Media

India, Globally: Modi’s Chance at Winning Over the World, Sri Lanka’s Adani Problem

A fortnightly highlight of how the world is watching our democracy.

The Narendra Modi government frequently posits India as a ‘Vishwaguru’ or world leader. How the world sees India is often lost in this branding exercise.

Outside India, global voices are monitoring and critiquing human rights violations in India and the rise of Hindutva. We present here fortnightly highlights of what a range of actors – from UN experts and civil society groups to international media and parliamentarians of many countries – are saying about the state of India’s democracy.

Read the fortnightly roundup for November 1-15, 2024.

International media reports

Bloomberg, USA, November 7

Sudhi Ranjan Sen, Dan Strumpf and Ruchi Bhatia write on the implications for India of Donald Trump’s win in the recent US presidential elections. They say Trump’s return gives Narendra Modi “a chance to bolster India’s image with the US and its allies”. With “increased scrutiny” of India for “its role in violence against Sikh activists”, India can “expect a new Trump administration to be less stringent in demanding accountability”.

Irfan Nooruddin, a professor of Indian politics at Georgetown University, says India holds “long-term value as a strategic partner” given Trump’s continued view of China “as the greatest geopolitical challenge”. However, Milan Vaishnav, Director of the South Asia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, cautions that questions of “trade, tariffs and market access” remain. With the US currently India’s biggest trade partner, increased tariffs promised by Trump could hit India’s economy. Trump’s “protectionist tendencies” may adversely impact cooperation on defence and critical technologies. His push for tighter immigration policies “could make life difficult for the Indians”.

Bloomberg, USA, November 7

Andy Mukherjee comparatively analyses India and China’s separate paths to economic growth and globalisation beyond the conventional lens of population policies and political structures. Situating the central question why “China’s per capita income is now more than double India’s”, he finds the answer lies in “sharp” differences in how the two nations “embraced modern education”. Mukherjee draws from a paper by Nitin Kumar Bharti and Li Yang (scholars at the Paris School of Economics’ World Inequality Lab) entitled The Making of China and India in 21st Century. It relies on documentation “going back to 1900 to make a database of who studied what in the two countries, for how long, and what was taught to them”. While India led in the 20th century by enabling a student population “eight times bigger than China”, China has outpaced India in the present by sending “a far bigger share” of its “university-age cohort” to higher education than India. Mukherjee argues that the relative strengths of China’s education system which have influenced greater economic productivity include a “bottom up” strategy which reduces early years school drop-outs and leads to more graduates and better performance in higher education, and the Chinese focus on engineering and vocational graduates over “humanities”.

The Guardian, UK, November 11

In the wake of Donald Trump’s election victory, Richard Seymour analyses why “far-right leaders are winning across the globe”- from the US to Hungary, Italy, the Philippines, Argentina, the Netherlands, Israel and India. Seymour repeatedly cites Narendra Modi’s rise in India as a key example within his wider analysis. His main argument is that votes for the far-right cannot only be explained by people’s frustrations with economic issues. He recalls that “after average consumer expenditure fell, Modi was re-elected in 2019 with a 6% swing”. For Seymour the appeal of the right-wing lies elsewhere – in replacing “real disasters with imaginary disasters”. A telling example in his words is “instead of confronting systems, they give you enemies you can kill”. A key takeaway for Seymour is that “far from being discredited by outbursts of collective violence, the new far right is galvanised by it”. He points out that Modi’s “rise to power began with an anti-Muslim pogrom” in Gujarat; Delhi experienced a “pogrom” against Muslims in 2020, and Trump’s 2020 campaign was “electrified by vigilante violence”.

The Island, Sri Lanka, November 13

Sasanka Perera writes on the “intrigue and controversy surrounding the operations of India’s Adani Green Energy” in Sri Lanka, in the context of a power purchase deal currently under litigation in the Sri Lankan Supreme Court. The Adani power project is being challenged for violating fundamental rights and for controversies around how the project was approved. Perera says the project needs to be reconsidered also “in light of the global evidence against the Adani Group in general”, citing a long list of malpractices by Adani Group companies.

Perera reminds of a recent lawsuit in Kenya in which the High Court suspended a US $ 736 million agreement between the state-owned Kenya Electrical Transmission Company and Adani Energy Solutions after hearing the petitioner’s arguments that the deal was a “constitutional scam” and “tainted with secrecy”. He warns the new government of Sri Lanka to have the “moral and political strength” to reconsider a project that came “through an entire field of corruption both locally and elsewhere”.

Perera underlines that the Indian government may have had “backdoor” involvement as the project was offered to Sri Lanka “based on a request from Indian PM Narendra Modi to former president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.”

CBC, Canada, November 13

Evan Dyer reports that Sunny Sidhu, a superintendent in the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), has been cleared of allegations aired by Indian government and media sources of “terrorism” and involvement in “Sikh separatist militancy”. After a year-long investigation into Sidhu by the CBSA itself, Luke Reimer (CBSA spokesperson) told CBC News that they have “no evidence to support the allegations made in the articles against our employee Mr. Sidhu”. In the midst of this, Sidhu received an “avalanche of threats” on social media, causing him to relocate with his family. Richard Fadden, former Director of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) said “India has a long history of making allegations without providing evidence”. The first CSIS Director to go public with allegations of foreign interference in Canada, Fadden also noted that “the scope of activities that we would put under foreign interference continues to broaden”. He suggested that these could include false allegations intended to sow suspicion and discord.

Parliamentarians and public officials advocate

In a press conference in Canberra on November 5 with Indian external affairs minister, S. Jaishankar while he was on a visit, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong responded to questions about Canada’s allegations regarding India’s targeting of Sikh activists. Wong made clear that Australia “respects Canada’s judicial process”. She underlined that Australia takes a “principled position” on “rule of law” and the “sovereignty of all countries”. Wong assured Australia’s Sikh community that they have a “right to be safe and respected”.

Experts say

The Congressional Research Service, a research institute of the United States Congress which assists congressional committees and Members of Congress, published a report entitled “India: Religious Freedom Issues”, dated November 13. Authored by K. Alan Kronstadt, a specialist in South Asian affairs, the report covers a wide range of “areas of religiously motivated repression and violence” in India, including “anti-conversion laws, cow protection vigilantism, regional communal violence” and others. Notably, the Washington DC-based Hindu American Foundation (HAF) is described as part of a “Hindu nationalist ecosystem in the US” seeking to exert influence on US government officials, scholars and thinktanks. Kronstadt references sources saying that while HAF presents itself “as a nonpartisan, non-ideological group”, its critics see it as “a key node in the global Hindu supremacist (or Hindutva) movement”. The report concludes with some concrete actions for Congress to consider, including increased oversight of US foreign assistance to India “particularly in light of Indian restrictions” on NGOs, more funding to support marginalised communities, and to engage with the Indian government to reduce the use of terrorism and other laws “against human rights activists, journalists and religious minorities”.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) expressed grave concern over the “relentless targeting” of journalist Rana Ayyub in a statement issued on November 8. CPJ describes that Ayyub, a global opinion writer at the Washington Post, was “followed and repeatedly questioned” by local security personnel while she was on a reporting trip in Manipur in early October. The officers wanted to know who she was meeting and what she was reporting. They said they followed her for “her safety” ordered by a “higher office”. Ayyub told CPJ a “right-wing account” shared her number on X on November 8, after which she received “at least 200 phone and video calls and explicit WhatsApp messages throughout the night”. CPJ’s Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih noted that “using surveillance and intimidation to deter journalists from reporting effectively has no place in a country that prides itself on being the mother of democracy.”

