Podcasts about citizenship amendment act

From being a fringe political party in 2013 to sweeping nearly half of the state s forty-two Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the BJP has gained ground in West Bengal, aided partly by the RSS s exponential growth during Mamata Banerjee's chief ministerial tenure (2011 onwards). With a consistent and concerted criticism of the TMC, the saffron camp managed to create a strong wave of anti-incumbency. So much so that the BJP s prospects of forming the next government in Bengal in 2021 seemed to have brightened considerably, while the Left, which had ruled Bengal for over three decades, appears to have been reduced to a fringe political entity. However, the controversy over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, combined with Banerjee s course-correction drive, designed by strategist Prashant Kishor, indicate that she might yet script a turnaround, with Bengal turning into the laboratory of a unique political experiment.  Mission Bengal: A Saffron Experiment (HarperCollins India, 2020) documents the BJP s extraordinary rise in the state and attempts to look at these developments in the historical context of Bengal from the rise of Hindu nationalism and Muslim separatism in the nineteenth century, the Partition and its fallout, the impact of developments in Bangladesh, the influence of leftist ideals on the psyche of the Bengali people, to the demographic changes in the state over the past few decades. About the Author:  Snigdhendu Bhattacharya is a Kolkata-based journalist who has reported for different national media houses including the Hindustan Times, The Wire and Outlook. He has been writing on politics, security, history, socio-economic and cultural affairs since 2005. His book Lalgarh and the Legend of Kishanji: Tales from India's Maoist Movement was published in 2016. About the Host:  Stuti Roy has recently graduated with an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies from the University of Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

From being a fringe political party in 2013 to sweeping nearly half of the state s forty-two Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the BJP has gained ground in West Bengal, aided partly by the RSS s exponential growth during Mamata Banerjee's chief ministerial tenure (2011 onwards). With a consistent and concerted criticism of the TMC, the saffron camp managed to create a strong wave of anti-incumbency. So much so that the BJP s prospects of forming the next government in Bengal in 2021 seemed to have brightened considerably, while the Left, which had ruled Bengal for over three decades, appears to have been reduced to a fringe political entity. However, the controversy over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, combined with Banerjee s course-correction drive, designed by strategist Prashant Kishor, indicate that she might yet script a turnaround, with Bengal turning into the laboratory of a unique political experiment.  Mission Bengal: A Saffron Experiment (HarperCollins India, 2020) documents the BJP s extraordinary rise in the state and attempts to look at these developments in the historical context of Bengal from the rise of Hindu nationalism and Muslim separatism in the nineteenth century, the Partition and its fallout, the impact of developments in Bangladesh, the influence of leftist ideals on the psyche of the Bengali people, to the demographic changes in the state over the past few decades. About the Author:  Snigdhendu Bhattacharya is a Kolkata-based journalist who has reported for different national media houses including the Hindustan Times, The Wire and Outlook. He has been writing on politics, security, history, socio-economic and cultural affairs since 2005. His book Lalgarh and the Legend of Kishanji: Tales from India's Maoist Movement was published in 2016. About the Host:  Stuti Roy has recently graduated with an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies from the University of Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/history

From being a fringe political party in 2013 to sweeping nearly half of the state s forty-two Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the BJP has gained ground in West Bengal, aided partly by the RSS s exponential growth during Mamata Banerjee's chief ministerial tenure (2011 onwards). With a consistent and concerted criticism of the TMC, the saffron camp managed to create a strong wave of anti-incumbency. So much so that the BJP s prospects of forming the next government in Bengal in 2021 seemed to have brightened considerably, while the Left, which had ruled Bengal for over three decades, appears to have been reduced to a fringe political entity. However, the controversy over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, combined with Banerjee s course-correction drive, designed by strategist Prashant Kishor, indicate that she might yet script a turnaround, with Bengal turning into the laboratory of a unique political experiment.  Mission Bengal: A Saffron Experiment (HarperCollins India, 2020) documents the BJP s extraordinary rise in the state and attempts to look at these developments in the historical context of Bengal from the rise of Hindu nationalism and Muslim separatism in the nineteenth century, the Partition and its fallout, the impact of developments in Bangladesh, the influence of leftist ideals on the psyche of the Bengali people, to the demographic changes in the state over the past few decades. About the Author:  Snigdhendu Bhattacharya is a Kolkata-based journalist who has reported for different national media houses including the Hindustan Times, The Wire and Outlook. He has been writing on politics, security, history, socio-economic and cultural affairs since 2005. His book Lalgarh and the Legend of Kishanji: Tales from India's Maoist Movement was published in 2016. About the Host:  Stuti Roy has recently graduated with an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies from the University of Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/political-science

From being a fringe political party in 2013 to sweeping nearly half of the state s forty-two Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the BJP has gained ground in West Bengal, aided partly by the RSS s exponential growth during Mamata Banerjee's chief ministerial tenure (2011 onwards). With a consistent and concerted criticism of the TMC, the saffron camp managed to create a strong wave of anti-incumbency. So much so that the BJP s prospects of forming the next government in Bengal in 2021 seemed to have brightened considerably, while the Left, which had ruled Bengal for over three decades, appears to have been reduced to a fringe political entity. However, the controversy over the Citizenship Amendment Act and the National Register of Citizens, combined with Banerjee s course-correction drive, designed by strategist Prashant Kishor, indicate that she might yet script a turnaround, with Bengal turning into the laboratory of a unique political experiment.  Mission Bengal: A Saffron Experiment (HarperCollins India, 2020) documents the BJP s extraordinary rise in the state and attempts to look at these developments in the historical context of Bengal from the rise of Hindu nationalism and Muslim separatism in the nineteenth century, the Partition and its fallout, the impact of developments in Bangladesh, the influence of leftist ideals on the psyche of the Bengali people, to the demographic changes in the state over the past few decades. About the Author:  Snigdhendu Bhattacharya is a Kolkata-based journalist who has reported for different national media houses including the Hindustan Times, The Wire and Outlook. He has been writing on politics, security, history, socio-economic and cultural affairs since 2005. His book Lalgarh and the Legend of Kishanji: Tales from India's Maoist Movement was published in 2016. About the Host:  Stuti Roy has recently graduated with an MPhil in Modern South Asian Studies from the University of Oxford. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

In this episode, Therese Markow and Dr. Alex Hinton explore the potential for genocide in the U.S., highlighting historical and contemporary atrocities. Dr. Hinton emphasizes that genocide can target groups based on social constructs such as race, gender, and sexuality, among others. They discuss the rise of white supremacism and hate speech, and Dr. Hinton identifies risk factors such as political upheaval, economic instability, and armed militias. Dr.Hinton also stresses the importance of critical thinking and depolarization to prevent genocide, and suggests an easy way for everyone to do so without committing 40 hours per week to stay abreast of all of the issues and topics.     Key Takeaways: Genocide and mass violence are not typically planned from the beginning. They often evolve from other behaviors stemming from upheaval and past atrocities, scapegoating, grievance, and legitimation of formed hierarchies.  Hate speech is everywhere—left, right, and center. Wherever someone is on the political spectrum, they can agree it's bad. The problem is that people sometimes disagree about what constitutes it.  People are busy. Trying to keep informed can be a full-time job. One little thing everyone can do pretty easily to begin to do this in general, as we enter the political cycle, just pick a left-leaning, more centrist, and right-leaning news media source then on the top of the hour, turn on the TV, and flip between them and see the headlines.   "Ideology is central to all genocides, in some sense. Ideologies provide legitimation to disempower groups, and to legitimate different forms of hierarchy within a society and in the extreme. That then lays the basis for saying that groups are inferior." —  Dr. Alex Hinton   Episode References:  We Charge Genocide - The 1951 Black Lives Matter Campaign: https://depts.washington.edu/moves/CRC_genocide.shtml  2019 Citizenship Amendment Act: https://www.uscirf.gov/resources/factsheet-citizenship-amendment-act-india    Connect with Dr. Alex Hinton: Professional Bio: https://sasn.rutgers.edu/alex-hinton Twitter: https://x.com/AlexLHinton   Center for the Study of Genocide & Human Rights: https://x.com/Rutgers_CGHR    Check out Dr. Hinton's writings mentioned in this episode:  It Can Happen Here: White Power and the Rising Threat of Genocide in the US: https://www.amazon.com/Can-Happen-Here-Rising-Genocide-ebook/dp/B08L9JHRN6      Connect with Therese: Website: www.criticallyspeaking.net Threads: @critically_speaking Email: theresemarkow@criticallyspeaking.net   Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it. 

