Podcasts about citizenship amendment act caa

In this podcast, Kushal and Harris Sultan talk about the response to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Pakistan. Pakistan "condemned India's Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) of 2019, labelling it a discriminatory move by a “Hindu fascist state” aimed at presenting India as a sanctuary for persecuted non-Muslim minorities from neighbouring countries." Follow Them: Twitter: @TheHarrisSultan YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@HarrisSultanAtheist YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PakistaniMulhidUrdu #CAA #Islamism #Pakistan #Jihadism ------------------------------------------------------------ Listen to the podcasts on: SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/kushal-mehra-99891819 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1rVcDV3upgVurMVW1wwoBp Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-c%C4%81rv%C4%81ka-podcast/id1445348369 Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/the-carvaka-podcast ------------------------------------------------------------ Support The Cārvāka Podcast: Become a Member on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKPx... Become a Member on Fanmo: https://fanmo.in/the_carvaka_podcast Become a Member on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/carvaka UPI: kushalmehra@icici To buy The Carvaka Podcast Exclusive Merch please visit: http://kushalmehra.com/shop ------------------------------------------------------------ Follow Kushal: Twitter: https://twitter.com/kushal_mehra?ref_... Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KushalMehraO... Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thecarvakap... Koo: https://www.kooapp.com/profile/kushal... Inquiries: https://kushalmehra.com/ Feedback: kushalmehra81@gmail.com Want to create live streams like this? Check out StreamYard: https://streamyard.com/pal/d/5690506426187776

Protests continue in India against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which many say is a Hindu nationalist campaign targeting Muslims, spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Post spoke with independent journalist Angad Singh for more. Read more on this: https://sc.mp/5396d3 

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.

As India moves to enforce its 'controversial' Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Senior Lecturer of Asian Studies at the University of Melbourne, Dr Pradeep Taneja, explains the possible political implications of this law.

India is moving to implement the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) that had set off protests across the country when it passed in 2019 over allegations of an anti-Muslim bias. SBS Hindi spoke to Abbas Raza Alvi, President of the Indian Crescent Society of Australia and Santosh Gupta from Hindi Samaaj to guage their reactions.

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

First, Indian Express' Deeptiman Tiwary tells how the rules for implementing the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) are likely to be notified within the next fortnight or so.Next, Indian Express' Pallavi Smart discusses the Maharashtra government diluting the obligations required by private schools under the Right To Education (RTE) Act (14:30).And in the end, Indian Express' Sadaf Modak explains why the release of the Netflix docuseries ‘The Indrani Mukerjea Story: Buried Truth' has been pushed back (19:45).Hosted by Shashank BhargavaProduced and written by Shashank Bhargava and Niharika NandaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

Dissect the complexities surrounding the contentious Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the political maneuvers orchestrated by Modi and Shah that have left the entire opposition in disarray. Join us as we explore the implications of a significant decision regarding the Teele Wali Masjid and its impact on the socio-political landscape.

For the past two years, USCIRF has recommended that India be designated a Country of Particular of Concern (CPC) by the State Department due the government's promotion of Hindu nationalist policies resulting in systematic, ongoing, and egregious violations of religious freedom. One such policy is the 2019 passage of the discriminatory Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA)—a fast track to citizenship for non-Muslim migrants from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Pakistan residing in India—which led to nationwide protests against the CAA in early 2020 and spurred state and nonstate violence, largely targeting Muslims. Today, USCIRF Chair Nadine Maenza joins us to discuss a report on India that will be issued in the coming weeks by the Political Conflict, Gender and People's Rights Initiative, Center for Race and Gender, at the University of California, Berkeley. The report, called “BREAKING WORLDS: Religion, Law and Citizenship in Majoritarian India: The Story of Assam,” is authored by a team of researchers led by Dr. Angana Chatterji. The report is a case study of the Indian government's attempt to alter the basis of Indian citizenship through the pilot implementation of the CAA and accompanying National Register of Citizens (NRC) in the northeastern state of Assam. Read more of USCIRF's reporting on India here.

In this insightful episode of the Blood Brothers Podcast, Dilly Hussain catches up with the prominent Muslim historian Adnan Rashid. #BloodBrothersPodcast​ #AdnanRashid​ #MughalEmpire​ Adnan shares his thoughts on the recent assassination of top Iranian general Qassem Soleimani by the U.S. and its implications for the region. He also discusses the current state of BJP-led India, with the rise of institutional Islamophobia and the introduction of various anti-Muslim laws like the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC). Topics of discussion also include the formation of Pakistan, India's ongoing occupation of Kashmir, the history of the Subcontinent under Mughal rule, and how Islamic the Mughal Empire was in comparison to the Ottoman Empire.

In your evening news brief, Anyone above 45 years can get Covid-19 vaccine from April 1; BJP President J P Nadda says in Assam that the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) has been passed by the Parliament and will be implemented "in time" and a Bangladeshi court hands down death sentence to 14 Islamist militants for attempting to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina ----------------- With the Covid-19 surging across India again, anyone above 45 years will now be able to get the Covid-19 vaccine from April 1, Union minster Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday. Briefing reporters on the decisions taken by the Union Cabinet, he said even people without comorbidity and above the age of 45 years, can get vaccinated. He requested people entitled to get themselves registered to take the Covid-19 shot. ------------------ BJP President J P Nadda on Tuesday asserted that the Citizenship Amendment Act has been passed by the Parliament and will be implemented "in time". Nadda after releasing the party's manifesto for the Assam elections said that the law, (which does not find a mention in the manifesto), is a central legislation and the Congress claims that they will not allow its implementation in the state, if voted to power, may be either "due to their ignorance or they are trying to fool the people of the state". -------------------- A Bangladeshi court on Tuesday handed down death sentence to 14 Islamist militants for attempting to kill Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her southwestern constituency in 2000. All the convicts are operatives of outlawed Harkatul Jihad Bangladesh. Download the Deccan Herald app for iOS devices here: https://apple.co/30eOFD6 For latest news and updates, log on to www.deccanherald.com Check out our e-paper www.deccanheraldepaper.com