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) in its Asia-Pacific Climate Report 2024 predicts that “by 2070, climate change under a high end emissions scenario could cause a total loss of 16.9% of GDP across the Asia and Pacific region”. For India, the predicted decline is 24.7%, lower only than Bangladesh, Vietnam and Indonesia. Likely factors that may cause loss of GDP include declined labour productivity, greater flooding, and increased expenditure on cooling. On each count, the predictions for India are comparatively worse. While “the GDP loss in 2070 from reduced labour productivity” because of the heat waves is “4.9% for the region”, the figure for India – one of the “most impacted locations” – is 11.6%. On “increased river-based flooding”, the average predicted loss is 2.2% of GDP while for India, its “about 4% of GDP”. Cooling related demands “may reduce regional GDP by 3.3 per cent, but for India, this figure could reach 5.1 per cent”. The report also notes that alongside such vulnerabilities, “the region includes three of the top 10 GHG-emitting economies globally” – China, Indonesia, and India.

Hafsa Kanjwal, an associate professor of South Asian history in the US, situates India’s ongoing “subjugation” of Kashmir in the context of “Third World Imperialism” in a recent essay. She argues that forms of colonialism in the Global South remain unacknowledged. She further points to how “porous” the “boundary between colonialism and postcolonialism” is in the way post-colonial states like India continue to advance their own “settler-colonial ambitions”. Kanjwal argues that “Kashmir is India’s colony” and like a colonial force, India has “sought to rule over Kashmir through subjugating its people and trampling their rights”. Made sharper by the revocation of Kashmir’s semi-autonomy in August 2019, key features of India’s contemporary colonisation in Kashmir include internet shutdowns (among the highest in the world), surveillance technology, displacement of indigenous communities, and the criminalisation of “all forms of dissent”. Kanjwal warns that “climate disaster” may accelerate in Kashmir “exacerbated by decades of military occupation” and companies that “do not adhere to environmental regulations” getting contracts to mine for minerals.

Indian diaspora and civil society groups

Over 20 US-based organisations have urged the US government to “impose immediate and comprehensive travel and financial sanctions on India’s Home Minister, Amit Shah and National Security Advisor, Ajit Doval” for their role in “assassination operations” in Canada and the US respectively. In a press release dated November 1, the Indian American Muslim Council (IAMC), Sikh Coalition, New York State Council of Churches, Hindus for Human Rights, and others stated they made this demand in a letter to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the US Secretary of Commerce Janet Yellen. Deepali Gill, Federal Policy Manager at Sikh Coalition noted that such sanctions would ensure “not just accountability” but “deterrence” against violations of “Sikhs’ civil rights and U.S. sovereignty.” IAMC Executive Director Rasheed Ahmed said that “Amit Shah and Ajit Doval’s orchestration of violence” constitutes clear grounds for sanction under the Global Magnitsky Act.” Under the Global Magnitsky Act, the US can impose sanctions against any foreign person for human rights violations including “extrajudicial killings” targeting those who seek “to defend” internationally recognized “human rights and freedoms”.

Tech Justice Law Project, an international initiative which advocates for “better, safer, and accountable online spaces” along with the Indian American Muslim Council, India Civil Watch International, Hindus for Human Rights and Dalit Solidarity Forum released a report in the run-up to Jharkhand’s state elections in November. Entitled “Jharkhand’s Shadow Politics: How Meta Permits, Profits From, and Promotes Shadow Political Advertisements”, the report finds that a “huge” shadow network, boosted by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is pushing out political ads on Meta. The report points out that while the official BJP pages highlighted issues related to “government programs and electoral promises”, shadow accounts posted “communally divisive content and attack ads”, including “dehumanizing images of the Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, depicted with horns”. Such ads are “in violation of India’s electoral laws and Meta’s own community guidelines”. The research “identified at least 87 such pages” which together have spent “almost the same as the BJP Jharkhand account” but received “almost quadruple the amount of impressions”. Meta claims to have a strict verification process, but the report finds that the information for these shadow pages “appears to be junk”.

Read the previous roundup here.

Ahead of Maharashtra Polls, Shadow Accounts – Most Pro-Mahayuti – Spend Big on Facebook: Report

Some advertisements run by pro-Mahayuti shadow accounts featured hate speech and were not taken down, the report also said.

New Delhi: Pro-Mahayuti “shadow accounts” on Facebook spread communal advertisements ahead of the Maharashtra elections and spent over seven times more than their opposition counterparts on ads in recent weeks, a report by civil society organisations said.

Some advertisements run by pro-Mahayuti shadow accounts featured hate speech and were not taken down, despite hate speech being banned on Meta platforms, it said.

The report also flagged activity by government accounts it said raised questions about the misuse of the public exchequer.

Titled ‘Maharashtra’s Shadow Politics: How Meta Permits, Profits From and Promotes Shadow Political Advertisements’, the report released on November 13 was prepared by the Dalit Solidarity Forum, Eko, Hindus for Human Rights, the Indian American Muslim Council and the India Civil Watch International organisations.

In it, the civil society groups described the shadow accounts they studied as largely containing unverifiable or no contact information.

“This shadow infrastructure does not even meet the limited restrictions established by Meta for disclaimers in India,” the report also said, referring to Meta rules saying that ads about social issues, elections and politics require ‘paid for by’ disclaimers that “accurately represent the name of the entity or person responsible for the ad”.

“For several shadow pages, the disclaimer name is a vague term that cannot be traced back to any particular entity,” the report continued.

Such shadow accounts supported both the Mahayuti and the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA), it said. However, the number of pro-Mahayuti shadow accounts it counted outnumbered the pro-MVA ones by fourteen times.

While the report said the shadow accounts concerned were run by parties in the Mahayuti or the MVA, The Wire could not independently verify this.

Ads target ‘land jihad’, ‘politics of fatwas’

An example of a pro-Mahayuti Facebook page the civil society groups identified as a shadow page is ‘Maha Bighadi’, among whose ads is a poster – seemingly AI-generated – depicting bearded men wearing skull caps charging in the direction of the viewer and which warns of “land jihad”.

“Hindus, know the modus operandi of jihadis. Land jihad is done by usurping the land. An illegal mosque [is built] over time. When the local administration goes to demolish the construction, they create riots,” the poster said in Marathi as per the report.

In a different ad, Maha Bighadi depicts a man in a skull cap along with the caption “See the consequences of one wrong opinion! Courage of the jihadi tribe in Chhatrapati Shivaji’s Maharashtra. Now it has increased so much that they want 15% reserved seats in the election.”

Another such page is the pro-BJP ‘Lekha Jokha Maharashtracha’ on Facebook, which sponsored an ad cautioning Hindus to “beware, defeat the politics of fatwas and vote for Hindutva Mahayuti”.

Also read: Far-Right Shadow Advertisers Dominate Indian Poll Spending on Meta for Pro-Modi, Anti-Muslim Push

No information was provided on either Maha Bighadi’s or Lekha Jokha Maharashtracha’s disclaimers for verification, the report said, adding that the two pages spent Rs 27.62 lakh and Rs 42.12 lakh respectively in the 90 days between August 5 and November 2.

The report accused the Mahayuti’s main party, the BJP, of following a “differential” style of campaigning in which a “clean official front” is kept distinct from “a powerful perception-building attack machine through shadow pages”.

It also said that pro-BJP shadow accounts pushed content that was “overtly Islamophobic”, characterised by “fear mongering” and “full of hate speech”.

On the contrary, the report said it found “no hate speech or communal content” among the ads paid for by accounts aligned with the MVA.

Maratha issue prominent not on official pages but shadow ones

Even as issues concerning the state’s Marathas – including the demand within the community of OBC reservation – have taken centre stage this election season, political parties’ official pages on Facebook tend to be silent on the topic, the report said.

However, it added, the issue is prominently highlighted by shadow accounts, which “yet again reinforces the fact that shadow accounts are used to circulate politically sensitive content without being traceable to political parties.”