The Dr B S Harishankar Memorial Lecture, Bharatiya Vichara Kendram, Trivandrum, 27th August 2024.A Malayalam version of this has been published by Janmabhumi newspaper at https://janmabhumi.in/2024/09/01/3258051/varadyam/geo-political-implications-for-bangladesh/It was startling to hear from retired Ambassador G Sankar Iyer on Asianet's program with Ambassador TP Sreenivasan that the celebrated Malayalam author Vaikom Mohammed Basheer (once nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature) said in 1973: “In Bangladesh, we have created yet another enemy.” With his novelist's insight, Basheer understood that the Two-Nation Theory held sway among certain sections of Bengalis.In the current crisis situation in 2024, the ongoing pogrom against Hindus (amounting to a virtual genocide) and the forced resignation of teachers, police officers and other officials based only on the fact that they are Hindus (there are videos that show them being beaten and humiliated even after resigning) suggests that anti-Hindu feeling is running rampant in Bangladesh. It is another kristallnacht.This is coupled with anti-India feeling. For instance, the current floods in Bangladesh are being blamed on India opening a dam in Tripura after torrential rains, although the Indian government has said that it provided all the hydrological data that it always has. The fact of the matter is that the departure of Sheikh Hasina is a blow to India's geo-political ambitions. It now appears as though India erred in “putting all its eggs into one basket” by cultivating only her Awami League, and not the Bangladesh National Party of her arch-rival Khaleda Zia. The indubitable fact that Indian influence in Bangladesh has now been supplanted by forces inimical to India raises the question of who might be behind the regime change operation. Beyond that, there is the question of whether it was indeed a popular uprising based on the suppressed ambitions of the people that led to the ouster of Sheikh Hasina.The third question is what this means for Bangladesh, India and the region going forward, especially as climate change may alter the very geography of the area. It is predicted that as much as 11% of the land area of Bangladesh could be underwater by 2050. This could displace 18 million people, which would lead to unprecedented migration of their population into India. Regime Change operation: Who benefits from it?Cui bono? Who benefits? That Latin phrase is used to consider who might be motivated to commit a crime (the other part is who has the means to commit it). In this case of regime change in Bangladesh, there are several entities who might benefit. Obviously Pakistan. That country has never lived down its balkanization in 1971, and it had a number of its sympathizers already in place at that time. There were many who collaborated with the Pakistani Army in identifying Hindus and facilitating their killing or rape or ethnic cleansing, and also Muslims who were their political opponents. These are the people Sheikh Hasina referred to as “razakars”, and they are essentially in control now. China is a clear winner whenever something happens that hurts India's interests. There is the perennial issue of the Chicken's Neck, that narrow strip of land that connects the Seven Sister states of India's Northeast to the Gangetic Plain. It is a permanent threat to India that somebody (most probably China) will cut this off and truncate India, with the Northeast then becoming part of a Greater Bangladesh, with associated genocide of Hindus and Buddhists. Former Ambassador Veena Sikri spoke to Ambassador TP Sreenivasan about something very odd indeed: Sheikh Hasina made a state visit to China in mid July, and she was thoroughly humiliated there. Xi Jingping refused to meet her; and she cut her visit short by one day and returned to Dhaka. This is an unheard-of protocol violation for a State Visit; what it suggests is that China had decided that Sheikh Hasina was on the way out. This is in sharp contrast to a Xi visit in 2016 when he made grand promises about Belt and Road Initiative investments. The United States also has interests. Sheikh Hasina had alleged two things: * An unnamed Western power wants St Martin's Island (aka Coconut Island) off Cox's Bazaar as a military base to keep an eye on both China and India, * An unnamed Western power intends to form a new Christian Zo nation (for Mizo, Kuki, Chin) just like Christian homelands were carved out in East Timor and South Sudan.The implication was that the unspecified Western power was the US. It is not entirely clear that the US benefits greatly from a military base in the Bay of Bengal but there has been a long-running Great Game initiated by the British to keep India down as a supplier of raw materials and a market for their products. The US may have inherited this mantle.Intriguingly, the US Deep State and its proxies in the Western media had built a narrative around Sheikh Hasina as a model leader for developing Asia, a woman who also succeeded in improving the economic status of her country. That Bangladesh's per capita GDP had overtaken India's, and that its garment industry was doing well were used to mock India's own economic achievements. The switch to Hasina being a ‘dictator' was a sudden change in narrative.There is, therefore, enough circumstantial evidence to suggest that there was a foreign hand in the happenings in Bangladesh, although we will have to wait for conclusive evidence. Was this indeed a regime-change coup or a true popular uprising?It is true that Bangladesh under Sheikh Hasina's fifteen-year rule was not a perfect democracy. But there are mitigating factors, including a violent streak that led to the assassination of her father and independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman just four years after the bloody birth of the new State after the Pakistan Army's assault on its Bengali citizens. The toppling and desecration of his statue shows that his national hero status may not be accepted by the entire population: in fact it looks like friends of Pakistan wish to erase his entire legacy. The history of democracy in independent Bangladesh is checkered and marred by violence. Before he was deposed and killed in 1975, Mujibur Rehman himself had banned all opposition parties. After Mujib, there was outright military rule till 1986, when the erstwhile Chief Martial Law Administrator Hussain Mohammed Ershad became the elected President. When Ershad was deposed after (student-led) agitations in 1991, Khaleda Zia (BNP or Bangladesh National Party) became the PM and after that she and her arch-rival Sheikh Hasina (Awami League) alternated in power. The BNP boycotted the 2018 elections partly because Khaleda Zia was jailed on allegations of corruption. In all of these twists and turns, ‘students' were involved. In 1971, when Yahya Khan launched Operation Searchlight, the Pakistani army went straight for students and professors in Dhaka University, especially if they were Hindus. Later too, ‘student' protests were instrumental in the overthrow of Ershad. The proximate cause of the troubles in 2024 was also a ‘student' uprising. There had been a 30% quota in government jobs for the children of freedom fighters; along with other such set-asides e.g. for minorities and women, a total of 56% of government jobs were ‘reserved' by 2018. This reservation system was largely abolished by Sheikh Hasina's government in 2018 after yet another student agitation. In June 2024, a High Court in Bangladesh overturned the 2018 judgment as unconstitutional. Even though the Supreme Court reversed it, and restored the status quo ante (of drastically reduced reservations to 7% in total), the peaceful ‘student' agitation suddenly morphed into a violent confrontation led by members of the Jamaat e Islami (an Islamist party) and the BNP. There was police firing. The Daily Star, a respected daily, found out that 204 people were killed in the first few days, out of which only 53 were students. It appears the supposed ‘student revolution' was taken over by professional agitators and agents provocateurs, and it rapidly led to the overthrow of Sheikh Hasina, with escalating violence, especially against Hindus, and the Army getting involved. Even though the Army is in charge now, there is a smokescreen of an ‘interim government' that allows entities like the UN an excuse to not impose sanctions on Bangladesh. It is hard to take it on face value that this was a popular uprising; circumstantial evidence suggests that there was a clear agenda for regime change, and since it suits both China and the US to keep India constrained, either of them could have been behind it. The diplomatic snub to Hasina in July suggests the Chinese were well aware of the coming coup. On the other hand, the sudden U-turn in the narrative about Hasina in the Western media suggests that the US might have decided to dump her. The process by which the regime change happened is also similar to what happened in other countries that experienced ‘color revolutions'. The actions of the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), and of some diplomats in supporting the BNP, have been offered as possible evidence of US bad faith.What is obvious is the role of the fundamentalist group, the Jamaat e Islami, which has strong connections with Pakistan. It seems likely that they were the enforcers, and had invested assets within the armed forces. They have called for the secular Bangladesh constitution to be replaced by Islamic Sharia law, and for non-Muslims to be treated as second-class citizens. The Yunus government has just unbanned the Jamaat e Islami.The attacks on Hindus, including large numbers of lynchings, rapes, and abductions of women, suggests that there is a religious angle and the Jamaat e Islami's prejudices are coming to the fore. Notably, the entire Western media, Amnesty International, the United Nations, and the USCIRF, human rights specialists all, had nothing at all to say about the horrific oppression of Hindus. The New York Times even had a headline about “revenge killings” of Hindus, as though somehow the 8% minority Hindus had been responsible for whatever Sheikh Hasina was accused of. Upon being called out, the NYT changed the headline to just  “killings” of Hindus with no explanation or apology.The role of Professor Mohammed Yunus is also intriguing: he had been invited to head an interim government in 2007 but abandoned the attempt and in fact left politics. He had been close to Sheikh Hasina at one point, for instance he got the licenses for his Grameen Phone during her rule, but they later fell out. Yunus' Nobel Peace Prize and his earlier stint in the US have raised questions about whether he is in fact managed by US interests.Given all this, it is much more likely that it was a coup than a popular agitation. It remains to be seen who was behind the coup. What next for India and the region?There are several long-term challenges for India. None of this is positive for India, which is already facing problems on its periphery (eg. Maldives and Nepal). The coup in Bangladesh also makes the BIMSTEC alliance as unviable as SAARC.1. Deteriorating India-Bangladesh RelationsThe overthrow of Sheikh Hasina, seen as a close ally of India, has led to a rise in anti-Indian sentiment in Bangladesh. The new government may not be as friendly towards India, especially on sensitive issues like trade and security. This could jeopardize the gains in bilateral ties over the past decade. The presence of hardliners among the ‘advisers' to the interim government suggests that India will have little leverage going forward.2. Increased Border Security RisksIndia shares a long, porous border with Bangladesh. The political instability and potential increase in extremist groups could lead to more infiltration, smuggling, and illegal migration into India's northeastern states, posing internal security risks. Monitoring the border region will be critical. As it is, there are millions of illegal Bangladeshis and Rohingya residing in India, which actually poses a threat to internal Indian security.3. Economic FalloutBangladesh is India's largest trading partner in the region, with $13 billion in commerce under the Hasina government. A deterioration in relations could hurt Indian exports and investments. The economic interdependence means India also has a stake in Bangladesh's stability and prosperity. Brahma Chellaney pointed out that Bangladesh is in dire straits, and has requested $3 billion from the IMF, $1.5 billion from the World Bank, and $1 billion each from the Asian Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency to tide over problems. 4. Climate Change ChallengesBoth countries are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels, floods, droughts and extreme weather events. Bangladesh is especially at risk due to its low-lying geography. Millions of climate refugees could seek shelter in India, straining resources and social cohesion.  5. Geopolitical ImplicationsThe regime change has opened up space for China to expand its influence in Bangladesh. India will need to balance its ties with the new government while countering Chinese inroads in the region. The U.S. is also closely watching developments in Bangladesh. Instability in the region plays into the hands of Pakistan, whose medium-term ambition would be to detach India's Northeast as revenge for the creation of Bangladesh and for increasing normalization in J&K.6. Quota ImplicationsIndians, especially those agitating for ‘proportional representation' should note that the Bangladesh quota system was abolished in its entirety by Sheikh Hasina's administration in 2018 in response to student demands. India has a constitutional limit of 50% for reservations, but some are agitating for even more, which is a sure recipe for resentment and possibly violence. It is not inconceivable that it could be the spur for regime change in India as well.7. Human rights for Hindus and Buddhists; Citizenship Amendment Act and the Right to ReturnThe Hindu population in Bangladesh has fallen dramatically from about 28% in 1971 to about 8% now, and there is every indication that this is a demographic under extreme duress. Buddhist Chakmas in the Chittagong Hill Tracts are also under stress. India should enhance the CAA or create a formal Right to Return for Hindu and Buddhist Bangladeshis. Writing in Open magazine, Rahul Shivshankar pointed out that Hindus had faced attacks and threats in 278 locations across 48 districts.In summary, the fall of the Hasina government and the long-term threat of climate change compel India to rethink its Bangladesh policy. Fostering stable, democratic and economically prosperous neighbors is in India's own interest. Rebuilding trust and deepening cooperation on shared challenges will be key to navigating the new realities in the region.2350 words, Aug 26, 2024 Get full access to Shadow Warrior at rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

