The Wire Talks

A 'Concentrated Attack' on the CJI Because of His Questions on Waqf Bill | Sanjay Hegde

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar went “much beyond his Constitutional Role as the Presiding Officer of the Rajya Sabha” when he spoke against the Supreme Court. “His language was intemperate,” says Supreme Court Senior Advocate Sanjay Hegde in a podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia.
 
“The conjecture is that he is auditioning for a higher role,” Hegde said.
 
Pointing to the unseemly comments of BJP MP Nishikant Dubey against the Chief Justice of India, and also the social media campaign attacking the CJI, Hegde said it all seemed like a “concentrated attack”.
 
“Indian democracy is not in a healthy position,” he said, and the situation was more like an “elected autocracy”. There were occasions in the 1970s when the judges were criticised by the executive but “the language was never so crass” as now.

Hindutva Hate Music (H-Pop) Is Now All Around Us | Kunal Purohit

Journalist and author Kunal Purohit began monitoring Hindutva WhatsApp groups several years ago and saw how they disseminated propaganda. “The things people were then scared to speak openly are now all around us,” he says to Sidharth Bhatia in a podcast discussion.
 
Purohit, who wrote the book H-Pop about songs spreading hate, says he finds those songs being played all over the place. He followed Ram Navami processions in Mumbai recently where marchers hurled the most obscene messages openly towards Muslims. The police stood by mutely. The songs of hate were being played openly and loudly.
 
His social media posts forced the police to file FIRs against the organisers of the march, but he says “the genie is out of the bottle”. Such demonstrations rarely took place in Mumbai even a few years ago.
 
“Basically what was happening in Uttar Pradesh has now come to Mumbai,” he feels.

Waqf Amendment is Seen as a Continuation of the Disenfranchisement of the Muslim Community | Shadan Farasat

The Waqf (Amendment) Bill that has now come into force will effectively take control of any Waqf (Charity) property from the Muslim community wherever there is a dispute.
“For example, Sambal mosque will be affected and will now come under the control of the Archeological society of India,” explains Shadan Farasat, senior advocate in the Supreme Court in this podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. “It could be very problematic going forward” because in any dispute arising with a government agency, the community is bound to lose control of the Waqf property, he says.
“From the community’s perspective, it is important to use the existing Waqf properties well.” At the same time, it should be challenged in the courts. “Some provisions are unconstitutional.”
He says the passing of the bill will have political implications—“certainly there will be an impact in Bihar, where elections are due later this year.” The Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar, a part of the coalition with the BJP, had voted in the Bill’s support.

Indian Govt Cancelled My OCI Twice, Courts Restored it Both Times | Ashok Swain

Academic and commentator Dr Ashok Swain of Uppsala University in Sweden is in the unique position of having his Overseas Citizen of India status cancelled twice by the Indian government. The government did not give any public reason for doing so but said it had “sensitive information” which it submitted to the courts when Swain challenged the decision. On both occasions the courts overturned it. “I have great faith in the Indian judiciary,” Swain told Sidharth Bhatia in a podcast decision.
 
Swain’s writings and tweets have been sharply critical of the Modi government. Now his X account is ‘withheld' in India and he says all his tweets before December 2024 have vanished.
 
“I got a lot of threats of a serious nature” and petitions to the university, but his colleagues have been very supportive. “OCIs of many academics have been targeted.” However, he insisted he did not want to indulge in “victimhood”.

The Very Real Dangers of the Great Nicobar Project | Pankaj Sekhsaria

Plans to develop the Great Nicobar island, initiated by the Niti Aayog, have alarmed scientists and activists alike. A massive project, involving a transhipment terminal, port, a township, an airport and more, has been made. It is estimated to cost over Rs 70,000 crore.
 
Pankaj Sekhsaria, who has been associated with the islands for over three decades says on every front – environmental, geological and social – the project will ruin the islands. “The township is for accommodating 3.5 lakhs people: residents, tourists, etc.,” he tells Sidharth Bhatia in this podcast. 
 
“A reserved forest has been denotified – its not easy to cut down a forest,” he says. He lists the damage to the local flora and fauna. “The beaches there are the nesting place for the great leatherback turtle – that will be finished."

Fifty-Five Years After they Broke Up, Why Are the Beatles Still Popular? | Oliver Craske

Generations have come and music genres have changed, but The Beatles and their music go on and on. 
 