Shadow accounts “constantly rake[d] up the Maratha quota issue” by “branding the opposition as ‘anti-quota’ and ‘anti-Maratha’,” the report also said.

It reported that pro-MVA accounts put less emphasis on the Maratha issue but occasionally pushed content relating to Maratha pride.

Pro-Mahayuti accounts outspend pro-opposition counterparts

Another point of contrast between pro-Mahayuti and pro-MVA Facebook accounts that the report studied were the amounts of money they spent on ads.

Fifty-six shadow accounts promoting the Mahayuti pushed 32,114 ads between August 5 and November 2, spending a total of Rs 3.32 crore, while four pro-MVA shadow accounts sponsored 771 ads in the same period of time, costing them Rs 50.5 lakh – this amounted to a sevenfold difference between the two sides, the report said.

Also read: Who Has the Most to Lose in the Three Senas’ Race for the Marathi Vote?

In fact, the number of impressions garnered per rupee spent on ads for one pro-BJP account was higher than those for the official account run by the saffron party, the report said.

According to its findings, while the official BJP Maharashtra Facebook page between August and November saw nine impressions per rupee spent on ads, Lekha Jokha Maharashtracha – which the report alleged is “the main node of the BJP shadow network” – enjoyed 91 impressions per rupee spent.

Eko campaigner Maen Hammad said in a statement: “What’s unfolding in Maharashtra is a repeat offense by Meta – profiting from election ads while ignoring hate speech and illegal shadow campaigns boosting the BJP. Meta has prioritised revenue over enforcing Indian electoral laws and its own guidelines, allowing communal attacks and divisive narratives to spread unchecked.

“This isn’t just a policy failure; it’s a business model where profit takes priority over democracy and community safety.”

Government accounts spent money on ads largely before elections, report says

The report said it found that four Maharashtra government department pages spent money on ads in the months before the general elections earlier this year, stopped advertising after that, and resumed spending ahead of the state assembly elections.

These pages were for the Maharashtra Building and Other Construction Workers’ Welfare Board, the state Jal Jeevan Mission, the Other Backward Bahujan Welfare Department and the state women and children’s department, it said.

This “raises serious questions about the misuse of the public exchequer”, the civil society groups said.

Amid Power Struggles, Free Speech Is at Stake in Jharkhand

Currently, the campaign for the upcoming elections is a war of words. As far as campaigning goes, it is a free for all. But not so much for journalists.

The young and mineral-rich state of Jharkhand carved out of Bihar in 2000 will soon have its 6th Legislative Assembly elections in two phases on November 13 and 20, 2024, to elect the state’s 81 legislators. The results will be declared on November 23, 2024.

In this state, where Adivasis comprise 26.21% of the population, the election is being largely fought between two coalitions – Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc, including the ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Congress, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) as well as Left parties and the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), All Jharkhand Students Union (AJSU). Although the JMM-led coalition completed its term (2019-2024), it was marred by change in the leadership following the arrest of Chief Minister Hemant Soren (from February to July 2024) in a money laundering case.

The state battles multiple development challenges including multidimensional poverty, high instance of malnutrition, unemployment, low literacy, distress migration, development induced displacement, coupled with high levels of corruption as well as political instability.

All of this pose an immense challenge for reporters, journalists, YouTube journalists and influencers who seek to speak truth to power.

FIR slapped against journalists based on complaints by those sending threats from jail

Take for instance the case of Prabhat Khabar, a leading Hindi language daily news publication from Patna, for publishing news on illegal sale of liquor in the state. Based on the report, the Enforcement Directorate had one Jogendra Tiwari, member of the liquor mafia, sent to jail after a raid. Clearly a highly influential person, Tiwari was able to send death threats to Ashutosh Chaturvedi, chief editor of Prabhat Khabar, while he was still lodged in Birsa Munda prison.

When brought to the notice of concerned officials, Ranchi police instead filed an FIR under IPC sections 469 (forgery for harming reputation), 501 and 502 (print and sale of matter for defamation) against the chief editor Ashutosh Chaturvedi, resident editor, Vijay Kant Pathak and the managing director, Rajeev Jhawar, based on a complaint filed by the same person who was sending threats.

Demand for Journalists Protection Act

“Journalists in Jharkhand have faced immense challenge in several ways over the last decade – being slapped with cases of defamation, false cases of corruption, extortion, threats from liquor and sand mafia, are all common,” informed Amrit Lal, general secretary of Press Club in Ranchi and state head of Jharkhand Journalists Association (JJA), while speaking to FSC.

JJA members protest for a journalist protection act gets support from Congress politician Amba Prasad.

“And it is to counter these extensive attacks and repression of journalists across the state that compelled us to demand a Journalists Protection Act,” said Amrit Lal. When asked how this would benefit journalists or offer protection from the ongoing attacks and harassments from vested interests, he said JJA has recommended a committee formed of both police personnel and journalists to give the journalists a fair investigation.

Challenges of reporting from conflict areas

Another serious threat journalists face is while covering anti-Adivasi projects or initiatives by the government or even covering stories on Naxalite activities, as threats are from both sides – the Naxal groups as well as the police and administration, elaborated Amar Kant.

The arrest of Rupesh Kumar Singh, an independent Journalist, covering news of Adivasi Rights violations reflects the severity of reporting in the conflict areas of Jharkhand. Singh, considered to be an ‘eye-sore’ for the government was slapped with Sections 10 and 13 of the draconian Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) as well as IPC sections 420 (Cheating), 467, 468 and 471 (related to committing forgery) and arrested after a nine-hour long search in his house that started in the wee hours of July 22, 2022. Singh’s numbers were also listed in the surveillance list under the spyware Pegasus. As the case drags on, Singh continues to languish in prison.

Physical Assaults on journalists

Data collected by FSC reveals that, apart from arrest of journalists, the brutal attacks against journalists, are of grave concern, landing them in hospitals for a long duration.

As per the data gathered by FSC between 2021-24,

a video journalist Baijnath Mahta was brutally attacked in 2021 by unknown assailants. It was unclear if there was a motive behind his attack, the police were still gathering facts.

Jamshedpur journalist Anwar Sharief, a senior video reporter from News 11 was mercilessly beaten by unknown assailants in the early hours of 19 September 2023. What appears to be religiously motivated as the assailants raised religious slogans before leaving, the journalists in Jamshedpur were upset over the lackadaisical attitude of the police in its action against the incident. . In both instances, journalists sought speedy action against the culprits as it chilled reporters from stepping out in the night to do their work.

Anwar Shaikh, mercilessly beaten up in Jamshedpur

Mahadev Kumar Das, a corresponded of Dainik Nav Pradesh, a social media news portal, was assaulted by land mafia against whom he had filed and published reports. Das brought this to the immediate notice of the Navalshadhi police station of Koderma district and filed an FIR, for which he was targeted the same evening at his residence. He escaped the attack as he had been out on work.
reporter Avinash Mandal was beaten by mafia running illegal lottery sale on January 16, 2024, after Mondal published related stories on his web portal. He managed to file a Fir against the six people who assaulted him.

Apart from the attacks, there are other challenges to freedom of expression in Jharkhand. They include:

Frequent internet shutdowns

Hemant Soren’s government has been infamous for its frequent internet shutdowns, severely hampering digital communication for citizens. Software Freedom Law Centre (SFLC), India, that keeps track of internet shutdowns across the country notes that, in this year alone, Jharkhand has had 8 shutdowns.

The government’s September 2024 order for an internet shutdown throughout the state of Jharkhand on 22 September 2024 to “contain paper leaks , spread of fake news on the subject” and “to maintain integrity of the recruitment process” to enable the government to fairly conduct the Jharkhand General Graduate Level Competitive Examinations, 2023 was stayed by the Jharkhand High Court.