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Sadhguru was at the India Today Conclave 2024 where he answered questions about the Citizenship Amendment Act, "One Nation, One Election" and what "Ram Rajya" really means. Conscious Planet: https://www.consciousplanet.org Sadhguru App (Download): https://onelink.to/sadhguru__app Official Sadhguru Website: https://isha.sadhguru.org Sadhguru Exclusive: https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/sadhguru-exclusive Inner Engineering Link: isha.co/ieo-podcast Yogi, mystic and visionary, Sadhguru is a spiritual master with a difference. An arresting blend of profundity and pragmatism, his life and work serves as a reminder that yoga is a contemporary science, vitally relevant to our times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sadhguru was at the India Today Conclave 2024 where he answered questions about the Citizenship Amendment Act, "One Nation, One Election" and what "Ram Rajya" really means. Conscious Planet: https://www.consciousplanet.org Sadhguru App (Download): https://onelink.to/sadhguru__app Official Sadhguru Website: https://isha.sadhguru.org Sadhguru Exclusive: https://isha.sadhguru.org/in/en/sadhguru-exclusive Inner Engineering Link: isha.co/ieo-podcast Yogi, mystic and visionary, Sadhguru is a spiritual master with a difference. An arresting blend of profundity and pragmatism, his life and work serves as a reminder that yoga is a contemporary science, vitally relevant to our times. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today's HeadlinesChristians face more challenges as elections approach in IndiaWhy baptism isn't an easy choice in BangladeshLebanese and Syrian children hear the Easter story through special outreach

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A few weeks ago, the Indian government formally notified the rules implementing the controversial 2019 Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA. The law provides persecuted religious minorities hailing from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan an expedited pathway to Indian citizenship, provided they belong to the Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jain, Parsi, or Sikh communities. Notably, the law does not provide such a pathway to those who belong to the Muslim faith.The notification of the CAA rules—on the eve of India's 2024 general election—has kicked off a fresh debate over the law, its implementing provisions, and the resulting implications for the future of secularism in India.To discuss all of this and more, Milan is joined on the show this week by legal scholar M. Mohsin Alam Bhat. Mohsin is a Lecturer in Law at Queen Mary University of London, where he specializes in constitutional law and human rights. Mohsin has written extensively about law and citizenship in India.Milan and Mohsin discuss the origins of the CAA, its constitutionality, and the fine print of the CAA rules. Plus, the two discuss the situation in Assam, that state's National Register of Citizens (NRC), and the prospects of an all-India NRC exercise.Episode notes:1. “What's Happening to India's Rohingya Refugees? (with Priyali Sur and Daniel Sullivan),” Grand Tamasha, May 24, 2023.2. Mohsin Alam Bhat and Aashish Yadav, “CAA will not help persecuted Hindus, Sikhs from neighbouring countries,” Indian Express, March 19, 2024.3. “The Citizenship (Amendment) Bill, 2019,” PRS Legislative Research.4. Madhav Khosla and Milan Vaishnav, “The Three Faces of the Indian State,” Journal of Democracy 32, no. 1 (2021): 111-125.5. Mohsin Alam Bhat, “The Constitutional Case Against the Citizenship Amendment Bill,” Economic and Political Weekly 54, no.3 (2019): 12-14.6. Mohsin Alam Bhat, “‘The Irregular' and the Unmaking of Minority Citizenship: The Rules of Law in Majoritarian India,” Queen Mary Law Research Paper No. 395/2022.7. Niraja Gopal Jayal, “Faith-based Citizenship,” The India Forum, October 31, 2019. 

 The Centre recently announced the implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 for granting citizenship to undocumented non-Muslim migrants from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan who came to India before December 31, 2014. businessline's Anjana PV spoke to Dalip Singh, Deputy Editor, businessline, on the societal impact and complexities and implications of the act. The CAA 2019 grants Indian citizenship to migrants belonging to Hindu, Sikh, Jain, Christian, and Parsi communities who faced religious persecution in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan. These rules streamline the citizenship process for eligible migrants, reducing the time required for naturalisation . However, the Act has sparked debates and concerns, particularly regarding exclusion of Muslims. Critics argue that it violates constitutional principles of equality before the law. Singh also spoke about the concerns raised by states such as Tamil Nadu and Kerala, mentioning that citizenship is a union subject, making it unlikely for states to impede the Act's implementation. Listen in to the podcast now.

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This week, Newslaundry's Abhinandan Sekhri, Shardool Katyayan and JayashreeArunachalam are joined by Jagdeep Chhokar, founder and member of the Association for Democratic Reforms.On electoral bonds, Jagdeep says the exercise of matching the bonds data can never be conclusive, but “we should remember that the window between a bond being purchased and it being redeemed is 15 days”.The panel then discusses the BJP's second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. Abhinandan asks if the party is trying to change its image by dropping names of sitting MPs with a history of hate speech. Jayashree says it is fielding new faces only to strengthen the central leadership's grip on state units.On the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, Shardool says the law is “practically useless”. He explains that the naturalisation process requires 11 years of residency in the country, whereas the deadline for granting citizenship under the CAA is December 2014, and the law is being notified almost after a decade.Tune in!We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. Download the Newslaundry app.General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans. Click here to support us.Timecodes00:02:31 - Headlines00:19:19 - Electoral bonds00:38:15 - BJP's second list of candidates 00:48:33 - Notifying of CAA rules01:02:49 - Letters01:34:48 - RecommendationsHafta letters, recommendations, songs and referencesCheck out our previous Haftai recommendations.Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta, edited by Satish Kumar and Samarendra Dash. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, host Basant Kumar is joined by Newslaundry's Pratyush Deep.Pratyush reported on the Assam police increasing security and barricading in anticipation of protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act, which the government this week said it would soon implement. He says there's a huge difference in intensity of protests between 2019 and 2024. But Basant points out the government laid the groundwork to make sure no protest could take place.Basant talks about his report on Uttar Pradesh appointing a chief information commissioner and 10 information commissioners last week. At least four have links to the BJP or are favourable to Chief Minister Adityanath, he says. He also explains his interview with Indrajeet Ghorpade, a 32-year-old techie and activist from Pune who has filed over 50 complaints against hate speech on news channels. Watch. Timecodes00:00:00 - Introduction00:05:53 - Cops try to quell Assam's CAA disquiet 00:24:10 - Appointments of information commissioners in UP 00:33:42 - Interview with Indrajeet Ghorpade 00:34:48 - RecommendationsRecommendationsPratyushIn 15 more donors of BJP, 4 shell firms, 11 companies that faced central action by Prateek GoyalBasantPoacher on Amazon PrimeProduced by Prashant Kumar, edited by Parikshit Sanyal, and recorded by Anil Kumar. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

On March 11, 2024 a few months before the Lok Sabha Elections the central government notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules. This has come approximately four years after the Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019. As per the amendment, the government can grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Jains, or Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before December 31,2014.. conspicuously leaving out Muslims. It was passed amid nation-wide protests as linking citizenship to religion goes against the secular nature of the constitution.  The bigger fear is about a nationwide National Register of Citizens or NRC. Assam is the only place with NRC.  At the time of passing the Act, the Home Minister, Amit Shah told Parliament that a nationwide NRC is on the cards. However, in a blogpost, press information bureau at the time clarified repeatedly that no announcement has been made to begin NRC exercise.  Now with the rules being released, nationwide implementation of the Act will begin. In 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Office issued a statement condemning the “fundamentally discriminatory” Citizenship Amendment Act. At the time in 2019, Suno India's Padmapriya had spoken to Pia Oberoi, senior advisor on migration, UN Human Rights Office to understand their concerns around the Citizenship Amendment Act. We are republishing it as it continues to be relevant today.See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

US State Dept Friday said it would 'closely monitor' implementation of Citizenship (Amendment) Act. MEA says India's well wishers should 'welcome' intent with which step has been taken.  

