dr. Banerjee has remained involved with the Bengali and Indian immigrant communities. Voice of America's Bengali radio section has found him as a speaker on many of their shows especially those pertaining to immigrants and human rights.[47]
Musician and Cultural Activist
Banerjee wrote and spoke—both in English and Bengali—on the subjects of cultural erosion and "kitsch," and drew illustrations from the life and creations of Nobel Poet Rabindranath Tagore.
Recording Tagore's Music
In 2012, Banerjee published "Aro Ektu Bosho" (Stay a Little More), his solo CD album of Tagore songs.[48]
Political philosophy: Second circle
Dr. Banerjee began his political career in India as a member of right wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) because of familial connections: his father has been a lifelong activist of the organization. He quit RSS and its political wing [Bharatiya Janata Party] (BJP)[49] and student wing Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), because of ideological disillusionment. His book on RSS and BJP was a product of his years of association with the groups. After working informally with left-leaning organizations both in India and USA, he developed his own, unique political and social doctrine. He designed a broad-based, coalition-building model to bring together all the moderate and non-violent, working men and women—both from the left and right—to a common platform. He calls it the Second Circle, as illustrated in his publication Second Circle—Middle Majority of the Working People[50]
Second Circle Stage 3
Books and journal articles
Books
(1) Banerjee, Partha. 2018. Music Box and Moonshine – Translation of famous Bengali short stories, volume 1. 2018. Rubric Publishing, New Delhi. ISBN978-81-935295-0-8.
(2) Banerjee, Partha. 2015. Ghotikahini. Ravan Prakashana, Calcutta, India. ISBN978-81-931890-4-7.
(3) Banerjee, Partha. In the Belly of the Beast: Hindu Supremacist RSS and BJP of India – An Insider's Story. 1998. Ajanta Books International, Delhi, India. Library of Congress DS480.853 .B36 1998.
(4) পার্থ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়—Straight Terror Warped Terror, Half Terror Full Terror. (সোজা সন্ত্রাস বাঁকা সন্ত্রাস – in Bengali). 2005. Ankur Publishers, Dhaka, Bangladesh (in Bengali).
(5) Banerjee, Partha. Rainforest and Raging Fire. – Translation of famous Bengali short stories, volume 2. 2018. Rubric Publishing, New Delhi.
(7) পার্থ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়—The Kolkata I Loved (যে কলকাতাকে ভালোবেসেছি -- in Bengali) .2021. Gangchil Publications, Kolkata.
(8) পার্থ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়—মেঘভাঙা রোদ্দুরে মাতাল কবির দল—Bengali book of poetry. 2021. Book Terminus, Kolkata.
(9) পার্থ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়—Are you a traitor? (আপনি কি দেশদ্রোহী? – in Bengali). 2020. RBE Books, Kolkata.
(10) পার্থ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায়—America Dreamland or Deathland? (আমেরিকা স্বপ্নপুরী না হত্যাপুরী? – in Bengali). 2023. Virasat Art Publications, Kolkata.
(11) Banerjee, Partha. 2023. Twilight in a Tangle – Book of original English poems. Rubric Publishing, Delhi.
(12) Banerjee, Partha. Upcoming book on Noam Chomsky, based on author's personal acquaintance and interviews. In Bengali. Due for publication from India in January 2024.
(13) পার্থ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় -- দানবের পেটে দু দশক (২০২১, পিবিএস, কলকাতা)। -- A Bengali translation of In the Belly of the Beast and Gandhi's Killers India's Rulers.
(14) পার্থ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় -- ভারত, শেষ ধ্বংসের সন্ধিক্ষণে। (অভিযান পাবলিশার্স, কলকাতা।) মার্চ ২০২৪।
Peer-Reviewed Journal Articles (outside of science)
(1) Banerjee, Partha. A Matter of Extreme Cruelty: Bride Burning and Dowry Deaths in India.[51] Injustice Studies, 1(1), 1997.
(2) Banerjee, Partha. Second Circle: Middle Majority of the Working People: A Simple Spin Wheel Model to Build Alliance and Power across the Soft "Left and Right".[52] International Journal of the Humanities, 9(2), 2011.
(3) Banerjee, Partha, et al. The Unprecedented Income Inequality in America. Published on website of[53] 19 July 2017.
(4) Journalism of Exclusion: An Addendum to Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent. Sixteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences - Hosted by Oxford Brookes University. 2021.
(5) পার্থ বন্দ্যোপাধ্যায় এবং সৌমিতা মিত্র -- ভারতপথিক রামমোহন রায় ও বাংলার নবজাগরণ। -- স্মৃতিকথায় রামমোহন, রূপালী (কলকাতা), জানুয়ারী ২০২৪।
Selected Science Articles
(1) Banerjee, Partha. Successful isolation and growth of tissue cultures of Pluteus species[22]
(2) Banerjee, Partha. Preliminary observations on germination of Pluteus basidiospores[54]
(3) Banerjee, Partha. A Systematic and Phylogenetic Study of the Genus Pluteus with Special Reference to Section Pluteus[55]
Selected Interviews
(1) Dr Partha Banerjee on being an RSS man for 20 years.[56]
(2) From RSS to Chomsky: An Astonishing Political Journey with Partha Banerjee.[57]
(3) Rahul's USA visit- Is it an image makeover or a challenge to Modi? (In Hindi)[58]
(4) কেন RSS-BJP কে হারানো দরকার ❓প্রাক্তন আরএসএস নেতা পার্থ ব্যানার্জি (in Bengali, 2023 – 2 million views)[59]
Related Research Articles
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↑ Banerjee, Partha (2011). "Second Circle: Middle Majority of the Working People: A Simple Spin Wheel Model to Build Alliance and Power across the Soft 'Left and Right'". The International Journal of the Humanities. 9 (2): 13–32. doi:10.18848/1447-9508/cgp/v09i02/43123.
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