Following a public interest litigation challenging the shutdown, Justices Ananda Sen and Anubha Rawat Choudhary, turned down the government order citing “disturbed balance between public at large and the concern of the State to conduct a proper examination.”

The case comes up again on November 14, and the judges directed that, “without the leave of this Court, no internet facility, in whatever form, will be suspended henceforth within the State of Jharkhand on the ground of conducting any examination.”

Media target of state anger in a vicious political campaign

Use of social media platforms to spread misinformation is a known devil, but the manner in which social media platforms would be used for political disinformation to run down a candidate through “shadow advertisements” came to light recently in a research report of a study undertaken by several civil society organisations under the Tech-Justice project.

The report revealed how Meta, the most popular social media platform was used by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a major contestant in the upcoming elections, to push “a network of shadow accounts to post ‘communally divisive content and attack ads’ spending lakhs of rupees. This is in complete violation of ‘electoral law and Meta’s own policies on political advertising’ stated the report. These ads demonised Hemant Soren, the report said. The report records creation of 87 such shadow pages on Meta that had a spiralling circulation.

However, in a situation of biased media reportage, the axe falls on free speech per se. An insecure Soren government, feeling the heat, behaved no differently. In August 2022, the Soren government made threatening calls to media houses if his name is linked to the person against whom ED raids were being made that led to the recovery of two AK rifles. This was two years before Soren’s arrest in July 2024.

Currently, the campaign for the upcoming elections is a war of words. As far as campaigning goes, it is a free for all, as the opposition BJP urges the people of Jharkhand to thrown away the Hemant Soren for enabling infiltrators or calling the Hemant Soren government a burnt transformer and the JMM led government accuses the Union government of not having the guts to fight him from the front.

Either way, it remains to be seen if freedom of expression in this resource rich state with the second highest rate of ‘multi-dimensional” poverty, is the ultimate casualty.

Malini Subramaniam is an independent journalist, and former head of the Chhattisgarh chapter of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

This article has been republished from the Free Speech Collective.

DIGIPUB Condemns J&K Administration’s Legal Threat Against The Chenab Times

The foundation condemned what it described as an attempt to stifle press freedom after the administration reportedly objected to a video posted by The Chenab Times on its Facebook page.

New Delhi: The DIGIPUB News India Foundation has raised serious concerns over a recent threat of legal action by the Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) administration against one of their members, The Chenab Times, a digital news outlet based in Doda district.

The foundation condemned what it described as an attempt to stifle press freedom after the administration reportedly objected to a video posted by The Chenab Times on its Facebook page.

The Chenab Times had recently published a report covering the detention of a local activist from Doda under the Public Safety Act (PSA). In a letter dated November 12, 2024, the J&K administration’s Department of Information and Public Relations in Doda referred to the video as an “irrelevant post”. The letter alleged that the video content “prejudiced the due process of law,” created “rumours” and portrayed the district’s administrative procedures in a “bad light,” claiming it risked public order.

The district information officer (DIO), Doda, warned of legal action against The Chenab Times for publishing the video report about the detention of Rehamatullah, a Doda-based activist, allegedly for raising civic issues.

In the nearly 16-minute-long video, reporter Raja Shakeel mentioned that Rehamatullah was booked under the PSA for the second time. The Chenab Times has defended its report, asserting that it included the district administration’s perspective and followed all the necessary legal norms for digital platforms. The outlet stated that their reporting did not incite any law and order disruptions.

Also read: Days After Flagging Environmental Issue, J&K Police Arrest Civic Activist Under PSA

DIGIPUB, a coalition of over 90 digital news outlets nationwide objected “the tone and content of the letter” calling it “yet another attempt by the J&K administration to silence critical reporting and prevent reporters from questioning the authorities.”

The foundation has questioned the legal grounds on the basis of which which the DIO summoned the news outlet and demanded documents regarding the outlet’s “authority” to operate.

“We submit that there is none and ask the Department of Information and Public Relations, Doda, to withdraw the letter and cease harassing The Chenab Times,” DIGIPUB stated.

The foundation expressed outrage over the harassment of journalists in Jammu and Kashmir, highlighting that the region’s reporters have been subjected to searches, detentions, criminal charges under stringent laws and even extended imprisonment.

J&K Govt Threatens Legal Action on News Portal Over Report on Activist Detained Under PSA

The warning letter comes days after J&K chief minister assured the media that his government would “not resort to highhandedness” against journalists.

Srinagar: The Directorate of Information and Public Relations (DIPR), the official PR wing of Jammu and Kashmir government, has threatened legal action against a news portal over its reportage about the detention of a Doda-based activist under the Public Safety Act (PSA).

In a letter (INF/D-45/2024) on Tuesday (November 12), the district information officer (DIO), Doda, warned of legal action against The Chenab Times for publishing a video report about the detention of Rehamatullah, a Doda-based activist who was booked under the PSA, allegedly for raising civic issues.

The warning letter comes days after J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah, who is also the Union Territory’s information minister, assured the media that his government would “not resort to highhandedness” against journalists. Abdullah had also asserted that if the media was “not allowed to function independently …. we will not be able to strengthen democracy.”

The district administration of Doda, which is headed by deputy commissioner (DC) Harvinder Singh, a 2019-batch Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer, had warned the media in a Facebook post against “wrong reporting” of the activist’s “detention under security”, adding that it will have “consequences”, but the post was later deleted.

In another post, the administration said Rehamatullah was an “overground worker” of militants and the grounds of his detention were “totally different from what is being circulated on social media”. DC Singh could not be reached for comment.

An independent digital news portal in Doda district of Jammu division, The Chenab Times is registered and affiliated with DIGIPUB, an industry body for independent digital news platforms which has its own complaints review process that is regarded by the Union Ministry of Information and Broadcasting as being in conformity with the requirements of the IT Rules, 2021.

The video report, which had garnered more than 18,700 views and 44 comments when this story went live, was produced by Raja Shakeel, a reporter with The Chenab Times, and published on its Facebook page on Monday (November 11).

In the nearly 16-minute-long video, Shakeel reported that Rehamatullah had been booked under the PSA for the second time and that his detention was also condemned by Mehraj Malik, an Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader and a newly elected MLA from Doda constituency.

“In two out of five cases in the PSA dossier, police blamed Rehamatullah for speaking against the country,” Shakeel said, “But legal experts argue that the same cases which have been used to book a person under PSA for the first time can’t be used to detain him again under the PSA if the first PSA has been quashed by court”.

Rehamatullah was slapped with PSA, which has been termed as a “lawless law” by Amnesty International, in 2016. However, the charges were quashed by the J&K high court in 2017.

The Chenab Times report also included a telephonic conversation with Fayaz Ahmad, Rehamatullah’s brother, who can be heard saying that he was not present at his home when his brother was detained in the wee hours of Sunday.

“My brother has been harassed by the district administration and security agencies since 2016, even though the courts have given him bail in all the cases,” Ahmad told the news portal, terming the DC Singh’s claim that his brother was an “overground worker” of militants as “jumlabazi (wordplay)”.

“His only crime is that he speaks for the poor. The municipality dumps garbage near our home which has become a nuisance for the entire neighbourhood. He had been raising this issue lately, which is why he was targeted,” he added.

“There are no serious charges pending against him. The PSA dossier accuses him of using VPN to speak with militants but there is no proof to back this claim. Is it fair to detain a person without evidence?” the reporter asked, as the screen cut to a tweet advocating “impartial judicial or legal review committee” for examining the PSA cases in J&K.

However, seeking to blame the portal for questioning the official claims, an ethical obligation of journalists, the DIO’s letter alleged that the “tone and content” of the report projected the “administrative procedure in bad light and empathised with the person who has been booked .. by following due process of law”.

“In the said video you have tried to prejudice the due process of law thus creating a potential law and order issue. You have interpreted the action of administration as per your convenience which has created rumours in general public,” the letter said.

