Part of leaving an organization that is complicit in hate, violence, and further erosion of decency is also acknowledging individual complicity. The act of leaving now doesn't absolve anyone from accountability. That is still something you have to live and grapple with.
This is also where caste, class, and where you are in the hierarchy of things come into play. I know far too many people who had nothing and gave up far too much to just do their job - report the damn fucking truth. Many of them are not on this site.
Also, let's not act as if the Republic is the only villain. How much do these places pay their reporters and writers? And how many of you actually pay them on time.
No one is perfect. We all err. Change your mind, please do better. Become better. But that does not relinquish accountability. What about other young people who are criminalized and arrested. How old is Amulya Leoni, Sharjeel Usmani, Devangana Kalita, and Natasha Narwal?
Any movement/group of people who don't make space for the idea or even the possibility that people can change, grow, or even do better will fail. If we believe that people change for worse, we can believe that they can for the better. But that change comes with accountability.
+ And responsibility.
I read the essay on journalists having bills to pay. It was Republic TV that first targeted Sudha Bharadwaj and claimed she was involved in a plot it kill Modi. Goswami refused to furnish proof. This was simply one of the many instances. How do you reconcile this?
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Finally sat down to read India’s recent telecommunication Bill— this law ushers in an era of absolute authoritarian control of Internet in India, a kind of licence regime to the internet. It's broad and applies to all social media applications from WhatsApp to X to Instagram.
commentary and framing about this law uses “decolonial language”— it replaces colonial-era laws that gave the British absolute control over communications and surveillance of its colonial subjects.
What is interesting is that these laws today, promulgated by the Modi government, have far more control over an Indian citizen than the British had over its colonial subjects.
Earlier today Delhi police raided the homes of several journalists associated with the news outlet #Newsclick and are interrogating them in matters “related to terror links” under UAPA.
So far 17 people questioned
Some of them taken to police station.
Raids so far 30 locations
Journalist Urmilesh, Anindyo, Abhisar, Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Subodh being interrogated by Delhi police special cell in FIR 224/23, dt
17/08/2023 U/S 13, 16, 17, 18, 22 C UAPA & 153 (A) & 120 (b) IPC
Houses of Newsclick editor Prabir Purkayastha, journalist Bhasha Singh, writer Geeta Hariharan, cultural historian and activists Sohail Hashmi and D Raghunandan, Standup comedian Sanjay Rajoura, and Tricontinental India Office, raided in Delhi & Teesta Setalavad in Mumbai
New thread alert #Uttrakhand #hatespeechIn an interview yesterday, Darshan Bharati (actual name Devendra Pawar), one of the 5 people inciting violence across #Uttrakhand, said that he does not believe in the Constitution. When asked, don't you think your speeches incite people?
"I don't believe in the Constitution", "I wish people actually got incited by my words, then so many Muslims would have had their hands and legs chopped off" - Uttarakhand extremist Darshan Bharati, in an interview on Sept 24 facebook.com/vijayrawat84/v…
Bharati's organisation, Devbhoomi Raksha Abhiyaan, was on the posters calling for Muslims to not return after dozens of families fled in June 2023. While he denied putting up posters, he pressured families in the area not to rent Muslim homes or shops.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pos…
In 9 States during Ram Navami & Hanuman Jayanti celebrations in April'22, there was widespread violence. During these processions, in 3 States: Gujarat, Jharkhand, & MP, at least 100 persons from the minority community were injured, and two were killed. scribd.com/document/63361…
"In April 2022, India witnessed violence breaking out in as many as nine states, along with incidents of provocation and low-grade violence in three others. "
"In all of them, the catalyst for the violence was the same: religious processions celebrating the Hindu festivals of RamNavami and Hanuman Jayanti, followed by targeted attacks on Muslim-owned properties, businesses, and places of worship."
"Keep weapons (knives) at home. Keep them sharp. If veggies can be cut well, so can the enemy's head," BJP MP Pragya Singh Thakur follows the now-established patterns of calling for violence against Muslims in India. This is not the first time she has publicly invited violence.
Pragya was involved in the 2008 Malegaon bombings where 6 people were killed and 101 injured. She was arrested on terror charges under UAPA and currently under trial. She has been out on medical bail since 2017 after NIA dropped some of the charges against her.
Atwood, in Second Words narrates the incident when she asked a friend why men felt threatened by women. He replied, “They are afraid women will laugh at them and undercut their worldview.” She then asked her female students. They answered, “We’re afraid of being killed.”
I don’t think anyone can articulate the precarity women experience just going through life. It’s not her fault, and it doesn’t matter what she was wearing or if she had chosen to live with a man before she got married.
It doesn’t matter what boundaries you believe she transgressed.