Did Pratap Bhanu Mehta jump from Ashoka University? Or was he pushed? This seems to be the Hamlet-esque “to-be-or-not-to-be” question of the day in the Indian media. The simple answer is that it is very good if he was pushed. And it’s even better if he jumped.That of course needs an explanation. The push option is if the Government of India made an offer to the trustees of Ashoka that they couldn’t refuse: get rid of the fellow, or else! That, of course, would be Godfather-esque, and it would mark a welcome change from the pusillanimity that India has traditionally exhibited. Soft States don’t work, which should have been abundantly clear to us all along.If it wasn’t clear, the antics of Xi Jinping’s minions in Alaska just a few days ago should have been enough to convince the most obtuse among us. They calculate that Biden is soft (we can speculate as to why they are so confident about that), so they humiliated the US side as is their wolf-warrior habit. Xi is broadcasting loudly that Biden’s US is a Soft State and that he pwns Biden. Whether this is true remains to be seen, but it is a good opening gambit.India has been the ultimate Soft State, mouthing meaningless platitudes and cringe-inducing homilies while spectators roll their eyes and silently pray: “Just kill me now!”. Hark back to V K Krishna Menon delivering marathon lectures at the UN General Assembly or J Nehru turning down the offer of the Security Council Seat “because China deserves it more”. (By the way, I can quote chapter and verse: no, it is not an urban myth).So if there is — finally — a change of heart, and India does stand up for its interests, then it would be welcome news. Doing tejovadham to undesirables is part of what governments are supposed to do. This was visible in the case of yesterday’s cause celebre as well, the mop-haired Disha Ravi. The fact that she was arrested is important. She herself is unimportant, but it sends a message to other wannabe Urban Naxals: “Your ass is on the line, kid!”, pardon the French.For a long time, secessionists have labored under the illusion that they were immune to the power of the State. They have seen overground and underground purveyors of sedition treated with kid gloves, and they got used to thinking that this is the natural order of things. Not quite. They should look up Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, Julian Assange, and Edward Snowden. The human rights of outlaws or insurgents or their middle-class supporters are not — and they cannot be — greater than those of the average, law-abiding citizen. That is an axiom, and all the billions of the Open Society Foundation and #DeepState are not going to change that very easily. The alternative in Pratap Bhanu Mehta’s case, the jump option, is even better because it means he had no option but to fall on the sword. In other words, the Government didn’t do anything, but out of enlightened self-interest, the trustees of Ashoka informed him that he should resign, or else they would have to fire him: Because he was causing real damage to the Ashoka brand. Of course, Mehta has friends, powerful and shadowy friends. Within 24 hours, there was a letter written by 150 professors from “Harvard, MIT, Yale, Columbia, Oxford, Cambridge” and so on, in his support. Commendably swift. The Ecosystem has its act together to protect its own. The letter also means… exactly nothing. It is precisely like the letter signed by 22 (or was it 35?) Nobel laureates supporting a Naxalite doctor some years ago. I would wager that none of these worthies could even spell that man’s name, or pick him out in a police lineup of suspects. They just blindly signed a piece of paper somebody put in front of their noses. There was also the petition signed by 47.5 “ancient India scholars” some years ago regarding the Aryan Invasion Mythology and related stories in the California Textbook Case. I wrote an unpublished piece then where I pointed out that these alleged “scholars” included people who can’t read Sanskrit or Tamil, urban planners, astrophysicists, economists, sociologists, linguists in unrelated languages, deconstructionists, etc. The one person who had the requisite background in both ancient history and languages retracted her support.In other words, these letters are part of a “toolkit”, a term immortalized by Disha Ravi in her 15 minutes of fame. The same worthies crying about Mehta’s “freedom of expression” or whatever chose to ignore the fact that a young, brown, foreign, racial/religious minority Hindu woman, Rashmi Samant, was cyber-bullied, trolled, terrorized, and forced to resign from her post as elected president of the Oxford Student Union, just days ago. Why? That was a rhetorical question. We know the answer. The same worthies have also ignored a vile campaign by a foul-mouthed assistant professor at Rutgers University to demonize a small racial and religious minority, Hindus, mostly Asian Americans. Tulsi Gabbard, a Hindu though not Asian (she’s a Pacific Islander), has been attacked directly for her faith. Although the hate campaign against her was utterly horrifying, not a single academic bothered to condemn it. Here is an actual campaign poster against Gabbard. (Hat tip to Sheenie Ambardar for this).No, none of this bothers the 150 letter writers. That means they have no moral leg to stand on: they are hypocrites. But they make it sound like Mehta was subjected to something akin to what Hypatia, the foremost woman scholar of her time, and a philosopher and mathematician of repute, experienced in Rome around 300CE. They dragged her out of her chariot and into a church, stripped her naked, gouged out her eyeballs while she was still alive, slashed her to pieces with broken tiles, then cut her body up, dragged the pieces through the streets, and burned them: all because newly-ascendant Christians hated pagans. In fact, it was Rashmi Sawant who was treated a bit like Hypatia, not Pratap Bhanu Mehta; and explicitly for the same reason: she is a Hindu. Abrahamics have a serious problem with Hindus and others of the Old Religions. As described in the fascinating book The Darkening Age: The Christian Destruction of the Classical World, majoritarian rule by Christians meant the total destruction of the old Roman religion around 400-500 CE.Majoritarian rule by Abrahamics almost inevitably means religious minorities are oppressed, and frequently they are wiped out, exterminated. So there is good reason to fear majoritarian Abrahamic rule, as freedoms will be curtailed.However, by sleight of hand, this Abrahamic technique is ascribed to Hindus, and the likes of Mehta talk up a storm about ‘fascistic’, ‘majoritarian Hindu nationalist’ rule! This sells well to the Deep State and Christian fundamentalists and regime-change enthusiasts in the West, but is entirely without basis. It is a gigantic fraud that