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Niharika NandaIt's the 15th of March and here are the top stories of the week.On Monday, the Ministry of Home Affairs notified the rules for the implementation of the controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, and a day later the Centre announced a new portal for people who want to apply for citizenship through the act. According to its rules, a Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi, or Christian from Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Afghanistan, who entered India before December 31, 2014, can now seek Indian citizenship without producing a valid passport from these countries or a valid visa from India.After PM Modi praised Manohar Lal Khattar at the inauguration of the prestigious Dwarka Expressway project on Tuesday, he was removed as the Chief Minister of Haryana by the BJP and replaced by the party's Kurukshetra MP and its state unit chief, Nayab Singh Saini. Following this development, Manohar Lal Khattar resigned from the Karnal assembly seat in the House on Wednesday, vacating it for the new CM Nayab Saini.President Droupadi Murmu approved Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code Bill, as announced by the government in the Himalayan state on Wednesday. The Bill, which seeks to govern and regulate the laws related to marriage and divorce, successions, live-in relationships, was passed by the Assembly in February following a two-day discussion. The state government has formed a Rules Making and Implementation Committee headed by retired IAS officer and UCC draft committee member Shatrughan Singh, which will define in detail how the sections will be implemented.On Thursday, the panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind on simultaneous elections recommended that the government implement a "one-time transitory measure." This measure would require the Union government to identify an "appointed date" immediately after a Lok Sabha election. Subsequently, all state assemblies that go to poll after this date would have their terms expire with Parliament. Among the 47 political parties that expressed their opinions on simultaneous elections, 32 supported the idea, while 15 opposed it. The high-level committee led by PM Modi on Thursday selected retired IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as the new Election Commissioners. However, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Opposition member in the panel, registered dissent, questioning the process. He stated that the shortlisted officer names were not provided to him in advance, despite his request for a short list containing details of all candidates under consideration.This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express

In the third episode of Satya Samvad, Dr. Mrittunjoy Guha Majumdar talks to Shri Shishir Bajoriaji, prominent industrialist and political leader (BJP) in West Bengal, on the civilizational battle underway in West Bengal today. Bengal has been a civilizational pillar of Bharat since times immemorial. In the Mahabharata, references to Anga and Vanga abound. Hindu Bengali dynasties such as the Palas and Senas attained heights of glory with Dharmapala even holding an imperial court at Kannauj. After the devastating raids by Muhammad Ghori's general Bakhtiyar Khilji, which also led to the destruction of Nalanda, the Bengal Sultanate in Lakhnauti was established in 1202 AD, even as Hindu kings kept up a fierce resistance for years ahead from other parts of Bengal. Hindus in Bengal kept advancing their cultural and spiritual heritage. Raghunatha Shiromani, a leading Indian philosopher and logician, who hailed from Nabadwip in West Bengal, elevated Navya Nyāya philosophy to unparalleled heights under Vāsudeva Sārvabhauma's guidance. The Nath tradition in Bengal evolved with the influences Yoga, Tantra and Saiva-Agama traditions, the last of which had reached its pinnacle in the Pala age. Today, West Bengal is reeling from uber-partisanship, socio-cultural deracination, archaic endowments of the British Raj, syndicate politicking and appeasement politics. Be it Sandeshkhali, the cash-for-jobs scam or brazen Hinduphobia, the current government of West Bengal has reached alarming levels of moral, political and financial corruption. Shri Shishir Bajoria is a prominent Indian politician and industrialist. He heads the S. K. Bajoria Group, overseeing diverse ventures with an annual turnover of US$330 million, including specialized refractories and insurance services. Bajoria holds influential positions in organizations like the Europe India Business Council and chairs the board of governors at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2014, Bajoriaji is actively involved in West Bengal politics, serving on key committees and supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. In the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, he served as the Convenor of the election management committee, highlighting his trusted role within the party. Through his contributions, Bajoriaji has shaped both industry and political discourse in India, particularly in West Bengal. Snakes in the Ganga - http://www.snakesintheganga.com Varna Jati Caste - http://www.varnajaticaste.com The Battle For IIT's - http://www.battleforiits.com Power of future Machines - http://www.poweroffuturemachines.com 10 heads of Ravana - http://www.tenheadsofravana.com To support Infinity Foundation's projects including the continuation of such episodes and the research we do: इनफिनिटी फ़ौंडेशन की परियोजनाओं को अनुदान देने के लिए व इस प्रकार के एपिसोड और हमारे द्वारा किये जाने वाले शोध को जारी रखने के लिए: http://infinityfoundation.com/donate-2/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rajivmalhotrapodcast/support

In the third episode of Satya Samvad, Dr. Mrittunjoy Guha Majumdar talks to Shri Shishir Bajoriaji, prominent industrialist and political leader (BJP) in West Bengal, on the civilizational battle underway in West Bengal today. Bengal has been a civilizational pillar of Bharat since times immemorial. In the Mahabharata, references to Anga and Vanga abound. Hindu Bengali dynasties such as the Palas and Senas attained heights of glory with Dharmapala even holding an imperial court at Kannauj. After the devastating raids by Muhammad Ghori's general Bakhtiyar Khilji, which also led to the destruction of Nalanda, the Bengal Sultanate in Lakhnauti was established in 1202 AD, even as Hindu kings kept up a fierce resistance for years ahead from other parts of Bengal. Hindus in Bengal kept advancing their cultural and spiritual heritage. Raghunatha Shiromani, a leading Indian philosopher and logician, who hailed from Nabadwip in West Bengal, elevated Navya Nyāya philosophy to unparalleled heights under Vāsudeva Sārvabhauma's guidance. The Nath tradition in Bengal evolved with the influences Yoga, Tantra and Saiva-Agama traditions, the last of which had reached its pinnacle in the Pala age. Today, West Bengal is reeling from uber-partisanship, socio-cultural deracination, archaic endowments of the British Raj, syndicate politicking and appeasement politics. Be it Sandeshkhali, the cash-for-jobs scam or brazen Hinduphobia, the current government of West Bengal has reached alarming levels of moral, political and financial corruption. Shri Shishir Bajoria is a prominent Indian politician and industrialist. He heads the S. K. Bajoria Group, overseeing diverse ventures with an annual turnover of US$330 million, including specialized refractories and insurance services. Bajoria holds influential positions in organizations like the Europe India Business Council and chairs the board of governors at the Indian Institute of Management Shillong. A member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) since 2014, Bajoriaji is actively involved in West Bengal politics, serving on key committees and supporting the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019. In the 2021 West Bengal Legislative Assembly election, he served as the Convenor of the election management committee, highlighting his trusted role within the party. Through his contributions, Bajoriaji has shaped both industry and political discourse in India, particularly in West Bengal. Snakes in the Ganga - http://www.snakesintheganga.com Varna Jati Caste - http://www.varnajaticaste.com The Battle For IIT's - http://www.battleforiits.com Power of future Machines - http://www.poweroffuturemachines.com 10 heads of Ravana - http://www.tenheadsofravana.com To support Infinity Foundation's projects including the continuation of such episodes and the research we do: इनफिनिटी फ़ौंडेशन की परियोजनाओं को अनुदान देने के लिए व इस प्रकार के एपिसोड और हमारे द्वारा किये जाने वाले शोध को जारी रखने के लिए: http://infinityfoundation.com/donate-2/ --- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/rajivmalhotrapodcast/support

