With 3. Is bollywood cozying up to their own little bow these far right hindu nationalist government lost 2 of the indian Film Industry is best known creative figures. I made the house with the Indian Government targeting of minorities demonstrations against them in the road these increasingly authoritarian rule have sprung up across india so why is bollywood been so silent indias powerful Film Industry afraid of modi and the b j p ill scream going to job up there and direct to the haitian public but 1st ethiopian Prime Minister ahmed won the Nobel Peace Prize and 29000 for ending a decades long conflict with eritrea and introducing long overdue reforms to his country but after cracking down on protesters and dissolving his own Ruling Coalition ethiopia and our base sliding back into repression and violent conflict this weeks headliner close ally an advisor to the ethiopian Prime Minister led cho bhatti. Thank you for joining me from your Prime Minister ahmed one of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize at the end of the year in which he locked up journalists detained protesters and cut off the internet is that really how Nobel Peace Prize winners are supposed to behave i dont know where you get this far there is no any youre noticed in prison now he didnt arrest 5 journalists in september 29th. So the police failed to produce any shred of evidence for their alleged crimes though there are some exaggerated things now that i mean exaggerated it is noise soon because as you read it means what there was one i mean that there is one incident and were fake news has been. Put in a market in tucson. Violence against the groups so what is amnesty is director for east and Southern Africa saying the return of mass arrests of opposition activists and supporters is a worrying signal in ethiopia these sweeping arrests risks undermining the rights to freedom of expression and association ahead of this years later this is not happening ethiopia tube is a free everybodys living in our 2 years over there is making mr for. Telling you all that youre not a star out of prison or a Political Prisoners are out of prison be admitting they were not as a lobster these these are the prisoners detained by the previous regime or oppositions in peaceful are invited back so the political space is wide and everybodys in the country and they just. Campaigning in different parts and im not questioning that people are campaigning or register im just saying that Human Rights Watch for example has said dozens of ethnic im horrid journalists were held in 20000000 team in their report in the country i mean you were on this show 2016 as someone living in exile criticizing the previous government for being repressive authoritarian locking up protestors and journalists and now youre being criticized your government is being criticized for doing the same thing does your irony this government is not doing im not aware of this. And this government is not everything gone and is that about internet blackouts there is no any time the internet was blocked i mean who should people believe well wrote well known well respected you would need to do for that investigation but i think you do need a result of the internet to check out where the internet in the country is very very very very low the coverage is very low and. But i have not come across any in the is in that interview have a couple of protesters you havent come across to turn journalist you havent come across internet blackouts no thats very convenient given its well documented are you sure its. Not ok im not in any your Prime Minister what a peace prize for ending this decades long conflict with neighboring eric. And hes been applauded for that by many around the world at home but even in ethiopia the conflicts continue ethnic conflicts the violence is in fact escalated in many places ethiopia as one of the largest internally displaced populations in the world 1600000 people internally displaced fleeing violence thats a pretty massive failure on your governments part as well the displacement has its own cause as you know the top is going through it for that means. Or the group that is overthrown who are sponsoring conflicts in different parts of the country so this is a politically motivated. Displacement in order to. Sabotage the transition and the reforms that the Prime Minister will say recourses of a 1000000 people were displaced that there were 1st half of 20 only there are still just a political move to embarrass the government of india a 1000000 people it is people that have been people used to live together peacefully this is a politically masterminded. From behind in order to sabotage the 4 isnt the danger is that that structural problem is removed now people are bad to their residents and today now the top in it the new groups in every part of the country are living together in a very harmonious when i interview a lot of people on the show from Different Countries different Political Parties youve been on the show twice and its interesting interviewing you because you came on the show in a debate with the then member of the european government you were in exile of time living in the us yes and if you had said all this stuff there and he your opponent then the government had said well this is all just you trying to make us look bad on the stand your arguments can be used either way i do wonder is you know you could sound like the previous government i dont understand the record of the Prime Minister was clear. The. Clear our Prime Minister is people as our Prime Minister rehabilitated peace with their theory or he media did peace between cells and sudan he has and he cant stop labels are being displaced there is only are the very center of the relationship with. Will from being