ordinary Indians have also been gaslighted into. Hindu rule is demonstrably benign and liberal. Look at the classical Chanakya niti: he advocates sama, dana, bheda and only when other avenues are explored and fruitless, danda. The Pandavas give the Kauravas innumerable opportunities to negotiate a settlement without bloodshed, even willing to accept merely five villages for themselves, while the empire went to the Kauravas.Then there’s the Sisupala story, where Lord Krishna forgives 99 transgressions before slaying him. And look at India today. It may have a large numerical majority of Hindus, but it is a Minoritarian State, as interpreted by the Executive and Judiciary and enshrined in the Constitution. Religious minorities get all sorts of privileges not available to Hindus, most distressingly the fact that Hindu temples are captured by the State. Just two days ago, government bureaucrats were selling off 35,000 acres of land belonging to the Lord Jagannath temple. The vast holdings of churches (the #2 land-owner in the country, after the government), much of it expired 99-year-leases that they squat on illegally as though they were land grants, are never touched. Waqf properties, that is Muslim community properties, are also left alone.There are special provisions for all sorts of things for minorities. Kerala’s government has posted employment advertisements that are reserved for converts to Christianity! There are schemes to pay Muslim priests salaries and Christian priests pensions and to greatly subsidize Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca and Christian pilgrimage to Jerusalem, while Hindus have to pay for their pilgrimages out of their own pockets. And the Modi government, accused of ‘majoritarianism’ has itself rolled out goodies like scholarship schemes, even entire universities and schemes for women, explicitly for non-Hindus! In other words, extreme liberalism is being painted as fascism! How very predictable! How very Orwellian!All the breast-beating by Mehta and friends about ‘majoritarianism’ boils down to a concern that Hindus will get equality. That’s right: any attempt by Hindus to merely demand equality under the law is treated as ‘fascism’. This is the kind of extreme rhetoric that the malcontents in India espouse.For instance, they made a godawful fuss about the badly-named Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which merely provides non-Muslim minorities being genocided in Pakistan and Afghanistan fast-track access to Indian citizenship. This was portrayed as a grave offense: why? Because the Pak and Afghan Muslims doing the genocide would not gain Indian citizenship! That is utterly absurd!The genocide is not theoretical, either. Just two days ago, there was news of Ajay Lalwani, a Hindu journalist in Pakistan, being shot dead by a gunman. His crime: he had reported on how underage Hindu girls in Pakistan suffer regular kidnap, rape, conversion to Islam, and forced marriage to Muslims. This happens on average to three teenage girls a day, every day. That is explicit Abrahamic majoritarianism. And that is precisely why CAA is an utterly liberal law, protecting the victims of religious apartheid and genocide. Nevertheless, here is Pratap Bhanu Mehta fulminating against the CAA, passed into law by the elected Indian parliament, and suggesting in so many words that the way to challenge it was not to use the Judiciary, but to riot in the streets. But we should recognise that this direction is not going to be set through the nice formalisms of law, or the contrived conventions we can adhere to in normal times. The direction is going to be set by the mob, by brute power, by mobilisation.This is outrageous. Some might call it seditious. If there were McCarthyites in India, they would nail Mehta. There aren’t, so he gets cushy sinecures, while spearheading a reverse-McCarthyite movement to blackball anybody who is not part of his cohort’s Big Brother thought control!What explains this strange power Mehta has to keep an entire country in thrall to his views? It couldn’t possibly be his regular op-eds in the Indian Express. I have been surprised by the drivel he churns out. It is verbose and prolix, full of the turgid and impenetrable vocabulary of the cultural Marxist. He writes 3,000-word essays that say… exactly nothing. That is, of course, when he’s not inciting people to riot, as above. On second thoughts, maybe it is better that he not use many verbs, unlike this famous Doonesbury strip from 1980 lampooning Ted Kennedy.Pratap Bhanu Mehta remains an enigma; nay, a mystery wrapped in a conundrum. What is the source of his influence? How does he regularly end up in prestigious positions for which he may or may not be qualified or competent? Is he an outstanding scholar who has produced great work? Why is he the darling of the Ecosystem? The blurb on Mehta says this:His areas of research include political theory, constitutional law, society and politics in India, governance and political economy, and international affairs.Not being in that business, I have no idea what his contribution is. I used to think he must be a globally-renowned scholar. But so far as I can tell, he has not done any path-breaking, seminal work. The only awards on his blurb are from India. So why is there such a fuss about him from Anglosphere friends? Mehta sounds rather like Yogendra Yadav, who is famous only for being famous. It would also be interesting to see if any of those worthies from Columbia, Yale, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, etc. actually invites Mehta to a position in their home institutions. Somehow I doubt that, because they have their own bailiwicks to protect, and anyway he’s probably more useful to them if he is in India. But it is not unknown for washed-up Ecosystem journalists (I can name at least two) to be given cushy slots in the Deep State newspapers of the West. There was also a journalist who said she was an Associate Professor at Harvard, until it crashed and burned and she made (hard to believe) excuses about mail fraud. So I for one would not be surprised if Mehta were to turn up at some university that is friendly to the Deep State and Atlanticism. Don’t cry for Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Argentina. Or Lutyens, or Khan Market. I am pretty sure he’ll pop up somewhere, being hailed as the new Solzhenitsyn. The real Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, poor guy, will turn over in his grave. POSTSCRIPT: Gurcharan Das confirms that Mehta jumped, and was not pushed. Somehow that is a little disappointing. So we are still a Soft State? Sigh. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/toi-edit-page/a-tale-of-two-heroes-tragedy-at-ashoka-university-shows-the-difficulty-of-doing-good-in-todays-world/ 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