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Niharika NandaIt's the 14th of March and here are the top stories of the day.The panel led by former President Ram Nath Kovind on simultaneous elections has recommended that the government implement a "one-time transitory measure." This measure would require the Union government to identify an "appointed date" immediately after a Lok Sabha election. Subsequently, all state assemblies that go to poll after this date would have their terms expire with Parliament. Among the 47 political parties that expressed their opinions on simultaneous elections, 32 supported the idea, while 15 opposed it. The high-level committee led by PM Modi today selected retired IAS officers Gyanesh Kumar and Sukhbir Singh Sandhu as the new Election Commissioners. However, senior Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, the Opposition member in the panel, registered dissent, questioning the process. He stated that the shortlisted officer names were not provided to him in advance, despite his request for a short list containing details of all candidates under consideration.Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today said that the Citizenship (Amendment) Act rules, which were notified earlier this week, will take away jobs and resources from the poor citizens of India. Urging Home Minister Amit Shah to pay heed to his objections, Kejriwal said that the law was dangerous for the country's security. He also added that the country should bring back those 11 lakh industrialists and businessmen who left India because of BJP's adverse policies, enabling them to generate employment opportunities for Indian youth.The Supreme Court today sought an undertaking from the Ajit Pawar faction of NCP, saying that it will not use pictures of Sharad Pawar in its posters, and asked it to explore the option of selecting its own symbol. Justice Surya Kant said to the Ajit Pawar faction, quote “You are a different political party now so why to use his picture etc. Go with your own identity now… you have chosen not to be with him,” Unquote.The Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) has expressed confidence that the water crisis in Bengaluru may not pose an immediate threat to hosting the Indian Premier League matches at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. KSCA CEO Shubendu Ghosh told the media, quote “We are not having any crisis at the moment. We are following state government guidelines on water usage. We will hold meetings with the stakeholders to plan how to proceed,” he said. Unquote.This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

First, we talk to Indian Express' Vikas Pathak about the Citizenship Amendment Act, what it means for the BJP and how concerned it is about a potential backlash, so close to the Lok Sabha polls.Second, Indian Express' Varinder Bhatia joins us to talk about the recent political developments in Haryana, the reasons behind it and its possible consequences with the Haryana assembly elections scheduled later this year. (13:59) Lastly, we talk about the Election Commission's plan to reveal the details of the electoral bonds redeemed by all political parties. (28:05)Hosted by Niharika NandaWritten and Produced by Shashank Bhargava and Niharika NandaEdited and Mixed by Suresh Pawar

In today's news episode, Claire will discuss the growing unrest in India over the recent enactment of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by President Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party just weeks before elections. With the CAA and the possibility of enacting the National Register of Citizens (NRC), many claim that Muslim immigrants living in India will now be turned into refugees, with more barriers for reentry into the country. Sources: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/12/why-is-indias-citizenship-amendment-act-so-controversial https://theintercept.com/2020/01/30/india-citizenship-act-caa-nrc-assam/ https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/modi-government-announces-citizenship-amendment-act-rules-4-years-after-bill-was-passed/article67939010.ece Script: Hello everyone, I'm Claire Mattes and you're listening to Seeking Refuge News. Protests have erupted in India after the Indian Government announced on Monday that the Citizenship Amendment Act, or CAA, which was passed in 2019 but not not enforced, will now be brought into effect. The CAA will come into force on the eve of elections, and is India's first religion-based citizenship test, discriminating against Muslims and other refugees. This act has brought about critique from many student groups throughout the country, as well as human rights groups and state government leaders. So, why is this act so controversial? According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi of the Bharatiya Janata party, the goal of the CAA is to help the persecuted. An article from the intercept states, “that he has framed the CAA as a noble effort to welcome Hindus who are oppressed in neighboring Muslim-majority countries.” However, the intricacies of the law make it clear that it will prevent many Muslim refugees from entering India. Before the law was passed, all foreign nationals must spend 11 years in India before gaining citizenship eligibility. Now, the CAA will expedite this process to only 5 years for certain groups fleeing persecution who arrived before December 31, 2014. These groups are Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, Christians, Parsis, and Sikhs seeking asylum from Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. According to Aljazeera, Muslim asylum seekers will still need to wait 11 years, and, unlike other religious groups, will be required to have valid documentation to justify their presence. This means that once they reapply for citizenship through the online portal provided by the government, they will become refugees, and in order to reenter, many will need the proper documentation, which is unlikely that they will have.  Additionally, the passage of the National Register of Citizens, which is designed to deport people without the proper papers, is leaving very few options for Muslim asylum seekers. Although the law is only in effect in the northeast state of Assam, many fear it will become a nationwide policy. With these two policies combined, the country would be able to deport all “illegal” immigrants, and only allow reentry to Hindus, Sikhs, Parsis, Buddhists, Jains, and Christians, according to Aljazeera.  Modi has denied any wrongdoing, but many critics have noted the previous anti-Muslim actions this year, such as the move to strip Kashmire of autonomy back in August of 2023, and a long history of violence and breaches of international law in the six detention centers located in Assam, where majority Muslim asylum seekers are being held, says the Intercept. The Hindu writes that West Bengal Chief Minister says the CAA would take away rights and lead people to detention camps, later stating, “Those who are being asked to apply, the moment they apply, from becoming citizens they will become illegal refugees. What will happen to your properties, your jobs and the studies of your children? Everything will be declared illegal.”  These actions have drawn criticism from all over the country, with hundreds of thousands of protestors, majority being students. However, the intercept noted that some students were protesting against the snti-Muslim policies, while other were protesting the expedited process for any group of immigrants. According to Aljazeer, Many are regarding the actions of the BJP as unconstitutional, citing article 14 of the constitution. The State shall not deny to any person equality before the law or the equal protection of the laws within the territory of India. Human Rights Watch has also declared this discriminatory against Muslims. We will be sure to keep you updated on the latest news regarding refugees worldwide. Thank you for listening, and we'll see you again on Seeking Refuge News. Liked this episode? Let us know! Subscribe and leave us a review below! If you or someone you know would like to share their personal refugee story, send us an email at seekingrefugepodcast@gmail.com or connect with us on any of these social media platforms. https://twitter.com/refugepodcast https://www.instagram.com/seekingrefugepodcast/ https://www.facebook.com/seekingrefugepodcast Our Team: Claire Mattes (Writer, Producer) Shireen Kaur Anusha Ghosh Thrisha Mote Yatin Nerella Rohit Swain Victoria Halsey Diana Clarke Saanvi Somani Emily Jenson Charlie Winston Carolina Lochner Jazmine Rathi Kat Wyandt Josh Evans Liam Ogden Maggie Austin Molly Mims

सरकार ने CAA का नोटिफिकेशन जारी कर गिया है और क्योंकि चुनावी साल है इसलिए इसपर हो-हल्ला होना तो लाज़मी है. सभी पार्टियां इस मुद्दे पर अपनी तैयारियों को धार देने में लगी हैं। लेकिन क्या आप ये जानते हैं कि CAA की जो पूरी प्रक्रिया है वो कैसे काम करेगी. वो कौन लोग हैं जिन्हें इससे फायदा होगा. और क्या किसी को भी इससे डरने की ज़रूरत है? इसके एक्ज़िक्यूट होने के बाद क्या चुनौतियां होंगी जिन्हें सरकार को डील करना पड़ेगा. ध्यान से सुनिए ये खास पॉडकास्ट और जानिये CAA का पूरा ख़ाका ज्ञान ध्यान में गर्वित श्रीवास्तव से. साउन्ड मिक्स: नितिन रावत

This is the Catch Up on 3 Things for the Indian Express and I'm Niharika NandaIt's the 12th of March and here are the top stories of the day.A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Manohar Lal Khattar at the inauguration of the prestigious Dwarka Expressway project, he was removed as the Chief Minister of Haryana by the BJP, and replaced by the party's Kurukshetra MP and its state unit chief, Nayab Singh Saini. Opting for an OBC leader in place of Khattar, who has held the CM position since 2014, particularly with the Lok Sabha and the Haryana assembly elections around the corner, seems to be a strategic move on the part of BJP. Tejas, the indigenous Light Combat Aircraft, crashed in Rajasthan today, during an operational training exercise. According to a post by the Indian Air Force on X, the pilot was able to eject safely. The incident is said to have occurred at Jawahar Nagar in Jaisalmer, with the crash site being around 100 km away from the venue where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was addressing the Bharat Shakti programme. A day after the Ministry of Home Affairs notified the rules for implementation of the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, the Centre today announced a new portal for people who want to apply for CAA and shared the link for the same. According to the rules of the act, a Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Jain, Parsi or Christian from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, who entered India before December 31, 2014, can now seek Indian citizenship without producing a valid passport of these countries or a valid visa from India. In further news on the Citizenship (Amendment) Act,West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee, while addressing an administrative meeting at Habra in the state's North 24 Parganas district urged people to not apply for citizenship under the act. She said that the act lacks clarity and if they did apply, they would be quote “marked as refugees and infiltrators” and “deprived of government schemes” unquote. She said that she will not let CAA be implemented in her state. The Ministry of External Affairs today “rejected” the comments by China objecting to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Arunachal Pradesh on the 9th of March during which he launched several projects of the Central government in the region. On Monday, China's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson, when asked about PM Modi's visit said, quote “China strongly deplores and firmly opposes the Indian leader's visit to the East Section of the China-India boundary. Quote. The MEA in its statement added that China's objections will not change the reality that the State of Arunachal Pradesh was, is, and will always be an integral and inalienable part of India.This was the Catch-Up on the 3 Things by The Indian Express.