Speaking with The Wire, Anzer Ayoob, editor of The Chenab Times, said that instead of addressing the concerns raised by their journalist through his report, the administration has “questioned the validity of our organisation’s registration, which amounts to harassment.”

“We have been repeatedly directed to submit registration and other authorisation documents by the Doda administration and we have complied with these orders every time. There is no question regarding the legality of our organisation. The government should focus on addressing the questions raised in the report,” Ayoob said.

The Chenab Times’ editor was asked to submit his response to the DIO’s letter by 11 am on Wednesday.

Ayoob said that his portal was “fully aware of the ethical standards outlined in the IT Act, 2000, and the IT (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, which are essential for the lawful and ethical operation of digital news portals” in the country.

“We consistently uphold these principles, striving to deliver content that is factually accurate, impartial and fair. The video report presented the points of view of both the district administration as well as the family of the detainee. Nowhere does the report interpret the action (of the administration) in a bad light,” he said.

“Stating the circumstances around a person’s detention doesn’t mean we empathise with the detainee. Reporting facts does not equate taking sides or showing sympathy,” Ayoob added.

The original article erroneously mentioned that The Chenab Times had reported that Rehamatullah was cleared of charges in two cases. The reference has been removed and the error is regretted.

Australian Media Organisation Has ‘Never Been Banned,’ Says Canada

The founding editor of The Australia Today, Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj, stated that the outlet had first learned from readers in Canada that they were unable to access its Facebook page “only after the publication of our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar”.

New Delhi: Canada clarified that an Australian media organisation had “never been banned” and noted that Meta restricts news content on its platforms for users in Canada “irrespective of outlet”.

On November 7, India’s external affairs ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, stated at a media briefing that the social media pages of The Australia Today was “blocked by Canada”.

Alleging that the blocking followed External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar’s interview with the outlet and a joint press conference with Australian foreign minister Penny Wong, he said that this had “yet again highlight[ed] the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech.”

The Wire reported on November 8 that it was not just Australia Today, but the social media pages of all news outlets that have been blocked for the past year – not by the Canadian government, but by Meta on its platforms of Facebook and Instagram.

On Sunday, November 10, the Canadian foreign ministry, known as Global Affairs Canada, issued a statement that Australia Today had never been blocked. The Canadian government has also put the blame of Australia Today not being viewable as part of Meta’s year-old policy to stop all news on Instagram and Facebook in Canada.

“Australia Today has never been banned in Canada. The news site and video of media comments by both India’s Foreign Minister Jaishankar and Australia’s Foreign Minister Wong, can be easily and freely viewed in Canada.”

In Canada, Meta, which owns and operates Facebook and Instagram, blocked the sharing of news content on their sites, irrespective of the outlet. This is due to a decision by Meta to block news on its social media platforms in Canada since 2023. This is in line with a broader business strategy on Meta’s part to de‑emphasise news on its platforms globally.

In June 2023, Canada approved the Online News Act, also known as C-18, which sought to force IT giants like Meta and Google to pay news publishers and media outlets for the articles that were shared on their platforms. The web giants, however, pushed back and said that publishers voluntarily share their content on the platform to their benefit.

From August 1, 2023, Meta announced that no user in Canada will be able to access or share news content in Canada.

Following the MEA spokesperson’s remarks on November 7, The Australia Today issued a statement on its social media, claiming its posts had been restricted “under orders” from Canada.

“The recent restriction and ban on our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister @DrSJaishankar and the press conference with Australian Foreign Minister @SenatorWong on #socialmedia, under orders from the Canadian government, have been difficult for our team and those who value free and open #journalism,” it posted on X, on November 8.

The post included a screenshot cropped to show only the line “People in Canada can’t see this content.” However, the next line, which was not in the image appended with the post, stated: “In response to Canadian government legislation, news content can’t be viewed in Canada,” followed by a “Learn More” link to Meta’s policy on blocking news content in Canada.

For an internet user in Canada, this message appeared identically on any Instagram or Facebook news outlet page, whether Canada’s Globe and Mail, The New York Times, Indian outlets like The Wire and India Today, or The Australia Today.

Australia Today editor responds

In response to additional questions seeking clarifications, the founding editor of The Australia Today, Jitarth Jai Bharadwaj, stated on Sunday that the outlet had first learned from readers in Canada that they were unable to access its Facebook page “only after the publication of our interview with Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar”.

“Prior to this, we had not been made aware of any issues regarding our content not being accessible in Canada,” Bharadwaj said in a message.

He further claimed that he became aware of Meta’s universal restrictions on news platforms in Canada only after the interview was published. “We have been made aware of Meta’s policy to restrict access to news content in Canada as a response to domestic legislation only after the interview was aired. The restriction on our content appears to have been initiated specifically after the publication of Dr. Jaishankar’s interview,” he stated.

Bharadwaj also noted that another Canadian news website, described as a “known Khalistan misinformation news outlet,” remains accessible on Facebook and Instagram. “I am attaching screenshots of Baaz on FB (screenshots of two of their articles on FB) and their Insta page. Hence the logical conclusion would be that there seems to be selective enforcement of the policy,” he added.

The Wire was able to access the Facebook page of Baaz News using a Canadian VPN, unlike other news site pages from around the world. This may be because Baaz is categorised as an “Editorial/Opinion” page on Facebook rather than a “News/Media Company” page, like The Australia Today and other platforms currently blocked by Meta. However, on Instagram, Baaz News is listed as “News/Media,” and The Wire was able to access it on Sunday using a Canadian VPN, along with other news pages, unlike on Saturday. This suggests either inconsistent implementation of Meta’s block or a caching issue.

When asked to clarify whether The Australia Today was implying that the Canadian government, rather than Meta, had initiated the block on its Facebook page, Bharadwaj responded:

“The interview was blocked under the Government’s legislation (this is there in the screenshot). We are not suggesting that Mr Trudeau directly called someone to get this done, but the content was restricted under Govt legislation. However, the selective nature of the restriction raises questions about whether the enforcement of the block was influenced by the content of the interview and whether additional factors may have played a role.”

As seen by the screenshot, the entire page of The Australia Today was blocked for Canadians, rather than a couple of posts. Also, the displayed message viewed in Canada was exactly the same as posted on other news outlets by Meta.

In response to another query, Bharadwaj acknowledged, “To date, The Australia Today has not received any official notification or email from Meta regarding specific restrictions applied to our Facebook or Instagram pages. Typically, when restrictions are applied due to governmental requests, a formal notification is provided to the publisher.”

Instead of attributing this to a broad-brush Meta policy responding to a government law requiring revenue sharing, he stated that the absence of any such communication “adds to our concern about the sudden enforcement of this restriction.”

He added that his “goal is not to assign blame arbitrarily but rather to highlight what appears to be selective enforcement that has negatively impacted our ability to serve our audience”.

Backstory: The Tr(i)ump(h) Moment, and What it Tells Us About USA’s Media Landscape

A fortnightly column from The Wire’s ombudsperson.

How?

The ‘how’ howl is resounding around the world. How did Donald Trump, convicted felon, serial speech offender, sequential sex harasser and misogynist at large achieve such a landslide of a victory? A triumph that has swept away all political opposition, including in the Senate and in all probability, in the House of Representatives? The commentariat is hard at work decoding the how of it and what it reveals about USA’s state and society. Given that the media was a major engine deployed to achieve this electoral outcome, a supplementary but vital question is what does the victory tell us about its media landscape?

The Trump electoral machine could and did get to control information on an industrial scale through both legacy and social media. There is something to the lament of broadcaster Mehdi Hasan, whose partiality for the Democratic Party is no secret:

“Despite the fact that the US economy, under Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, is the strongest economy in the Western world… Despite the fact that unemployment is at 4%, one of the lowest rates for 50 years. Despite the fact that real wages are higher now than they were when Trump left office. And yet people refuse to believe it”.