Here, you will listen to my analysis on why BJP is confused about implementing the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) before Assembly polls in Assam and West Bengal 2021. If you want to see my video analysis, you can follow me at Instagram My Insta link: https://www.instagram.com/politicsarca/ #assam #westbengal #caa #caaprotest #citizenshipammendmentact #bjp #amitshah --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/politicsarca/message

Recent visits by Foreign Secretary Harsh Vardhan Shringla and National Security Adviser Ajit Doval to countries in the region appear to show new energy in India's neighbourhood policy. Over the past few years, there have been many strains in ties with neighbours — for instance, with Nepal over its Constitution in 2015 and now over the map, and with Bangladesh over the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). Here we discuss India's neighbourhood policy. Guests: Constantino Xavier, a nonresident fellow in the India Project, and is currently a fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress; Shyam Saran, a former Foreign Secretary and is currently Senior Fellow, Centre for Policy Research. Host: Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu You can now find The Hindu's podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

What is Puri Shankaracharyaji's message for the anti-Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)-2019? -by Jagadguru Shankaracharya Nischalananda Saraswati ji Maharaj naagarikata sanshodhan kaanoon (CAA) 2019 ke virodhee yuvaon ke lie puri shankaraachaaryajee ka kya sandesh hai ? Thanks to Brahmachari Prakash Ji WebSite: https://www.govardhanpeeth.org/ --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/hindu-podcast/message

The West Bengal elections are due in 2021. Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have been in power for about a decade and won the last election convincingly with nearly 45% of the vote share. In that same election, the Left parties led by CPI (M), which ruled the State for nearly 3 decades with Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, followed with about 20%. The BJP, which hasn't been historically strong in the State has made tremendous progress and even won 40% of the vote share and 18 seats from Bengal in the 2019 general elections. Aside, we have the Indian National Congress, which is another key player in the mix. Plenty of factors in play right now. Aside from the coronavirus pandemic the state also recently experienced the devastation of Cyclone Amphan. There is also the backdrop of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and The National Register of Citizens (NRC). To discuss what will be an interesting battle for power we have political strategy experts and commentators Abhishek Paul, Rohit Jayaraman, and Rangesh Sridhar joining us on this episode of the Bharatvaarta podcast. Listen in as we deep dive into what strategies the various parties will adopt and how things might pan out in the run up to the Elections. This podcast is available on all popular platforms Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, and Breaker. If you like this episode, do subscribe and share!

The West Bengal elections are due in 2021. Mamata Banerjee and her Trinamool Congress have been in power for about a decade and won the last election convincingly with nearly 45% of the vote share. In that same election, the Left parties led by CPI (M), which ruled the State for nearly 3 decades with Jyoti Basu and Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, followed with about 20%. The BJP, which hasn't been historically strong in the State has made tremendous progress and even won 40% of the vote share and 18 seats from Bengal in the 2019 general elections. Aside, we have the Indian National Congress, which is another key player in the mix. Plenty of factors in play right now. Aside from the coronavirus pandemic the state also recently experienced the devastation of Cyclone Amphan. There is also the backdrop of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and The National Register of Citizens (NRC). To discuss what will be an interesting battle for power we have political strategy experts and commentators Abhishek Paul, Rohit Jayaraman, and Rangesh Sridhar joining us on this episode of the Bharatvaarta podcast. Listen in as we deep dive into what strategies the various parties will adopt and how things might pan out in the run up to the Elections. This podcast is available on all popular platforms Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Pocketcasts, and Breaker. If you like this episode, do subscribe and share!

Amidst hopes for a resurgent nation and fears of an economic slowdown, the Modi government completes one year of its second term today. In this episode of the Bharatvaarta podcast, we examine the government's hits and misses on policy and governance. We are joined by public policy commentators and political experts Ashish Chandorkar, Rohit Jayaraman, and Rangesh Sridhar to speak about PM Modi-led BJP's consolidation of political power in states, its commitment to ideological principles, major reforms and events like Article 370, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict, its dealing of the judiciary and the media, and handling of foreign policy and economy. If you like this podcast, then don't forget to subscribe and share! This podcast is available on popular platforms such as Anchor.fm, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Overcast, and Breaker.

Amidst hopes for a resurgent nation and fears of an economic slowdown, the Modi government completes one year of its second term today. In this episode of the Bharatvaarta podcast, we examine the government's hits and misses on policy and governance. We are joined by public policy commentators and political experts Ashish Chandorkar, Rohit Jayaraman, and Rangesh Sridhar to speak about PM Modi-led BJP's consolidation of political power in states, its commitment to ideological principles, major reforms and events like Article 370, Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the Ram Janmabhoomi verdict, its dealing of the judiciary and the media, and handling of foreign policy and economy. If you like this podcast, then don't forget to subscribe and share! This podcast is available on popular platforms such as Anchor.fm, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, Overcast, and Breaker.