*) Children starving in Gaza, ceasefire needed to get aid in: CIA chief CIA Director William Burns has called for an urgent ceasefire in Gaza to facilitate humanitarian aid distribution, particularly for starving children amid Israeli attacks. Speaking at a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing, Burns highlighted the challenge of effective humanitarian assistance without a ceasefire. The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has reported that one in six children under two years old faces acute malnourishment in northern Gaza. *) Civilians in Israel, Palestine ‘cannot be abandoned': UN official In a recent mission to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, the UN's top official on sexual violence in conflict Pramila Patten emphasised the imperative of not abandoning civilians. Her visit aimed to gather, analyse and verify reports on sexual violence, providing a snapshot of her findings in a report to the UN Security Council. *) Haiti PM Ariel Henry resigns after Jamaica summit seeks transition Haitian Prime Minister Ariel Henry has resigned amidst a worsening civil war in the capital, driven by intensified activities of gang groups. Henry took office following the 2021 assassination of the previous president. Urgent discussions involving Caribbean leaders and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Jamaica preceded the resignation, focusing on finding a solution to Haiti's escalating crisis. *) India moves ahead to enforce anti-Muslim citizenship law ahead of election India has announced rules to implement a 2019 citizenship law that critics call anti-Muslim, weeks before Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks a rare third term. The Citizenship Amendment Act grants Indian nationality to certain people such as Hindus, Christians and Buddhists who fled to India from Muslim-majority countries before 2015. Muslim groups say the law, combined with a proposed national register of citizens, can discriminate against India's 200 million Muslims. They fear the government might remove the citizenship of Muslims without documents in some border states. And finally… *) Xiaomi schedules late March start for EV deliveries — company China's Xiaomi will start deliveries of its first electric vehicle model SU7 this month, venturing into the world's largest auto market amid a brutal price war. The smartphone maker, China's fifth-largest, said in a post on social media it has 59 stores in 29 cities nationwide that will take orders. A launch event is scheduled for March 28 when the new EV's sticker tag is expected to be announced.

Listen to the top News from Australia and India in Hindi.

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.

केंद्र सरकार ने सिटीजनशिप अमेंडमेंट एक्ट यानी CAA का नोटिफिकेशन जारी कर दिया है। इसके साथ ही यह कानून देशभर में लागू हो गया है। CAA को हिंदी में नागरिकता संशोधन कानून कहा जाता है। आखिर क्या है ? क्या होगा इससे बदलाव ? क्यों हो रहा था इसका विरोध ? जानिए एबीपी लाइव पॉडकास्ट पर FYI में 

नागरिकता संशोधन अधिनियम बिल में क्या नया कानून आ रहा है ? हिंदुस्थान में हिंदु के सर्व जनजाती को पाकिस्तान, बांगलादेश और नेपाल से कौनसे तारीख के पहेले हिंदुस्थान में प्रवेश करने पर हिंदुस्थान की नागरिकता मिलती है यह जानिए इस यूट्यूब विडिओ द्वारा जो आपको यह बात बताते है अपने कानुनी सलाहगार लायन अरुण देशमुख #Citizenship Amendment Act Bill (CAA Bill)

An award-winning Indian filmmaker tells FRANCE 24's Perspective show that the fear of something happening to her clouds her life. Nausheen Khan's film “Land of My Dreams” documents the protests in India against the country's Citizenship Amendment Act.  The bill provides an accelerated pathway for citizenship for many illegal migrants, but crucially, it does not mention Muslims. The film follows Khan's journey as she discovers more about her identity as a Muslim woman amid the protests. She now says she is who she is today thanks to the female demonstrators she met while making the film.

Citizenship Amendment Act Bill (CAA Bill) नागरिकत्व सुधारणा कायद्याचे विधेयक नक्की काय आहे हे या यूट्यूब व्हिडिओतून जाणून घ्या जे आपणास सांगत आहेत आपले कायदेशीर सल्लागार लायन एड अरुण देशमुख

Citizenship Amendment Act Bill (CAA Bill) नागरिकत्व सुधारणा कायद्याचे विधेयक नक्की काय आहे हे या यूट्यूब व्हिडिओतून जाणून घ्या जे आपणास सांगत आहेत आपले कायदेशीर सल्लागार लायन एड अरुण देशमुख

Hello, this is your daily dose of news from Onmanorama. Tune in to get updated about the major news stories of the day.

हाल ही में कोलकाता की नेशनल लाइब्रेरी में वेस्ट बंगाल बीजेपी के सोशल मीडिया और आईटी ब्रांच  के मेंबर्स  के साथ बंद कमरे में एक बैठक हुई जिसमें यूनियन होम मिनिस्टर अमित शाह ने कहा कि नागरिकता (संशोधन) अधिनियम (सीएए) अब देश का कानून बन चुका है। इसे लागू होने से कोई भी नहीं रोक सकता है। मीडिया रिपोर्ट्स के मुताबिक़ एक सरकारी अधिकारी ने बताया कि तैयारियां पूरी हैं और CAA को लोकसभा चुनाव से काफी पहले लागू कर दिया जाएगा। Opposition ने इसपर अपना रिएक्शन दिया और इसे असंवैधानिक बता दिया। आखिर क्या है बवाल CAA को लेकर ,समझते हैं आज के FYI में एबीपी लाइव पॉडकास्ट पर

