Ravaging India News Today

The anti—muslim violence. so if its a bjp—ruled state, which is unfortunately most so, if its a bjp—ruled state, which is unfortunately most of the states in india, one needs to be cautious as a journalist, one needs to tread cautiously. and i have seen what happens, because i remember i was in kashmir two years ago, where i sneaked in a journalist from the new yorker, and the cops from kashmir actually went on twitter and said, "why should rana ayyub not be arrested?", and bjp leaders goi...

Page," im happy to write. having said that, there are publications, there are independent publications — like the scroll wire, article 1a, caravan — that are doing stunning journalism but, again, with a very niche audience. by and large, the majority of the mainstream media is still publishing newspapers that is palatable for an audience that is riding high on hate — the hate wave in india that is all pervasive. this hate that has taken almost every sector, almost every class, caste, which...

I cannot develop amnesia. thats not detaching, i think. i also believe that i will not develop amnesia over a leaders pastjust because he has become the prime minister of the country, because those who were killed under his watch have still not been given justice, and a criminal does not cease to be a criminal because the media around that time is trying to gloss over the persons past. so thats me, as a journalist, stephen. yeah. powerful words. i think anyjournalist around the world watching th...

Well, unfortunately, that seems to be the situation. the first time a case was filed against me, injune, my lawyers had to get a transit anticipatory bailfor me to travel to uttar pradesh, where the case was booked against me. if you look at whats happening in india, in the last one week itself, two young journalists, a 21—year—old who just tweeted about the anti—muslim violence in the bjp—ruled state of tripura, were arrested in assam for just tweeting about that news story and commenti...

Voices will be left. if the government is really concerned about communalisation and polarisation, it should start censoring its own spokespersons and ministers who are at the forefront of spreading fake news in india. and every day you see them spewing hate and venom and fake numbers, talking about, for instance, talking about how the muslim population of india will explode by 2050, how muslims are taking over various states. that is at the core. if mr modi — who has since 2014 not taken a si...

I can do that because im not writing for an indian publication. i havent written for an indian publication in a long time. i write for the washington post, i write for new york times and other publications. i now have my substack, but... well... yes, you still have a high profile... ..that i wrote in time magazine in an indian newspaper, i dont think that would have been possible. you still have a high profile in india, and ijust wonder what impact all of the threats and intimidation youve talke...

With inter—communal mistrust, which leads to, on occasion, violence. now, the indian government has responded to that by saying that it needs new powers, and it has taken new powers to oversee and regulate social media platforms, to ensure that internet content gets taken down if it is deemed to be inflammatory. for you, as a journalist, somebody who has always regarded social media as actually an important outlet, do you believe it is right that india tries to regulate out the inflammatory rh...

Threats, intimidation and legal action after digging deep into the past and present of indias prime minister, narendra modi. is freedom of expression on life support in india? rana ayyub in mumbai, welcome to hardtalk. thank you so much for having me, stephen. its a pleasure having you on the show. at the last count, and its a little confusing, but the last count, i think you are now facing four different legal actions.

Said, there have been many sos calls when i see a car tailing me or people, strange people, hovering around me and my house, hovering around, probably when im eating food at a restaurant. its happened way too often. so im not scared. i just want the government of the day to know that it should stop intimidating journalists, because its not yielding. it is interesting to me that you say you no longer write for indian publications, you write for publications overseas. ijust wonder if that is one s...

Enforcement directorate, and im hoping many more to go, because thats the cost of speaking truth to power in india at a time when journalism and mainstream journalists in india are self—censoring themselves. but ive seen some reports suggesting your legal team have said that you better not leave mumbai, because if you do, you might well be detained, arrested. is that the situation you are in right now? well, unfortunately, that seems to be the situation. the first time a case was filed against...