Now people may have refused to “believe it” because they were hurting from high grocery bills and could only remember that the price of gasoline was almost a whole dollar less in 2020 than in 2024, but it was also a fact that one of Trump’s favourite tropes on the election trail was that he would bring gas prices below two dollars. Fact checkers have been quick to point out that this would be impossible to achieve without seriously damaging the economy and environment, but his promise clearly hit home every time someone checked their bank balance and filled up their tank at a gas station.

Misinformation thrives on misery.

It also thrives on a large section among the emerging generation, given the appellation GenZ, going through this election without reading a single print newspaper and who depend on, according to one US newspaper, on a diet of “influencers, infographics, and memes”. They number 41 million, and many displayed a disturbing appetite for Trump this time. They were also perhaps put off by the Harris arrogance which ignored their genuine feelings – those hundreds of thousands of students who protested the ugly war in Palestine were not ghosts, they were very real.

Also remember that the Trump campaign was quick to turn even satire into memes that raised a laugh. Take that Trump assertion – immigrants are “eating the dogs and cats” in Springfield, Ohio. It got set to music and became a chart-buster.

This is where the larger than life role played by Elon Musk in this election needs to be factored in. By putting X, his $44 billion media machine, at the service of the Trump campaign and flooding the electoral narrative with all manner of conspiracy theories that consciously preyed on the anxieties of the average Joe and Jenny, he proved to be a one-man force multiplier. Musk was not always a Trump fan. In fact two years ago he had tweeted: “I don’t hate the man, but it’s time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.” But somewhere along the way he calculated the cascade of benefits that could come his way should he join this caravan.

What is Musk’s skin in the game? Cash of course – his net worth shot up by US $ 20 billion immediately after the Trump win. But Musk’s ultimate goal is power. Being South Africa-born, he is ineligible to attain the highest office of the country, but he could do the next best thing, use the power of the highest office to mould public opinion by – as British comedian Jonathan Pie put it – spreading “a flurry of slurry across the universe”. All this is to create a country faithful to his far-right libertarian vision of a dissent-free, technology-controlled USA with a yen for driverless cars and space travel. In his 2015 book, Elon Musk, Ashlee Vans, dripping with admiration for his subject, writes that here is a man who is “providing an example for other entrepreneurs hoping to harness a new age of wonderful machines.” For the moment though, it was the electoral machine that caught Musk’s fancy as the rocket launcher to becoming CEO of United States of America Inc. Through this one election he has proved that it is possible to capture government for personal aggrandisement.

It helps of course that platforms like X are hardly threatened by the corporate media giants of yesteryear. The Washington Post with all its liberal pretensions of being a strong voice for democracy implicit in its catchline: “Democracy Dies in Darkness” (remember the Pentagon Papers?), was right royally thrown under the bus by its multi-billionaire owner Jeff Bezos who demonstrated that democracy can, and often does, die under the morning sun if it is a question of the Amazon bottom line. While CNN, once considered the only force that can neutralise the vomitus of Fox News, is now owned by media and entertainment conglomerate Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc, whose handlers ordered CNN editors to mandatorily include rightwing opinion in its chat shows. Even Fox News got a hammering from Trump for daring to feature Democratic Party advertising that targeted him.

It seems a no-win situation for journalism in the US. The Gallup poll has measured trust in media among the American public over a span of half a century. In the 1970s, such trust was in the region of 68-72%. By the late 1990s and early 2000s, it had dropped to 51-55%. A poll conducted this September was interesting: More US adults have no trust at all in the media (36%) than trust in the institution.

As in India, the only hope for good, credible, critically engaged journalism to survive in Trump’s fundamentalist Christian, fundamentalist technocratic, fundamentalist rightwing kingdom is for small independent platforms to assert themselves and provide strong counter narratives. There are many who are ready and willing to take up this challenge.

This is The Intercept after the Trump victory:

“The corporate media and the Democratic Party have one thing in common: They have no idea how to handle Donald Trump.

“Sure, they’re happy to profit from superficial outrage over his increasingly bizarre rhetoric. But do they have any real intention of obstructing his agenda?

“More genocide in Gaza. An Orwellian scheme to round up and deport millions of undocumented immigrants. And perhaps even an effort to prosecute and imprison those who dare to dissent.

“Neither Jeff Bezos nor Elon Musk is going to reward politicians or journalists for exposing these injustices. That’s why we need The Intercept — today more than ever.

“Our mission remains the same: fearless, adversarial investigative journalism to hold the wealthy and powerful to account.

Unravelling the genius of Abu Abraham

On his hundredth birth anniversary, we get a chance to consider the full breath and width of the satirical imagination of Attupurathu Mathew Abraham, known simply by his adopted nom de plume, Abu or rather abu with a small ‘a’, through a extremely well mounted exhibition, ‘Abu’s World’. It captured a collection of work – 300 in all– stretching over half a century from the early 1950s to 2002, the year of his death.

Much has been written about this exhibition since it got its first airing at Kochi’s Durbar Hall Art Gallery in March this year (‘Recalling the Political Genius of Iconic Cartoonist Abu’, The Wire, April 12) but catching up with it at its inaugural run in Delhi at India International Centre’s Art Gallery was special. Not only because Abu’s two daughters, Ayesha and Janaki, true custodians of their father’s legacy, were there, but because of the presence of historian Romila Thapar who inaugurated the event and shared a lovely vignette from her London days in the 1950s during which an “unknown Indian” struck her as someone “who really speaks his mind”.

It was a mind that also drew pictures in ways more incisive than speech. The Tribune (London) carried some very sharp critiques of the Vietnam war, for instance, including one of Lyndon Johnson, loaded with bombs and guns, berating an unarmed Vietnamese youth with the words: “You’re setting a bad example with your violence”. His editors gave him leeway. He would later recall: “Answering my queries about my freedom as a cartoonist, the editor (at the Observer) wrote: “It would perhaps be rash to promise that we will always publish whatever political cartoon you offer but I give you an absolute assurance that you will never be asked to draw a political cartoon expressing ideas with which you do not yourself personally sympathise.” They don’t make editors like that anymore!

Cartoons by Abu that appeared (from left) on the ‘Indian Express’ in 1979, ‘The Patriot’, ‘The Tribune’, and ‘The Daily’ in 1986, and ‘Indian Express’ in 1973.

It was only when he returned home to India, however, that Abu’s work could really get under the skin of the moment – and by extension under the skin of the characters who made up that moment. Mrs Gandhi was obviously this cartoonist’s absolute delight. Every line he drew of her indicated how he luxuriated in her hauteur and arrogance, whether it was in showing her confront the Old Guard within the Congress, comprising Nijalingappa and Kamraj, with the word, ‘Parkalam!’ (a signature phrase attributed to Kamraj, meaning ‘Let’s us see’) or a Mohammad Ali telling her that he is the greatest and the lady shooting back, “Oh really?’

The delicious irony of having a Mrs Gandhi out of power fuelled knife-sharp responses from Abu. There is this one of her with a travel bag at a railway station walking past a sign that read “CHICKMAGALUR Change Here For New Delhi, Rae Bareli, Lucknow, Patna, Jaipur and Generally All Destinations’ (October 1978); and another one of the lady consulting ‘Pandit Devraj The Renowned Urstrologer’, with a caption that read, ‘The son has a malefic influence on your stars’ (June 1979). Once back in power, we see her in her old, confident avatar, this time with Rajiv Gandhi by her side and a bunch of quarreling politicians in the background. ‘That’s a Brilliant Idea – A Free Nutritious Meal Scheme For Dissidents and Rebels’, the mother tells the son (July, 1982).