The Indian state has long witnessed separatism, often backed by militancy, in various regions across the country. We have had periods of militancy in Punjab, the North Eastern states, and Jammu Kashmir as well as Naxalite movements in Central India. In this episode of Police Chowki, Javeed Ahmad (ex-IPS and DGP of the State of Uttar Pradesh) speaks to Shrikrishna Upadhyaya regarding the unique challenges of policing in conflict zones, tactics employed by police forces, civilian counterinsurgency forces, and more. Do check out Takshashila's public policy courses: https://school.takshashila.org.in/courses We are @‌IVMPodcasts on Facebook, Twitter, & Instagram. https://twitter.com/IVMPodcasts https://www.instagram.com/ivmpodcasts/?hl=en https://www.facebook.com/ivmpodcasts/ You can check out our website at https://shows.ivmpodcasts.com/featured Follow the show across platforms: Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, JioSaavn, Gaana, Amazon Music Do share the word with your folksSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A version of this essay was published by swarajaya.com at https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/a-tale-of-two-hacks-pegasus-and-chinas-microsoft-exchange-penetrationIn the recent past, we have seen a lot of news stories. Massive riots in South Africa and Cuba. The uncertainty in Afghanistan. Floods in Germany and China. Surging Wuhan virus cases in hitherto relatively unscathed Southeast Asia. A ‘border clash’ between Assam and Mizoram. Bezos one-ups Branson in the space race. China was accused of large-scale hacking of Microsoft Exchange a few months ago.So there are plenty of real, meaty stories to report on.Yet the Indian media was full of stories about something dubious: the alleged Pegasus hacking expose. There are two problems with it. One: as a narrative, it makes no sense; in fact, the meta-narrative is far more interesting. Two: It is an outstanding example of how gaslighting works on Indians (but not on Chinese).The meta-narrative about PegasusThere is a plethora of manufactured news stories about India. Everything from the Rafale accusations, rounds 1, 2 and 3, including fake news created by an Indian newspaper by judiciously cropping content; to the exaggerations about the Citizenship Amendment Act. Along with the constant low-level insurrections and mild rioting, this suggests that someone is pursuing an agenda.The most obvious conclusion is that a time-honored tactic is in play: throw a whole lot of dirt, and hope some of it sticks. So far, almost nothing they have tried has worked, but that is not going to stop them. They will keep coming. The recent Rafale allegations were warmed-over allegations that an NGO named Sherpa and some dicey website had already made. The money trail as to who funds Sherpa and friends is quite instructive. (Hint: some white billionaires).The Pegasus allegation is also not new: it is recycled from before, as seen in these screenshots from 2019 and 2020.If you follow the trail on the ‘AdivasiLivesMatters’ post, you end up with one of their prime motivations: the whitewashing of the Bhima Koregaon Urban Naxals who have been hauled up for sedition and fomenting separatism. The breast-beating over one of them, Stanislaus Lourdusamy, Society of Jesus, happened just a week or so ago.Here is more from 2020. Aha, 121 Indians then, only 33 now. Odd, isn’t it?Incidentally, the very same Congress supporters and MPs who are on the warpath now were silent a few years ago when Manmohan Singh declared that “phone tapping is the  right of the government”. Which, to be candid, is true. All governments need to spy on their people: even the sainted Ashoka had a huge surveillance operation. Did we hear anybody shriek “treason” when Manmohan said this? Apparently not. In the US, there is widespread surveillance by the government. Under the sainted Obama in 2010, they even tapped the phone of their most important ally, Germany’s Angela Merkel: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/germany/10407282/Barack-Obama-approved-tapping-Angela-Merkels-phone-3-years-ago.htmlThe US left are good at narratives. There is the salutary example of what happened to the Trump administration in 2020. It appears there was a concerted effort by various vested interests to gaslight the US electorate, leading to the (somewhat violent) overthrow of the incumbent. I am not making this up: TIME magazine billed it as the “inside story of the conspiracy to save democracy” https://time.com/5936036/secret-2020-election-campaign/ . For a dissenting opinion, please read the startling substack below that tells the story that has been suppressed. If you know anything about computer security, it is evident that the purported story about Pegasus is not supported by the technical facts. Much has been written about it, so I shall not belabor the point. But the fact is that the narrative has changed from “50,000 phones hacked” to “50,000 phones may have been hacked” to “the 50,000 phone list is an indicative list of phones that someone might potentially want to hack” suggests that this is like “Aryan Invasion” becoming “Aryan Migration” and then “Aryan Tourist™” Theory. Or how “Kerala has slayed Corona” became “Kerala has 50% of Corona cases in India”. In Trump’s case it was “The Steele Dossier documents how Russian prostitutes peed on Trump” to “There is no evidence that the Russia narrative has any basis according to the special prosecutor”. But the narratives succeeded in misleading most everybody for a while.And who are the alleged hack-ees in India? To be honest, they don’t appear particularly interesting, nor likely to be the bearers of state secrets. It’s quite a weak list. In general, these are not people any self-respecting government would want to snoop on. There are many other People of Interest in the country that a spy agency would want to phone-tap.The meta-narrative, in fact, is far more interesting than the narrative. Just look at this headline story in The Guardian. Even though several other countries were alleged to have used Pegasus, that was sleight-of-hand and intended to obfuscate: the clear target is Modi. The ecosystem was already primed, and this dates back to 2019 as above. Here is a lurid story from a known Modi-baiter. It is not clear how he’s an ‘expert’ on hacking or security.Similarly, Arundhati Susan Roy, a woman for all causes, launched into typical hyperbole.And inevitably, the prolix Pratap Bhanu Mehta chimed in, too. Clearly, there was a toolkit, and the memos had gone out to rally the troops to all sing from the same hymn-book.The American wing of the ecosystem also swung into action. Within 24 hours, 30 groups organized a protest against India, Hindus, and Modi. Notably, this included rabid Christian fundamentalists like this person below, various Muslim groups like CAIR, and radical leftists. Obviously, there was a plan, and surely a toolkit for the Americans as well.The sum and substance of all this is that there is a concerted effort to paint India as a violator of freedom of speech, fascist, dictatorial, etc etc etc. All the usual suspects are involved. Diligent people who dug into the antecedents of various groups involved and followed the money trail arrived at the conclusion that there are a few sinister individuals and organizations behind this. The presumed goal: regime-change and preferably balkanization of India. No surprise, this.Even though this particular effort was an abject failure -- nobody in India gave a damn, and within a day it had disappeared even from the NYTimes (so it is possible to embarrass Deep State bastions!) -- this is not the end of it. The ecosystem will, like Robert Bruce, try, try and try again. Two reasons: one is to give the Nehru dynasty scion some excuse to strut about; two is to prevent Parliament from conducting business, thus negating the BJP’s majority.The reaction to Chinese hacking: softly, softlySimultaneously, there was the case of the Microsoft Exchange hack from earlier in the year, which affected some 30,000 businesses. As this magazine, a known cheerleader for the Deep State, points out, the US, its Five Eyes Anglo allies (the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand), Japan, and the EU got together, and gave China a delicate slap on the wrist. The fact that all of them “admonished” China together means that they would not be able to agree on anything to “punish” China other than the most anodyne and soothing actions. There is ample evidence of Chinese mischief. Apart from large-scale hacking (Obama negotiated what was billed as a ceasefire, but apparently it wasn’t), it has been stealthily acquiring genetic data about millions of pregnant women from all over the world: all the better to create targeted biological weapons. That’s not the end of it: China is even stealing data from its client states like Cambodia.Despite all this, there is extreme reluctance to call out China’s bad behavior. We are familiar with the year-long saga of how the origins of the Wuhan virus have been obscured by the Chinese, with the apparent active collaboration of US officials such as Anthony Fauci and intermediaries such as Peter Daszak. Yet, just this week comes the news that the WHO is, once again, well, helpless.One might ask why. Why is the all-powerful West unwilling or unable to tackle cyber-mischief from China, when the evidence is all over the place? And why are they so quick to pounce on India when there is vanishingly small evidence of wrong-doing here?There are several answers, and none of them is particularly appealing. The first is that the West, and especially the US, is so entangled with China that despite all the huffing and puffing by Biden, no decoupling is going to happen. The second is that China has frightened the US with its wolf-warrior diplomacy that we saw in Alaska and more recently just this week, where they intimidate the US side by listing all the unsavory things they do, including the dubious elections, racism, and so on; and the US really has no defense against this onslaught.The third is that India is far easier to bully because we are easily gaslighted and shamed by Anglosphere narratives, we do not retaliate, and we are infiltrated by fifth columnists. India could easily have sent a message by putting the screws on Amazon, as Jeff Bezos also owns the Washington Post, which was active in the Pegasus fairy tale. It could have, as I have been saying ad nauseam, sued or defenestrated the pompous white migrant workers from The Economist, NYTimes, FT, BBC, WaPo, NPR and all the other hostile media, as Lee Kwan Yew used to do with such notable effect. Until India applies some pain to the perpetrators of fraud and their paymasters, this sort of thing will continue. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com

We're devoting the whole of this episode to a conversation with Indian social justice campaigner Harsh Mander, a renowned activist on behalf of the poor, the marginalized and those suffering from identity-based hatred. He has worked in a host of campaigns especially on access to health services and food security, and against homelessness and child labour and he has taken a passionate stand against xenophobia and discrimination, Mander fought against the Citizenship Amendment Act, introduced by the Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi and widely perceived to be discriminatory against Muslims. But the law passed in December 2019 despite major protests and weeks later, when the pandemic took hold, the government took the opportunity to shut down political opposition. Harsh Mander talks with host Akwe Amosu and her colleague Chris Stone, principal moderator of our Symposium on Strength and Solidarity for Human Rights, about the impact of Covid 19, political repression, and new sites of activism in defence of rights. In this episode: Social justice campaigner Harsh Mander talks about the fight for rights in India For a list of supplemental readings and additional information about this episode's content, please visit https://strengthandsolidarity.org/podcasts/ Send your ideas and feedback to pod@strengthandsolidarity.org

In recent years, India's Muslims have found themselves on the receiving end of violence, ostracisation, and even legislative measures that undermine their status as equal citizens of India. The media consistently runs propaganda campaigns, often with false narratives, against Muslims and the Citizenship Amendment Act was seen as a blatant attempt to to deprive them of their citizenship. Politicians spare no opportunity to attack them directly or through dog whistles statements. How do Muslims perceive these attacks? And why hasn't there when a backlash by the community or from anyone from the side of the community, be it leadership or people.Dr. Ali Khan Mahmudabad is a man of many parts - scholar, writer and poet. He has often spoken about this subject. A PhD from Cambridge University, and now the Assistant Professor of Political Science at Ashoka University. Dr. Mahmudabad has also recently published an English translation of an Urdu novel on the events of 1857 when Indian soldiers rebelled against the British. Sidharth and Dr. Mahmudabad talk about how the Muslim community is feeling besieged.Follow Dr. Ali Khan Mahmudabad on Twitter & Instagram: https://twitter.com/Mahmudabad and https://www.instagram.com/profakmahmudabadFollow Sidharth Bhatia on Twitter and Instagram @bombaywallahbombaywallah and https://instagram.com/bombaywallahYou can listen to this show on The Wire's website, the IVM Podcasts website, app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.

Cornell Law School Professor Nelson Tebbe and Dr. Abhinav Chandrachud, author and advocate at the Bombay High Court, join us for an episode on religious freedom in India and the United States. We discuss both countries' constitutional history with religion, including how the United States Constitution informed India's. We also cover the Citizenship Amendment Act, the Muslim travel ban, and venture onto some interesting tangents!

A weekly magazine-style radio show featuring the voices and stories of Asians and Pacific Islanders from all corners of our community. The show is produced by a collective of media makers, deejays, and activists. Preeti Mangala Shekar offers an update from India with a spotlight on the 2019 Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 known as CAA. Miko Lee shares a piece of an interview with 85 year old activist Flora Ninomiya on the Day of Remembrance. See events listed below. Activist Flora Ninomiya Community Calendar Day of Remembrance Events All over US. In the Bay Area we have: On Sunday Feb 16 2-4pm Never Again is Now! Kabuki Theatre, San Francisco program, candle list procession On Feb 9 and 23 Folding Cranes for Tsuru for Solidarity, Berkeley Methodist church 1-4pm On Sunday Feb 16, at the Rosie the Riveter memorial in Richmond, there will be screenings at 11am and 2pm of Lane Nishikawa's latest film, “Our Lost Years.” Lane will be there for post show discussions. The event is free with a donation request to the Japanese American Citizens league. Reservations are highly recommended. For more information: yolsgaard@yahoo.com These events are wheelchair accessible. The post APEX Express – February 6, 2020 – CAA Spotlight appeared first on KPFA.