displaced in his own country about drugs of thousands of the but the hands the hands. Who is masterminding all this violence is aimed at or is this is your satellite is already in or is the overthrow in leeds ok ok the people who are enjoying privilege for the last 27 years they minds they want to make sure this process is about time you have any evidence that a Prime Minister is very patient i mean you have any evidence for example whats your evidence for that there is and whats the evidence there is include evidence what is it there is a good evidence this latest one but its a very clear ive learned 3 times what is the evidence weapon is being smuggled to groups you found these weapons they are produces for the of course there is a lot of weapons that were for those captured that comes through through the borders and money has been distributed in order this is all very very letter about an attempt on the life of the Prime Minister also was tried in adult so there is people are living north stone and unturned in order to to to to to prevent it to appear to transit into democracy your party came to power in 2018 and now your Prime Minister ahmed is transforming ethiopias ethnic federal political system some would say without any real electoral mandate hes dissolved the Ruling Coalition he set up this whole new party the Prosperity Party to which your own defense minister has come out and criticized and said there are many dangers to doing these big dramatic changes in a hurry right now so why do it why all this up people it was a natural process to kook up to come up with a party that is unified and the one major should go so its a Party Decision some members a decision the Central Committee decision let me finish executive Committee Decision so it has been done through the party rules and regulations so why did your defense minister say merging this party is not timely and there are many dangers we are in a transition this is borrowed time it is not our time we should focus on maintaining peace and stability why are you not focusing on peace and stability why are you doing these Dangerous Things according to your own defense minister peace and stability is a burning issue theres no question about that ok the Prime Minister liberalize a political space. Oppositions are invited in including those who are in the struggle those who are in prison with lived in now the political space is no danger turning a very if this is not a dangerous move well the changes in ethiopia are very sweeping ok we have to either ok transit ethiopia into democracy otherwise there is no any other were to start but we have a global audience watching the show there is no any other option i understand our viewers around the world are watching the show they see you Senior Adviser to the office of Prime Minister saying this is a good thing and then they hear the defense minister of your government saying this is not a good thing should they believe well everybody is entitled to subpoena not really he said your government is really be singing from the same hymn sheet but what he said is what he said is hes not opposing the world hes not opposing the process but is saying maybe things are going so fast ok that this is opinion the current Prime Minister your boss up there has been in power for less than 2 years he was not elected directly to office and in november with just months before this upcoming general election in august he approved all these big changes the dissolution of the Ruling Coalition. Does he have a mandate to do any of this stuff i mean nobody nobody elected him to do any of this to the party it is a party this is but in america its european constitution the federal structure no he has not done all it will be in federation of state hes not tampering with the federation hes a federalist the multinational for the nation is a Constitutional Order what is being transformed and what is being rebranded is a party going to have a mandate for that you know as a matter that the members have in mind it and their members are doing that suv massive deliberation deliberation has been taking place within the party for a year. Thanks for joining me on up front thank you so much thank you. Attacks on students moblin chings an escalation in hate crimes and the mainstreaming of a hardline brand of hindu nationalism these have all been features of india under the leadership of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi whose party lost a key election in delhi this week yet few celebrities have spoken out against modi or the rise in intolerance many of them instead of big supporters of the Prime Minister but today were joined by 2 of the biggest names in bollywood who havent been shy to make their voices heard jahvid up there is an acclaimed screenwriter songwriter and poet as well as a former member of indias upper house of Parliament Im irish but is one of indias best known film directors and producers whose directed over 50 films since his career began in 1974 java dr marriage but thank you both for joining me on upfront java dr let me start with you how bad actually is the situation in india today in your view in terms of rising nationalism bigotry authoritarianism. If i look around and indeed it is much worse but the fact is in india without it i can see it with. The dark and it is true. And measured but would you agree with that how much is the india that want to tout it secular pluralistic multifaith credentials in india that you and job it grew up in how much of that india is gone do you think well it was called the mother of civilizations it was the land which gave birth to people like not look at the mouth of our mission but gandhi and the fact is there were jobs up just said is that it couldnt have been worse and the night is only