»Die essenzielle Frage, die wir uns alle stellen müssen lautet: Was ist der Wert jedes einzelnen Menschen? Und sehen wir das Leben aller Menschen als gleich wertvoll an?« Trisha Shetty ist Aktivistin und Gründerin von SheSays, einer indischen Organisation, die für Frauenrechte eintritt. In dieser Folge von »Gesellschaft besser machen« spricht sie darüber, warum und wie sie für mehr Gleichberechtigung kämpft. Gleich zu Beginn des Gesprächs schildert sie, wie sie die Proteste gegen den Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Indien erlebt hat. Der CAA macht das Recht auf eine Staatsbürgerschaft abhängig von der Religion und verwehrt muslimischen Migrantinnen und Migranten die indische Staatsbürgerschaft. Trisha Shetty ist Vorsitzende des Steering Committee des Paris Peace Forum und plädiert für mehr globale Kooperation und Multilateralismus, gerade in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie. Im Podcast verrät sie, woher sie Inspiration bekommt und wen sie immer schon einmal treffen wollte.

»Die essenzielle Frage, die wir uns alle stellen müssen lautet: Was ist der Wert jedes einzelnen Menschen? Und sehen wir das Leben aller Menschen als gleich wertvoll an?« Trisha Shetty ist Aktivistin und Gründerin von SheSays, einer indischen Organisation, die für Frauenrechte eintritt. In dieser Folge von »Gesellschaft besser machen« spricht sie darüber, warum und wie sie für mehr Gleichberechtigung kämpft. Gleich zu Beginn des Gesprächs schildert sie, wie sie die Proteste gegen den Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in Indien erlebt hat. Der CAA macht das Recht auf eine Staatsbürgerschaft abhängig von der Religion und verwehrt muslimischen Migrantinnen und Migranten die indische Staatsbürgerschaft. Trisha Shetty ist Vorsitzende des Steering Committee des Paris Peace Forum und plädiert für mehr globale Kooperation und Multilateralismus, gerade in Zeiten der Corona-Pandemie. Im Podcast verrät sie, woher sie Inspiration bekommt und wen sie immer schon einmal treffen wollte.

Majuli and Jorhat are now under the scare of coronavirus outbreak. A US tourist who had come to visit Jorhat and the river island has been detected positive with the deadly coronavirus disease in Bhutan. People of Jorhat and Majuli are now in grip of fear after the news of detection of coronavirus in the American tourist spread. Employees of Thengal Menor, Jorhat are now under complete medical observation as the tourist had, reportedly, spent two nights there before leaving for Bhutan. As a part of precautionary measure the police of both districts are now searching for the taxi drivers where the tourist had travelled during his visit. Management at Radisson Blu Hotel in Guwahati had evacuated the second floor of the hotel as the US tourist who tested positive for coronavirus had stayed at that place. The tourist had stayed at room number 224. Over 20 staff of the hotel who had come in contact with the tourist are under observation. The hotel authorities are sanitizing the room and carrying out the necessary procedure. An Italian national on March 6 was put under observation at a hotel in Tezpur, Sonitpur district after he arrived there amidst the coronavirus scare, an official said. However, the foreigner did not show any of the traditional symptoms of the terrible disease, which has prompted a global panic. After China, Italy is one of the worst-hit countries where the disease broke out. The official said that the visitor's samples have been collected and sent for testing. Around 14,640 people have been kept under complete observation for coronavirus, said a Health Department official from Mizoram. At least seven screening centers are set up in different parts of the state along with international and inter-state borders with the Lengpui airport. Andhra's Tirumala temple trust withdrew Rs 1,300 cr from the crisis hit yes bank in 2019. According to an official with the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanam, deposits of Rs 1,300 crore were withdrawn some months ago from Yes Bank but it had nothing to do with the crisis in the bank. On Friday before the Reserve Bank imposed a moratorium, Vadodara Smart City Development Company, a Special Purpose Vehicle of the Vadodara Municipal Corporation, withdrew Rs 265 crore from Yes Bank. On March 7, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting lifted the ban on two Kerala-based news channels. The Information and Broadcasting ministry had imposed a 48-hour ban on two Malayalam news channels- Asianet News and Media One on Friday. The reason behind the ban was their coverage of the violence in north-east Delhi. The government accused them of being one-sided and particularly leaning towards one community. In a circuler sent out by the government, it noted that “such address could fuel communal disharmony across the country when the situation is highly volatile.” Sanjay Gupta, Bharatiya Janata Party Legislator from Uttarakhand claimed that ancient Hindu rituals and cow urine can be a medication to kill coronavirus in the “air and within the body”. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar defended the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). He spoke out in favour of CAA and said that the UNHRC has got it all wrong, once again. “Everybody, when they look at citizenship, have a context and has a criterion. Show me a country in the world which says everybody in the world is welcome. Nobody says that,” With all sorts of preventive measures floating around, WHO has said that spraying alcohol or chlorine all over the body will not kill viruses that have already entered the body. The global health organisation said, “Spraying such substances can be harmful to clothes or mucous membranes (i.e. eyes, mouth). Be aware that both alcohol and chlorine can be useful to disinfect surfaces, but they need to be used under appropriate recommendations.”