Siddique Kappan gets relief from the court

Sometimes a small news portal can deliver big. India Tomorrow, relatively little known, did a detailed interview with Siddique Kappan on the fourth anniversary of his arrest on October 5. In it Kappan pointed out that despite being given bail on January 23, 2023, he was in a manner of speaking still living a jailed life given the stringent conditions that had been imposed on him.

He spoke frankly about his life: “…The arrest and the subsequent 28 months in prison deeply impacted my personal life, my family, and my work. My children’s mental health and education suffered significantly, and our financial stability was shattered. I was unable to work due to the constant travel related to the case. It has now been two years since my release, yet due to the bail conditions; I continue to live as though I am in an open prison.”

He went on to say that he had approached the Supreme Court to seek relief, pointing to a stark anomaly: although the court recognised that he was jailed on false charges, he was still bound by impossible bail conditions which included having to report every week at a local police station in Uttar Pradesh.

In early November, the Supreme Court granted Kappan major relief, including striking down the arduous condition of having to present himself in a UP court every Monday. As for getting his passport back, the apex court also allowed him to seek remedy through another petition. Hopefully, he will now be able to put his personal and professional life on track.

Readers write back…

Women’s voices, please

N. Jayaram fires a familiar missile at ‘The Interview with Karan Thapar’:

“We’ve been here before: Sir, kindly look beyond male interviewees. Can supply you with any number of female experts on ANY SUBJECT under the sun…That said, Great interview with Dr Barghouti the other day. And thank you for having restrained yourself from interrupting unnecessarily. Wonder if you’ve tried to get the great Naomi Klein on your show, or Amy Goodman. And then there is the absolutely brilliant Dr Assal Rad.”

Why this disregard for Hindu gods?

Karthik K has an issue with “uncapitalised pronouns when referring to Lord Ram” in ‘Justice Chandrachud Should Not Blame God for His Own Awful Ayodhya Judgment’ (October 22):

“I sat before the deity and told him he needed to find a solution”… Hindus consider Ram as an incarnation of God, hence He should be referred with reverence thus: him should be ‘Him’; he should be ‘He’; Ram temple should be ‘Ram Temple’. Why such blatant disregard for Hindu Gods? Fix it, will you? And make sure that due editorial verification is done before publication.”

Bring back communal harmony to the Hills

Hyderabad-based Sumanta Banerjee writes in:

“In ‘Backstory: If Some Media Outlets…’ (October 26), references are made to recent communal flare-ups in Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh. It saddened me to read it because I remember some of the best years of my life (2000-2016) were spent in Dehra Dun in Uttarakhand, living in a cottage built by my wife, Bizeth, at the foothills. During that period I also had the good fortune to spend a couple of years (2011-2012) in Himachal Pradesh, during my stint as a research fellow with the Institute of Advanced Study in Shimla. Whether in Dehra Dun or in Shimla, I never found my Muslim neighbours, friends and academic colleagues feeling threatened.

“The neighbourhoods harboured shops run by both Hindus and Muslim traders, living and working cheek by jowl. But now, the media reports emanating from these two states (which were always known for their beautiful natural surroundings and communal harmony) are alarming. Have the Sangh Parivar hate speeches dug deep into the roots of this traditional harmony and fractured it? How can the alternative and social activists restore and revive that spirit and social life of harmony? There is need for intervention at the grassroots level in order to resist and defeat the BJP’s attempts to destroy the tradition of communal concord in these two states.”

Shutdown Bretton Woods institutions

Excerpt from a statement from a range of international civil society organizations, who argue that these institutions are beyond reform, as their governance structures and market-driven economic paradigms are too deeply embedded in the status quo to enable meaningful change.

“Close to 200 individuals and civil society groups, representing a wide range of social movements, campaigns, and grassroots organisations and campaigns in a statement have called for the creation of a new democratic and decentralised financial system that prioritises sustainability and equality. They are demanding the shutdown of the Bretton Woods institutions—the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF)—to pave the way for more democratic, public-spirited institutions.

“For the past 80 years, the World Bank and IMF have globalised a model of development and financialisation rooted in the colonial logic of extraction and exploitation. These institutions have facilitated the continuous transfer of wealth from the Global South to the Global North while trapping nations in deep debt and depriving them of sovereignty over their natural resources.

“The statement strongly criticises the policies of the World Bank and IMF, which have led to the privatisation of essential public services, including water, electricity, education, healthcare, and transportation. Brought about steep cuts in social protection and welfare programs, labour market deregulation, drastic wage cuts, contractualisation of labour, and the reduction or elimination of food and agriculture subsidies which have resulted in widespread hunger and food insecurity. These policies have disproportionately impacted the rural and urban working classes, poor communities, women, small-scale food producers, indigenous peoples, and other marginalised groups…”

Write to ombudsperson@thewire.in

NBDSA Directs News18 to Take down Controversial Interview With Godman ‘Bageshwar Baba’

The NBDSA in its order said that the godman made several statements that promoted superstition and were divisive in nature.

New Delhi: The News Broadcasters and Digital Association (NBDSA) has found a News18 interview with a self-styled godman in violation of its code of ethics and directed the news channel to remove it from all digital platforms within a week.

News18’s managing editor, Kishore Ajwani, had interviewed Dhirendra Shastri, popularly known as Bageshwar Baba, on July 10 last year. The NBDSA in its order said that Shastri made several statements that promoted superstition and were divisive in nature.

The association was hearing a complaint made by Pune-based activist Indrajeet Ghorpade.

“In the instant case, the seer who was invited by the broadcaster made several claims during the broadcast, which promoted superstition. Furthermore, during the broadcast, several statements were made by the seer concerning Hindu Rashtra and religion, which were divisive in nature, such as that in order to live in India it would be mandatory to say “Sita Ram” and that Islam asked men to trap young Hindu girls in love jihad and then kill them,” the NBDSA observed.

The association said that the broadcast violated its specific guidelines covering reportage relating to ‘racial and religious harmony, supernatural, occultism and paranormal’ as well as the advisory on ‘reportage spreading superstition, occultism and blind belief’.

“NBDSA observed that programmes which advance belief in superstition and tend to create disharmony between communities should not be countenanced and should not be broadcast,” the order read.

In the interview, Shastri had claimed that he could find diamonds, predict polls and heal people through supernatural powers among other things.

The association also warned the channel and advised it against inviting individuals whose views could be construed as promoting superstitious beliefs and practices.

‘News value attached to the seer’

In its submission to the association, News18 had argued that there was significant news value associated with the godman to justify why he had been invited to the programme.

The channel also claimed that it did not promote or support any statements made by Shastri in an individual capacity and were therefore not responsible for them.

Ghorpade, in his rebuttal to the channel’s claims, said that News18 was well aware of Shastri’s tendency to make such statements and questioned Ajwani’s failure to adequately interject during the interview.

“In rebuttal, the complainant submitted that, as admitted by the broadcaster, the seer was known to make controversial statements such as on Hindu Rashtra and love jihad; the channel was well aware of the seer’s tendency to make controversial statements and had therefore invited him in the broadcast.

[Ghorpade] submitted that the broadcaster’s submission that it had not raised any question regarding the seer’s supernatural abilities was false, as it was the anchor who had himself, during the broadcast, questioned the seer whether he could predict election results. Therefore, the interview was well crafted, as the channel knew what Mr Shastri would say,” the NBDSA order said.

Depsang Patrolling: Army Says ‘No Roadblocks From Either Side’; Newspaper Stands by Report

A report on The Tribune had said that military talks between India and China to work out the modalities of patrolling have reached a deadlock with China ‘dragging its feet’.

New Delhi: In response to reports on China erecting roadblocks in the Indian Army’ patrolling process in eastern Ladakh, the latter has released a statement claiming “there are no roadblocks/objections from either side that have been faced in this process.”