In this episode, journalists Rohini Mohan and Praveen Donthi talk to Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast co-hosts V.V. Ganeshananthan and Whitney Terrell about the recent widespread protests in India over the Modi government's Citizenship Amendment Act and why many see the act as a threat to India's secular nature and constitution. Donthi talks about his time reporting in Kashmir, India's only Muslim-majority state, and the abrupt change in its autonomous status, announced in August; Mohan speaks about covering Assam, a state in India's northeast where the debates over who belongs have a longer history.  To hear the full episode, subscribe to the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast through iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app (include the forward slashes when searching). You can also listen by streaming from the player below. Guests: Rohini Mohan Praveen Donthi Selected readings for the episode: Rohini Mohan Inside India's Sham Trials That Could Strip Millions of Citizenship, Vice, July 29, 2019  India's Immigration Crackdown Could Make Millions Stateless, Time, August 14, 2018 Prove your grandfather is Indian: People who lack flawless paperwork cannot just be jailed as illegal migrants, August 2, 2019  Prove your Grandfather is Indian: Ground Reportage on NRC / Bangalore International Centre video interview Seasons of Trouble: Life Amid the Ruins of Sri Lanka's Civil War (Verso) Praveen Donthi (all pieces from The Caravan) Modiʼs war: Dispatches from a seething Kashmir September 22, 2019 “One Solution, Gun Solution”: Ground report: Kashmir in shock and anger, August 16, 2019 The liberals who loved Modi May 16, 2019 Others Books Basharat Peer Curfewed Night Mirza Waheed (multiple novels) Under Siege: Mirza Waheed on Kashmir (LitHub, September 10, 2019) Karan Mahajan The Association of Small Bombs: A Novel Madhuri Vijay, The Far Field: a novel Articles Ground report: On a cold night in the new year, JNU attacked by a masked mob; Delhi Police watched, The Caravan, January 5, 2020 India's first-time protesters: Mothers and grandmothers stage weeks-long sit-in against citizenship law, By Niha Masih, The Washington Post, Jan. 13, 2020 Reading the Signs: The protest poster is where art meets agitation, poetry meets politics. In India, it was born during the freedom struggle, and grew up through post-Independence struggles against inequality. With the anti-CAA protests, it embraces a new digital life. by Benita Fernando, The Indian Express, January 5, 2020 Blood and Soil in Narendra Modi's India, by Dexter Filkins, The New Yorker, Dec. 9, 2019 ‘Hum Dekhenge': Singer and writer Ali Sethi explains how to read (and interpret) Faiz's poem, Scroll, Jan. 9, 2020 Why the National Population Register is more dangerous than the Assam NRC, by Harsh Mander & Mohsin Alam Bhat, Scroll, Jan 12, 2020 Pankaj Mishra and Mirza Waheed on the Death of India's Liberal Self-Image, Scroll, Jan. 5, 2020 Behind Campus Attack in India, Some See a Far-Right Agenda, By Kai Schultz and Suhasini Raj, The New York Times, Jan. 10, 2020 Earlier attacks on students: Attack on art, by Anupama Katakam, Frontline Magazine, May-June 2007 Earlier, Rohini Mohan on Kashmir in The Wire: In Kashmir, Doctors Bear Witness, Sept. 5, 2016 Earlier, Praveen Donthi on Assam in The Caravan: How Assam's Supreme Court-mandated NRC project is targeting and detaining Bengali Muslims, breaking families, July 1, 2018 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Today on Sojourner Truth: According to reports, Donald Trump is preparing to visit India. Trump and India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, are fans of each other. Both are conservatives who have attempted to put limits on the number of Muslims entering their respective countries. Today, a look at India's controversial Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019, which protesters say discriminates against Muslims. Protests have broken out across India. At least 24 have been killed and thousands arrested. Our guest is Vijay Prashad, an Indian historian, journalist and commentator. He is the Director of The Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books and Chief Correspondent at Globetrotter. We also mark the tenth anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed close to 300,00 people, injured over 200,000, and left at least one million people displaced. What has happened to the hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to assist Haitians, via the Red Cross and other large NGOs? How has corruption by a series of U.S.-backed governments in Haiti impact earthquake recovery? What are the needs on the ground now? And why will the U.S.-backed Haitian president be able to rule by decree starting this week? We speak with human rights attorney and co-founder and chair of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, Walter Riley. He was on the ground in Haiti during the January 12, 2010 earthquake. And, articles of impeachment for Donald Trump are expected to be delivered to the U.S. Senate this week. A Senate trial overseen by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, where senators are to be jurors, is predicted to begin next week. But there's a battle going on over the fairness of the Senate trial, including whether witnesses, as requested by Democrats, will be called. Although the Senate is expected to find Trump not guilty, Democrats hope that their focus on pushing for a fair trial amid Republican resistance will hurt vulnerable Republican senators at the polls. Meanwhile, cracks are beginning to appear in the GOP on the question of calling witnesses, including former cabinet member John Bolton. Our guest is Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where she taught for 25 years.

Today on Sojourner Truth: According to reports, Donald Trump is preparing to visit India. Trump and India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, are fans of each other. Both are conservatives who have attempted to put limits on the number of Muslims entering their respective countries. Today, a look at India's controversial Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019, which protesters say discriminates against Muslims. Protests have broken out across India. At least 24 have been killed and thousands arrested. Our guest is Vijay Prashad, an Indian historian, journalist and commentator. He is the Director of The Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books and Chief Correspondent at Globetrotter. We also mark the tenth anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed close to 300,00 people, injured over 200,000, and left at least one million people displaced. What has happened to the hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to assist Haitians, via the Red Cross and other large NGOs? How has corruption by a series of U.S.-backed governments in Haiti impact earthquake recovery? What are the needs on the ground now? And why will the U.S.-backed Haitian president be able to rule by decree starting this week? We speak with human rights attorney and co-founder and chair of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, Walter Riley. He was on the ground in Haiti during the January 12, 2010 earthquake. And, articles of impeachment for Donald Trump are expected to be delivered to the U.S. Senate this week. A Senate trial overseen by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, where senators are to be jurors, is predicted to begin next week. But there's a battle going on over the fairness of the Senate trial, including whether witnesses, as requested by Democrats, will be called. Although the Senate is expected to find Trump not guilty, Democrats hope that their focus on pushing for a fair trial amid Republican resistance will hurt vulnerable Republican senators at the polls. Meanwhile, cracks are beginning to appear in the GOP on the question of calling witnesses, including former cabinet member John Bolton. Our guest is Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where she taught for 25 years.

Today on Sojourner Truth: According to reports, Donald Trump is preparing to visit India. Trump and India's Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, are fans of each other. Both are conservatives who have attempted to put limits on the number of Muslims entering their respective countries. Today, a look at India's controversial Citizenship Amendment Act of 2019, which protesters say discriminates against Muslims. Protests have broken out across India. At least 24 have been killed and thousands arrested. Our guest is Vijay Prashad, an Indian historian, journalist and commentator. He is the Director of The Tricontinental Institute for Social Research, the Chief Editor of LeftWord Books and Chief Correspondent at Globetrotter. We also mark the tenth anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti that killed close to 300,00 people, injured over 200,000, and left at least one million people displaced. What has happened to the hundreds of thousands of dollars donated to assist Haitians, via the Red Cross and other large NGOs? How has corruption by a series of U.S.-backed governments in Haiti impact earthquake recovery? What are the needs on the ground now? And why will the U.S.-backed Haitian president be able to rule by decree starting this week? We speak with human rights attorney and co-founder and chair of the Haiti Emergency Relief Fund, Walter Riley. He was on the ground in Haiti during the January 12, 2010 earthquake. And, articles of impeachment for Donald Trump are expected to be delivered to the U.S. Senate this week. A Senate trial overseen by Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts, where senators are to be jurors, is predicted to begin next week. But there's a battle going on over the fairness of the Senate trial, including whether witnesses, as requested by Democrats, will be called. Although the Senate is expected to find Trump not guilty, Democrats hope that their focus on pushing for a fair trial amid Republican resistance will hurt vulnerable Republican senators at the polls. Meanwhile, cracks are beginning to appear in the GOP on the question of calling witnesses, including former cabinet member John Bolton. Our guest is Marjorie Cohn, professor emerita at the Thomas Jefferson School of Law, where she taught for 25 years.

Happy New Year! The year is 2020, and things are, well, not so great. This week, we're filling you in on the dangerous laws and scary events that have been happening in India over the past couple months. Our thoughts are with all of the people affected by these laws and the brave protesters who are risking their lives for what is right. If you have thoughts to add, reading to improve our knowledge, or ways to help, please email us at thebrownburndown@gmail.com. On a lighter note, it's also our anniversary episode! So, in true TBBD fashion, we'll give ya the update on #nickyankawatch2020 (!!!), Kumail's thirst trap, and the dirt on which celeb is a huge diva from a first-hand source. Thank you to all of our loyal listeners for tuning in for over a year!

Muslims in India are hitting the streets to protest a controversial citizenship bill, the Citizenship Amendment Act. Many are worried that the increasingly Hindu nationalist government of Narendra Modi will strip them of citizenship, and thus, a voice in their own country. While others are fighting to protect their identity, freedom, and equality from increasing immigration.