Krishak Mukti Sangram Samiti (KMSS) leader Akhil Gogoi said that he will be launching an indefinite hunger strike in jail from March 1, as a protest movement against the BJP-led Government's Citizenship Amendment Act. Gogoi shouted to the gathering of media people outside the court and said that he along with other imprisoned KMSS leaders- Dharjya Konwar, Bitu Sonowal and Manash Konwar will launch a hunger strike within the jail premises to “ensure the victory of the Andolan” against CAA. Gogoi and other imprisoned KMSS leaders were produced at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) court on February 25. They said that the fight against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) will continue and have asked people to continue with the agitation. The government of Mizoram had written a letter to the Central government asking the latter to review the inter-state border dispute with Assam. The letter was sent on December 15 last year. The information was given by Home Minister Lalchamliana at the Assembly in response to a query by Congress legislature party leader Zodintluanga Ralte. The government is trying to figure out a solution to the border dispute at Zophai area near Bairabi town. With a view to spreading the perennial ideologies of Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha across the border of the State of Assam, a biography on the noble figure was published in Kolkata in the Bengali language. The biography titled Amader Bishnu Prasad Rabha was released at St. Paul's Cathedral Mission College by former Regional Secretary of the Sahitya Akademi, Dr. Ram Kumar Mukhopadhyay. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met Home Minister Amit Shah to review the current situation in Delhi.After meeting with Home Minister Amit Shah, the Delhi CM said, “The police will be sent wherever they are needed, the centre has told me.” Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal called for sealing the city's border in areas that witnessed violence over the amended citizenship act to prevent “outsiders” from entering the national capital and creating a commotion. BJP's Gautam Gambhir has said that strict action must be taken against people who are guilty of causing violence in Delhi. Fingers are being pointed at BJP's Kapil Mishra who gave a provocative speech where he asked police to clear CAA protestors within three days from streets of North East Delhi. The rioting mob in Delhi did not spare journalists. Reports of violence against journalists have flooded social media now. According to reports, some journalists were even asked about their religion. A journalist with JK 24X7 who was shot at is critical. Another journalist lost a tooth during the violence. People took to Twitter to share stories of the violence. India has sent a formal request to the UK, asking the latter to return a 15th century bronze idol of a Tamil saint Tirumankai Alvar. The statue stolen from a temple is currently housed at Ashmolean Museum at the University of Oxford. The museum which had acquired the piece in 1967 from Sotheby's auction house alerted the Indian High Commission in December last year, after the museum learnt about the origins of the statue from an independent researcher in November last year.

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal today took part in the 10th foundation day programme of Karunadhara Trust in the city as the chief guest and announced that the State Government would provide appropriate lands to the Trust in Guwahati for setting up shelter homes for Divyangs. Speaking at the programme, the Chief Minister underlined the need to think for the society and asserted that every citizen must take up the responsibility along with the government to provide social and economic security to the Divyangs so that they could live a life of dignity. Arunachal Pradesh government has come up with 24×7 State control room at the State Surveillance Unit to improve surveillance on coronavirus. Two Indians stuck in a luxury cruise ship Diamond Princess in Japan due to coronavirus outbreak have tested positive for coronavirus. The Diamond Princess cruise ship that has been kept in quarantine at anchor off the coast of Yokohama in Japan has 132 crew members and 6 passengers who are Indian nationals. There are 3711 persons on-board. Policeman Ratul Gogoi won hearts after a video of him distributing pens to students appearing for the AHSEC Class 12 examination surfaced on social media. The cop from Sivsagar is seen greeting the students and giving them a pen before the exams. Assam police has announced a sum of Rs 10,000 to the cop for his kind gesture. 22 BJP party leaders from Nagaland have joined Naga People's Front (NPF) party on Wednesday. The main reason for leaving BJP happens to be Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), according to reports. NPF's party president Shurhozelie Liezietsu has welcomed the move and said that in the coming days more people from BJP will join NPF. Former BJP leader, Mukibur Rahman had said that the members were upset with CAA as they did not see Inner Line Permit (ILP) as a protection against CAA. “The ILP is not going to stop them from entering to our state,” he said. The Rubber Board after 23-years of multi-locational field trials in the north-eastern States and West Bengal released a new cold and disease tolerant hybrid rubber clone –RRII 429 – to improve the commercial cultivation of natural rubber in the Northeast. A top official of Rubber Board said that based on 23-years of multi-locational field trials in North Bengal (West Bengal), Assam, Meghalaya and Tripura, the Board has evolved the new cold and disease tolerant hybrid rubber clone –RRII 429 – to expand the ongoing natural rubber cultivation in the north-eastern States and increase the production and productivity. The Supreme Court has directed all political parties to upload details of criminal history of candidates on their website. Details of criminal cases against election candidates and the reasons why a political party had selected them should be mentioned on websites, social media and vernacular medium newspapers within 48 hours of selection. Details should be provided to Election Commission within 72 hours. “The reason to select candidates should be based on merit and not winnability. Winnability can't be the only justification,” the apex court said. In case of any void of information then the EC could initiate contempt of court proceedings. An adorable picture of a child, all dressed up in a sweater, topi and muffler, sporting an Arvind Kejriwal moustache, to resemble the Delhi Chief Minister has been widely circulated through social media. The one-year-old child identified as Avyaan Tomar has been invited by AAP to attend Kejriwal's swearing-in ceremony on February 16.The huge public ceremony on February 16 will take place at Ramlila Maidan.

Journalist and Author Rohini Mohan Tonight's South Asia Spotlight: Last month, the far right Hindu government, the BJP, passed the Citizenship Amendment Act or the CAA, an amendment to the 1955 Citizenship Act. This Act violates multiple sections of India's constitution by making religion a test for citizenship, specifically excluding Muslims.   The passage of the Act saw an explosion of student led protests across campuses in India, as well as mass peaceful mobilizations by civil society activists in big cities and small towns across the country. What does the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) mean for a changing India?   What is the National Register of Citizens or the NRC? Why have there been such a remarkable surge of protests not just in India but across the world including by the South Asian diaspora in the US? Listen to a conversation APEX Express producer Preeti Mangala Shekar had with journalist and author Rohini Mohan. Women Protestors At Shaheen Bagh: A remarkable aspect of the protests have been the huge leadership of women A lit up map cutout of India at Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi The post APEX Express – January 30, 2020: South Asia Spotlight: The Citizenship Amendment Act: A Conversation With Journalist Rohini Mohan appeared first on KPFA.

