”The Fascist State organizes the nation, but it leaves the individual adequate elbow room. It has curtailed useless or harmful liberties while preserving those which are essential. In such matters the individual cannot be the judge, but the State only. The Fascist”
– Benito Mussolini [1]
LISTEN TO THE SHOW
Click to download the audio (MP3 format)
With a population of over 1.2 billion people, the Republic of India is considered the world’s most populous democracy. Yet, civil liberties and the power of the masses to direct their affairs in their own interest are being undermined if developments in recent years are any indication.
Beyond the increasing incidence of lynchings and mob violence targeting minorities, and the severe crack-downs on dissent, there is significant doubts being raised about the sanctity of the rule of law. A story surfacing in the fall of 2017 has cast suspicion on the ability of the courts to rule independently of political influence.
On December 1, 2014, a judge with the country’s Central Bureau of Investigation was reported to have died of natural causes. Judge Brijgopal Loya had been presiding over one of the nation’s most high profile cases, that of a murder implicating the president of the governing BJP party.
Two investigative reports published in November of 2017, brought to the fore doubts expressed by Loya’s family about the account of his death. These doubts were corroborated by documents accessed by the author highlighting irregularities in the overall depiction of events around Loya’s death. The family also detailed attempts at bribery and intimidation of the judge in the weeks leading up to his untimely death at the age of 48.
To date, the response of officialdom has been to try to discredit the report and downplay the revelations therein.
India is a significant power. One of the world’s largest economies and a member of the powerful BRICS alliance of nations with strategic links with both the U.S. and Russia. What does a significant deterioration of the India’s democratic rights mean within a larger geopolitical context.
These are the questions we will be exploring in a special recently broadcast live to air edition of the Global Research News Hour. Our special guest for the hour is the journalist who broke the story, Niranjan Takle. He will discuss the case, the betrayal of the journalistic community, the factors directing the BJP’s regressive agenda, the implications for foreign relations, and more.
Links to Mr. Takle’s 2017 stories can be found here:
Professor Radhika Desai, who is presenting Mr. Takle at his Winnipeg talk also joins us in this studio discussion.
Upcoming Canadian speaking events for Niranjan Takle:
Sunday, 23rd September
5-7 pm
Ryerson University, Room 358, Podium Building
350 Victoria Street (on north-west corner of Gould and Victoria)
Organized by India Civil Watch and Jamhoor
Supported by the Ryerson Faculty Association Equity Committee
info: [email protected]
Saturday, 29th September
4-6pm
at Alternatives
3720 Park Avenue
Montreal H2X 2J1
organized by: CERAS and India Civil Watch-Canada
info: [email protected]
Niranjan Takle is a journalist based in India. He has worked as a stringer and as a correspondent for CNN-IBN, and later as a bureau chief for Network 18’s Maharashtra (north). He worked for The Week from 2011 to 2017, only leaving after it refused to publish his story on the death of judge Loya. The Caravan published the story but has not as yet hired Takle on a permanent basis. He is currently unemployed and looking for work.
Dr. Radhika Desai is Professor at the Department of Political Studies, and Director, Geopolitical Economy Research Group, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada. She is the author of Geopolitical Economy: After US Hegemony, Globalization and Empire (2013), and Slouching Towards Ayodhya: From Congress to Hindutva in Indian Politics (2nd rev ed, 2004). She is also active with Democracy, Equality and Secularism in South Asia (DESSA) which is hosting Mr. Takle’s Winnipeg talk Saturday Sept. 22 at 1:30pm at 765 Keewatin St.
LISTEN TO THE SHOW
Click to download the audio (MP3 format)
Global Research News Hour Episode 229
The Global Research News Hour airs every Friday at 1pm CT on CKUW 95.9FM in Winnipeg. The programme is also podcast at globalresearch.ca . Excerpts of the show have begun airing on Rabble Radio and appear as podcasts at rabble.ca.
The Global Research News Hour now airs Fridays at 6pm PST, 8pm CST and 9pm EST on Alternative Current Radio (alternativecurrentradio.com)
Community Radio Stations carrying the Global Research News Hour:
CHLY 101.7fm in Nanaimo, B.C – Thursdays at 1pm PT
Boston College Radio WZBC 90.3FM NEWTONS during the Truth and Justice Radio Programming slot -Sundays at 7am ET.
Port Perry Radio in Port Perry, Ontario –1 Thursdays at 1pm ET
Burnaby Radio Station CJSF out of Simon Fraser University. 90.1FM to most of Greater Vancouver, from Langley to Point Grey and from the North Shore to the US Border.
It is also available on 93.9 FM cable in the communities of SFU, Burnaby, New Westminister, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam, Port Moody, Surrey and Delta, in British Columbia, Canada. – Tune in at its new time – Wednesdays at 4pm PT.
Radio station CFUV 101.9FM based at the University of Victoria airs the Global Research News Hour every Sunday from 7 to 8am PT.
CORTES COMMUNITY RADIO CKTZ 89.5 out of Manson’s Landing, B.C airs the show Tuesday mornings at 10am Pacific time.
Cowichan Valley Community Radio CICV 98.7 FM serving the Cowichan Lake area of Vancouver Island, BC airs the program Thursdays at 6am pacific time.
Campus and community radio CFMH 107.3fm in Saint John, N.B. airs the Global Research News Hour Fridays at 10am.
Caper Radio CJBU 107.3FM in Sydney, Cape Breton, Nova Scotia airs the Global Research News Hour starting Wednesday Morning from 8:00 to 9:00am. Find more details at www.caperradio.ca
RIOT RADIO, the visual radio station based out of Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario has begun airing the Global Research News Hour on an occasional basis. Tune in at dcstudentsinc.ca/services/riot-radio/
Radio Fanshawe: Fanshawe’s 106.9 The X (CIXX-FM) out of London, Ontario airs the Global Research News Hour Sundays at 6am with an encore at 4pm.
Los Angeles, California based Thepowerofvoices.com airs the Global Research News Hour every Monday from 6-7pm Pacific time.
Notes:
- Benito Musselini (1932), ‘The Doctrine of Fascism’; http://www.worldfuturefund.org/wffmaster/Reading/Germany/mussolini.htm
