ALT Retaliatory Firing of all Full-time Editors at The Polis Project Press release, August 19th 2026 Suchitra Vijayan, founder of New York-based progressive publication The Polis Project, unilaterally fired all three full-time editors after they raised concerns about the organisation’s governance, editorial independence, toxic work environment, and financial sustainability. Aritry Das, Kaashif Hajee, and Madhuri Sastry were informed on August 19 that their current engagements at The Polis Project had been terminated. They were given no prior notice or opportunity to transition their work or communicate with writers whose pieces were in progress (See their email attached). The Polis Project is an independent, left-leaning, progressive media outlet that has built its reputation on amplifying resistant communities and dissenting voices. Staff members formally raised the following concerns with the Board in July: (1) management and staffing; (2) workplace culture; and (3) expectations, compens

ALT Vijayan also shouted at the assistant editors on a few occasions in an unprofessional way, causing immense anxiety and creating an unsafe work environment. The Culture section headed by Madhuri Sastry had been similarly subjected to emails asking for improved performance and better management of publication timeline despite both verticals averaging over 11 articles per month. Vijayan also insisted that the Culture section stop publishing certain writers despite the Culture team’s strong preference for these writers — who clearly expanded the limits of what the magazine was able to publish. The Polis Project is a 501c3 non-profit organization registered in New York State, which mandates board oversight. Some of the board members took the staff concerns very seriously and called for a meeting. Vijayan first threatened to dissolve the board, and later backtracked, having realized she had no right to do so. However, she did not attend the planned board meeting convened to address staff con