In the 31st episode of ThoughtSpace, Yamini Aiyar (President and Chief Executive, CPR) speaks to Patrick Heller ( Professor of Sociology and International and Public Affairs, Brown University), about the protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). The passage of the CAA led to agitations across the country. Since December 15, thousands of students, activists and ordinary people are out on the streets every day in every city. Latin American countries including Ecuador, Chile, Bolivia and most recently Colombia have experienced turmoil too. What are the parallels we can draw between the two regions? What do these protests say about the state of democracy across the world? And what are some of the lessons we can learn about peoples' movements?

In the recent protests in UP against the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and the National Register of Citizens(NRC), the government has tried various ways to snub the voices of protestors. One such is the voice of Sandeep Pandey, magsaysay award winner and a social activist who was put under house arrest thrice under the pretext of preventive custody without any papers.  In this episode of The Suno India Show,  we reached out to him to understand the current situation in Uttar Pradesh and why he compares it with the Freedom Struggle. For more stories like this, you can listen to www.sunoindia.in. Also follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

A high-level committee met Home Minister Amit Shah to discuss Clause 6 of Assam Accord which ensures ever-lasting constitutional safeguards on rights over politics, land, culture, language, and employment as well as trade and commerce of the Assamese, indigenous Assamese and other ethnic groups living in Assam. According to reports, “The committee will assess the appropriate level of reservation of seats in Assam Legislative Assembly and local bodies for the Assamese people.” Set up by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), the committee was created to assess and recommend appropriate measures that can ensure the rights of indigenous people. The All Assam Students' Union (AASU) has warned both Delhi and Dispur not to confuse the people by linking the Clause 6 of Assam Accord with the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) even as the influential students' organization has been submitting proposals to the governments for the last 34 years to ensure Constitutional safeguard to indigenous people of the State. AASU's chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya while interacting with reporters at Swahid Nyas here on Sunday afternoon, said that Clause 6 is meant to provide Constitutional safeguard to the indigenous people of the State for taking the burden of illegal Bangladeshis who had come to the State between 1951 and 1971 as per the Assam Accord. A division bench of the Gauhati High Court has summoned the ADGP, CID, Assam with a response as to why proceedings under the ‘Contempt of Court Act, 1971' be not initiated against him. The High Court bench had to summon the police officer for not complying with an ‘extracted order' issued by it in a PIL filed against the alleged multi-crore-rupee scam in the disbursement of compensation in connection with construction of the Jhanji-Demow stretch of the four-lane National Highway in Sivasagar district. Human trafficking from Assam to other states of the country has been on the rise, and there are a number of reasons for such a trend. And one of the emergent causes for such a trend is joblessness in Assam. According to police sources, as many as 91 cases of human trafficking were reported in 2016 in the State, 175 in 2017, 238 in 2018 and 87 till June in 2019. It is seen that the rise in the number of such cases after every successive year is astronomical. What leads to such a situation? In a joint operation launched by Kokrajhar Police and 25th Rajput Regiment on Saturday a person called Abdul Khaleqe Mandal (22) was arrested. He was suspected to belong to a Muslim Fundamental Organization. Former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar has called for unity in this hour of “turmoil.” “Some of our youngsters are out on the street when they should be in their classrooms. Some of them are ending up in hospitals for being out on the streets,” he said while delivering the 26th Annual Lal Bahadur Shastri Memorial Lecture in New Delhi, according to media reports. He had also urged people to stand together and be “simply India.” Writer Arundhati Roy came out in support of students protesting against CAA at Delhi's Jamia Millia Islamia. According to media reports, Roy stood in front of gate seven and said, “I have come here to tell you that I am with you,” she told students in front of gate seven of the university, also known as Jamia Square. “Now that we have all come together, no detention centre will be big enough to fill us in. I hope that a day will come when this government, which is trying to break the nation, will be in the detention centre and we will be azaad [free]. We won't back down.” The crowd repeated after her and cheered her on as she shouted slogans of “Inquilab zindabad” ( “JNU zindabad”, and “Desh ki janta zindabad”