deepening we have had a real hope just a few days ago where the the b. G. P. Got a drubbing. But they lost the election to a new kid who was on the other party but thats just one little of all measure but you said in the past that fascism is quote alive and well in the land of the mahatma what would you say to critics who say thats hyperbole thats an exaggeration india is a democratic country and theyre in the mode he won his majority last year fair and square well i would say that after the comedian to look away from the thats that explosive silence the muslims of this are my country and not really the muslims even the other minorities have never felt more insecure the feeling now if this used to turn in their face of we become this sniggered toot its their privilege but they do india a lot of harm when people are frightened to speak to people why the about whats going to happen next this add googling desire to india and they do not want to see it its a tragedy they will have to take stock of the situation and act with urgency with after my case but mentioned muslims and other minorities and the fear that they have just in the past year alone since modis reelection weve had this citizenship law which for the 1st time into. Duces a religion test for immigrants for refugees from neighboring countries everyone except muslims eligible you have a register of citizens at a sum which is excluded nearly 2000000 people many of the muslims from the citizenship list you have the Supreme Court decision which allows for the building of a hindu tel ball on a disputed religious site the site of a mosque that was destroyed by hindu nationalists all of that in just in the past year is it fair to say that lost limbs in india now feel like theyre in the firing line as a matter of fact as long as. It problem a problem minority not be able to change it is the problem for india and does that come near as you can with kids can be as chipping in dont reach the people but the enemy then they can be that means the fact is that. And instead maybe if you are talking not only emotion i mean. The joint a community of people i think you did get the fact that you can you look at on the theists. Who. Has been for detention is shrinking by the day. How dear any. Channel then in india dead or polluted to the present regime it was not for thick steel but indeed so let me bring in motion but here the reality is as you well know that the b j p and the r. S. S. The ideological force behind the b j p the Paramilitary Group that forms a lot of the ideological backbone of the b. G. P. Has been very anti muslim for many decades now and when you look at whats happening in for example here which was indias only muslim majority state before that the government went along and basically broke it up a few months ago and put it under siege you can understand why muslims in india muscles around the world are looking at india and saying what is going on here in terms of islamophobia anti muslim bigotry anti muslim hate especially when you look at for example the situation in kashmir. Well i dont think islamophobia the readers of islam of who are blue to the world are plain living the life i think the full year is manufactured because i dont think that the average indian is so frightened of a muslim with that kind of a fear has been crafted been structured. In india media a person go out do the live child lose are working around the clock to create to create the other they need the other to do to stay in power and to hate the muslim is hard because it is the lifeline of the b j b thats not been so words are there is institutional bias which has been there since the dawn of time in this is a birth of the nation but now it is needed the mosque is off and they are doing it right in their laws and. Measurements of the mosque is often not under modi won a 2nd term he has escalated his i dont know what you want to call a campaign of dominance of authoritarianism of consolidation of power for his party and for his movement whats interesting about modi is many people here in the United States where i am for example like to compare modi and trump trump doesnt actually believe anything whereas modi is a lifelong ideologue hes been in the r. S. S. Since he was a child how dangerous a leader do you think there are in remote areas thats not simplify if youd like believing that only he did just that there were Different Things and keep it he was good he had people receive the germany and he was whatever he did he did only against. Your will and the way you were thought got to everybody and its not true that actually mean what you fashion you create an enemy you. Put your own people. In an imaginary theater and that is how you control them at the moment if through all of this that for the people who think it is people are losing their freedom of expression or confident that you need to explain it is not happening to one community it is not happening to one people do you believe the remote is a fascist or course he is i mean a child dont have guns on their head if i shifted to thinking at this thinking that we are better then at that end what your problem we have it is because of these people the who do you hear it people in all fear. Youre a fish but let me ask you this when it comes to modi and bollywood cloud i want to talk about your industry your bollywood stars congratulating the Prime Minister on his reelection on twitter you have that famous selfie that got so much coverage of a bunch of Bollywood Actors including your daughter alia there claimed actress i believe that they took with modi you have the industrys top stars the harmons and others completely silent on the citizenship bill on crush me and on the attacks on students are you disappointed in some of your fellow artist