On November 7, the Additional Directorate General of Public Information of the Indian Army, wrote on its X account that articles in the media on disruptions in the resumption of patrolling in traditional areas in Depsang and Demchok areas were speculative and did not contain facts.

“Certain Media Articles on 06-07 November 2024 have speculated about roadblocks/objections in the disengagement process consequent to the consensus between the Indian and Chinese sides on 21 October 24. It is unambiguously stated that the disengagement at Depsang and Demchok has been completed and implementation of consensus as agreed to, is being undertaken in a planned manner that includes resumption of patrolling to traditional patrolling areas. There are no roadblocks/objections from either side that have been faced in this process.”

The Army also added a word of advice to news organisations:

“The articles published in this regard are speculative and bereft of facts. The concerned media houses are requested to verify and authenticate facts before publishing such sensitive articles and exercise due editorial discretion so that no unsubstantiated or misleading information is propagated.”

The response is ostensibly to a report on The Tribune which quotes sources to note that China has been “dragging its feet” on coordinating the schedule of the Indian Army’s patrols in the area.

The report, which The Wire carried as well, said that military talks between India and China to work out the modalities of patrols have thus reached a deadlock over the “extent and routes of patrolling” at Depsang.

A day before the report was published, the Indian Army had noted that it had patrolled one of the five patrolling points at Depsang.

Ties between India and China have been tense over eastern Ladakh and the Line of Actual Control – a skirmish at which in 2020 led to the death of at least 20 Indian soldiers.

The reopening of patrolling exercises was announced amidst much fanfare on October 21 by India’s foreign secretary Vikram Misri, ahead of prime minister Narendra Modi meeting Chinese president Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the Brics summit in Russia.

In an editorial, The Tribune has stood behind its story. It said:

The Army, referring to a news item, “Talks on restoring patrols at Depsang hit roadblock”, in The Tribune edition dated November 6, 2024, has said the “Indian side has resumed patrolling in its traditional patrolling areas” and both India and China are abiding by the consensus and “no roadblocks have been created by either side.”

The editorial also quoted Army spokesperson Colonel Sudhir Chamoli as having said, “Based on a consensus achieved on October 21, both sides have effectively carried out disengagement. India has resumed patrolling in its traditional patrolling areas. The Army remains committed to the consensus achieved on October 21.”

The Tribune, however, noted that its story was “only about the status of restarting patrolling in Depsang” and that the Army in its response has still not said that “patrolling has started on all routes in Depsang.”

The Tribune added:

The news item did not question consensus or disengagement process. It only said China was delaying modalities. It did not say the Indian Army was “not abiding” by the consensus.

Uttar Pradesh: Brutal Attacks Against Journalists Spotlight Threat to Press Freedom in India

These incidents have fuelled a strong response from media organisations and journalists who are demanding urgent action to ensure their safety.

Uttar Pradesh has witnessed two brutal attacks against journalists, sparking outrage and raising concerns over press freedom and safety in India’s most populous state. On the intervening night of October 30-31, a journalist was murdered in Fatehpur district, and on October 27, two journalists from Hamirpur district were allegedly stripped, beaten and humiliated by a panchayat chairman and his henchmen. These incidents have fuelled a strong response from media organisations and journalists, who are demanding urgent action to ensure their safety.

Two local journalists from Hamirpur, Amit Dwivedi and Shailendra Kumar Mishra, filed a complaint alleging they were violently assaulted by Sarila Nagar Panchayat chairman Pawan Anuragi and his henchmen. According to their complaint, Anuragi’s men not only beat them but also disrobed them at gunpoint, recorded humiliating videos and even forced them to drink urine.

Dwivedi and Mishra reported the incident to Jariya police station, claiming they were held captive and subjected to severe humiliation. The journalists allege that they were summoned to the Jariya bus stand around 6:20 pm on October 27 by a man named Gangaprasad alias Babu, who had requested a meeting on behalf of Anuragi. Upon their arrival, they were reportedly led to a room in the house of one Akash, where they were confronted by Anuragi and several henchmen, including Akhilesh Rajput, Vikram Yadav, RK. Soni, Akash Anuragi, and Narendra Vishwakarma.

Inside the room, the situation escalated as the chairman’s men allegedly switched off the lights and began to physically assault them. The journalists further claimed they were stripped, threatened with death and coerced into handling weapons for staged photos and videos. During the assault, their phones were confiscated, and they were warned that if they reported the incident, both they and their families would face severe consequences.

Following the journalists’ complaint, a case was registered against Anuragi and his henchmen under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), including charges of rioting, voluntarily causing hurt, wrongful confinement and criminal intimidation.

However, in a controversial turn of events, the police also filed a counter-complaint against both journalists, alleging house trespass, intentional insult and criminal intimidation under BNS, as well as charges under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989. The move has led to concerns about a possible attempt to intimidate the journalists or weaken the case against the chairman.

Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Manoj Kumar Gupta stated that the police are actively investigating the complaint lodged by the journalists and are in contact with journalist unions. Gupta added that the police have conducted raids to apprehend the suspects but have yet to make any arrests. The police have reassured the journalists and media associations of an impartial investigation and prompt action.

Despite assurances from the police, Dwivedi and Mishra claim that law enforcement is acting under pressure from the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). They also say that chairman Anuragi is from the ruling saffron party. According to the journalists, while there is video evidence of the incident, the police have registered a weak case against the chairman, allegedly under pressure from influential political leaders. “Police have registered a frivolous case against us in stringent sections, aiming to pressure us into withdrawing our complaint,” they alleged.

This incident in Hamirpur is not an isolated one. Just days earlier, on October 30-31, a journalist named Dilip Saini was murdered in Fatehpur district. Saini, who worked for a news agency, was killed in what police initially described as a property dispute with financial undertones. An FIR was filed, and five suspects have been arrested in connection with the case. However, four suspects remain at large. According to ASP Vijay Shanker Mishra, efforts are ongoing to apprehend the remaining suspects.

The recent attacks have been viewed as part of a worrying trend, with Uttar Pradesh seeing increasing violence against journalists. The Uttar Pradesh Accredited Correspondent Committee (UPACC) condemned these incidents, with association president Hemant Tiwari calling for immediate action against the accused. “These attacks create an atmosphere of hostility toward journalists and undermine the government’s claims of zero tolerance toward crime,” Tiwari said. He added that he had raised the matter with senior state officials, emphasising the need for swift and decisive action.

Veteran journalists and press associations argue that the state’s response to these incidents is crucial for maintaining press freedom. Former editor of a Hindi daily, Kumar Bhawesh Chandra noted that many journalists, particularly those in smaller towns and rural areas, face threats from influential political and criminal figures. “The government must prioritise the safety and security of journalists, as these attacks are a direct challenge to freedom of expression,” Chandra stated. He further urged chief minister Yogi Adityanath to take personal responsibility for ensuring a secure environment for journalists in the state.

Hemant Tiwari of the UPACC remarked that “any laxity in handling these cases could imply government complicity in the crimes against journalists.” He said that the attacks have left many journalists feeling vulnerable and worried about their safety. “If the government fails to act decisively, it will erode public trust in the state’s commitment to law and order,” Tiwari said.

These incidents come amid increasing concerns over press freedom in India. According to the 2024 Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, India ranks 159th out of 180 countries. The country’s low ranking reflects growing pressures on journalists, particularly those covering critical or sensitive topics.

Journalists’ associations and press freedom advocates argue that targeted attacks, intimidation and the misuse of legal provisions against journalists have worsened the climate for media in India. The recent incidents in Uttar Pradesh underscore this growing threat and have led many journalists to call for stronger protection.

Chandra further said that the state government needs to take visible action, not only to punish the perpetrators but also to send a strong message that attacks on journalists will not be tolerated.