The anti Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and the National Register of Citizens(NRC) Protests turned violent in many states across the country but in Uttar Pradesh the violence was beyond imagination. More than 20 people were killed and the Chief Minister of the state announced that the properties of the protestors will be seized as compensation for damage to public property. Ironically with free hand from the government there were also incidences of police going on rampage and damaging property which was overlooked. Suno India Editor, Padma Priya talks with Nakul Singh Sawhney, an Indian documentary filmmaker who has extensively worked on issues of communalism, honour killing, labour rights and social justice to discuss if police brutality during violence is new or if it has been happening more now.  For more stories like this, you can listen to www.sunoindia.in. Also follow us on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram. See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and state Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi on Thursday to discuss the current situation over CAA as well as indigenous peoples' issues. According to media reports, discussions were held to ensure measures to protect the language, literature, culture of Assamese people under Clause 6 of the Assam Accord. Activists of the All Assam Students' Union (AASU) Tinsukia Unit showed black flags to Chabua MLA Binod Hazarika as a mark of protest against contentious Citizenship Amendment Act, 2019. Amidst widespread protests against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, Assam's capital city here has worn a sporting look as it is ready to hoist the third edition of the ambitious Khelo India Youth Games (KIYG). About 6,800 athletes across 37 teams have arrived in the city to take part in the Games that will be held on schedule from January 10 to 22. The athletes will compete in a total of 20 sports events, including new additions – lawn bowls and cycling, in eight venues across Guwahati, during the 13-day long event. Syed Akbaruddin, India's Ambassador & Permanent Representative to the United Nations rebuked Pakistan during an open debate at the United Nations. “There are no takers here for your malware,” he told Pakistan. The rebuttal was made after Pakistan accused India of imposing unilateral measures on Jammu and Kashmir as “a first step” in the country's efforts to suppress Muslims. At Delhi's Shaheen Bagh, women protestors have been peacefully protesting against CAA and NRC for almost a month now. The sit-in protests have continued despite bad weather. The Delhi High Court on Friday turned down a plea filed by IGNOU student Tushar Sachdev asking for the removal of protestors to another area citing traffic movement and damage to public property as reasons. Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday held a high-level meeting with National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval and top officials in the Ministry of Home Affairs on internal security issues. Sources said that law and order issues across the country, as well as security matters linked to Jammu and Kashmir, were discussed in the meeting, chaired by Shah, against the backdrop of recent violent protests in various states against Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA). While hearing pleas challenging petition on the current situation in Kashmir, the Supreme Court observed on Friday that right to Internet access is a fundamental right and suspending the Internet indefinitely is unconstitutional. The five-judge bench headed by Justice N V Ramana, the Court called for restoring internet services in government websites, localized/limited e-banking facilities, hospital services, etc. It also asked the administration to restore the Internet to facilitate e-banking and trade in Jammu and Kashmir.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi who was about to visit the state for the third Khelo India Youth Games to begin this Friday, has cancelled his visit to avoid anti-CAA agitations. The third Khelo India Youth Games will be held in Guwahati from January 10 to 22. The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), Asom Jatiyatabadi Yuva Chatra Parishad (AJYCP), had announced a series of agitations if the PM visited Assam. Cabinet approves Rs 5,559 crore capital grant to Indradhanush Gas Grid Limited (IGGL) for setting up of North-East Natural Gas and Pipeline Grid. The entire project which will see 1,656 km long pipeline is expected to cost Rs. 9265 crore. The project apart from developing an industrial climate in the region will generate employment and contribute towards economic growth. Expansion of the North-East Natural Gas grid though IGGL will further increase the share of clean fuels in India's energy basket other than being in line with PM Modi's vision of ‘Purvodaya-Rise of the East.' Terming Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal as a betrayer, All Assam Students' Union (AASU) chief advisor Samujjal Bhattacharya on Tuesday said that “from being a ‘Jatir Nayak' (People's hero), he (Sonowal) has become a protector of illegal infiltrators”. Bhattacharya was talking to the reporters in New Delhi on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA). Conservationists working with the Great Indian One-Horned Rhinoceros species have welcomed the birth of a rhino calf at the Manas National Park in Assam. The calf was born to six-year-old mother rhino R3A a few days ago. Laisri, a 15-year-old grandmother of the baby rhino was brought to Manas from the Pobitora Wildlife Sanctuary, according to media reports. Assam is known for its biodiversity. The state has chalked out plans to boost the population of rhinos to 3000 in 2020. Assam Roll Ball Association announced its team for the 11th Mini National Roll Ball championship, which will be held at Kurukshetra, from January 10. For Union Budget 2020, the BJP led central government has invited ideas and suggestions from the public. People can share their ideas at mygov.in Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi tweeted, “The Union Budget represents the aspirations of 130 crore Indians and lays out the path towards India's development. I invite you all to share your ideas and suggestions for this year's Budget on MyGov.” The Union Budget 2020-21 will be presented on 1 February. In what can be seen as a nationwide solidarity movement, students of prestigious St Stephens College in Delhi boycotted classes, read the Preamble in support of JNU students. They also opposed CAA as well as NRC. “At St Stephen's today. Students boycott classes (very, very rare) to read the Preamble to the Constitution and to support and say #WeStandWithJNU. And #NoCAANoNRC,” read a tweet. Leaders from across the political spectrum have condemned the attacks on the students and teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) inside the campus. Yesterday, Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone showed up at Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) during a gathering, where JNU students' union (JNUSU) president Aishe Ghosh was speaking. Former JNUSU president Kanhaiya Kumar was also present during the event. Padukone was seen standing with the students who were there to talk about the attacks that had taken place on the campus a few days ago. Her presence during the event was lauded by a lot of people, but it also invited the ire of many others who called her “opportunistic” and touted her presence as a PR stunt for her upcoming movie ‘Chhapaak.' Many from the film fraternity stood in support and praised her for taking a stand against violence.

In this "Reflections" episode,Teri and Michael reflect back on episodes on culture and gender roles:  Episode 78: Taté Walker on using storytelling and art to create social change around Indigenous rights, Episode 79: Bimla Vishwapremi, a feminist activist, on women's rights in India, and Episode 81: #SurvivorStories Series with Aneri Shah–on gender roles and how her Indian-American identity impacted her #MeToo experience. During my conversation with Michael, Michael referred to Taté as "she" instead of "they" as is Taté's preferred pronoun.  I didn't notice this until the editing process and apologize to Taté for not correcting Michael. We also touched upon the following resources in our conversation: The high rates of domestic abuse within the law enforcement profession India's recently introduced "Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA)" and its connection to the National Registry of Citizens (NRC), and what it means for Muslims The Dirty John Netflix show Our reference to how society, culture, and family create status or "shame" in survivors, as evidenced in Episode 20: #SurvivorStories Series with Rosaura Torres Thomas, on abuse when your partner is a cop Rachel Louise Snyder's book, No Visible Bruises, makes the top 10 NYT list of best books of 2019 --- Thanks for tuning in to the en(gender)ed podcast! Be sure to check out our en(gender)ed site and follow our blog on Medium. Consider donating because your support is what makes this work sustainable. Please also connect with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Don't forget to subscribe to the show!    

In this episode I sit down with writer and researcher, Sharik Laliwaya and have a conversation on the National Register of Citizens (NRC), Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), Citizenship Amendment Bill (CAB) and about why it is a threat to the democracy and secularism of India.