In this podcast, Oliver Craske and Sidharth Bhatia, both fans of the world’s first pop group, try to crack the mystery of their enduring popularity 60 years after The Beatles broke up.
 
“Their music sounds deceptively simple but it was actually not simple,” says Craske, who has worked on several books about the group including The Beatles Anthology: Get Back, which accompanied the Peter Jackson film on them.
 
“Lennon and McCartney – there has been no song writing duo like them,” says Craske. 
 
The two analyse Rubber Soul and Revolver, and how with each album The Beatles evolved, trying out new instruments and recording techniques. "Many of their songs, such as 'A Day in the Life' were revolutionary when they came out,” Craske says. “The group just continued to evolve.”
 
And of course, no discussion on the group is complete without speculating why they broke up. 

The Government is Using Every Means to Put Pressure on Journalists | N. Ram

N. Ram, a journalist and media manager for over five decades, has seen Indian journalism through its ups and downs. He recalls the Emergency, when there was censorship and most of the media simply succumbed to government pressure.
 
What he sees today is different. “It was a dictatorship then but it was not ideological. Today’s media management is toxic,” he says. He also talks about the "weaponisation of the arms of the state” by introducing new laws and regulations, such as cancelling the non-profit status of digital news outfits such as the Reporters Collective.
 
However, he sees hope, he says in this podcast discussion with Sidharth Bhatia. He points to the vast diversity of Indian media and the emergence of independent digital platforms which will be difficult to control for the state. 

Yogi Adityanath Has Been Getting the Support of Hindutva Types, But He Is No Modi | Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay

Reports are emerging that after the Kumbh Mela, Yogi Adityanath’s profile has increased for holding a successful event, the stampede apart. But there are others too.
 
“If Modi is the Alpha Hindutva Male, Adityanath is the Alpha Hindutva Male in waiting,” says Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, longtime observer and analyst of the right-wing Hindutva ecosystem. “He has been getting a lot of support from Hindutva people and even the RSS.”
 
In a podcast with Sidharth Bhatia, Mukhopadhyay discusses a possible post-Modi scenario. “Many things will depend on the circumstances in which he goes.” For example, “if he decides to step down after turning 75 in September, following the BJP’s own rule.” He says for all his appeal among Hindutva types, Yogi will not get the support of “allies or the middle-classes. No one is the complete package like Narendra Modi,” he says.
 
In this wide-ranging discussion, Mukhopadhyay also talks about the differences between Modi and the RSS, the many other pending Hindutva issues before the BJP, and the agenda behind the One Nation One Election proposal.

India Will Not Benefit by Being a US Ally. We Need to Have Autonomy in Decision Making | Sanjay Bhattacharya

Retired diplomat and now academic Sanjay Bhattacharya says President Donald Trump believes disruption is the only way to achieve the kind of world order he wants to. In a podcast conversation with Sidharth Bhatia, Bhattacharyya says Trump still wants a Pax Americana, but wants allies like Europe and Japan to meet their share of the expenses of being protected.
 
According to Bhattacharyya, Trump is aiming for a reset of the global order and advancing ideas he had started in his previous presidency. He believes India has a role to play in the world. “Our voice for liberal values is recognised” globally, but this will not amount to much if we do not “improve the condition of our own citizens”.
 
He also cautions that we should have a certain amount of “autonomy in decision making”. He is critical of the high price India will be paying for the F-35 aircraft which will be bought from the US.
 
Listen to the podcast during which Bhattacharyya and Bhatia will cover some of Trump’s other ideas, including his plans for Gaza, buying over Greenland and imposing tariffs on imports.

After Beer Biceps Case, Could Broadcast Bill Be Pushed Through the Backdoor? | Amit Varma

The crass statements made by YouTuber Ranveer Allahbadia, who goes by the name of Beer Biceps, have caused outrage among the general public. The police too is after him and the Supreme Court, while giving him some relief, has made strong statements against him. But does the state have any business to get after him?
 
Amit Varma, a veteran podcaster who also runs a YouTube show, thinks not. Describing himself as a ‘free speech absolutist', Verma says unless there is direct incitement to violence, no one should be prevented from saying what they want to.
 
“The principle of free speech should matter. But Article 19 (2) of the Constitution talks about decency and morality – who interprets them?” he asks, in a podcast interview with Sidharth Bhatia. He says he is not as worried about politicians or the courts as much as society. “As Ambedkar said, a liberal Constitution was imposed over an illiberal society.”
 
He says top government ministers like Dr S. Jaishankar, Nitin Gadkari and Piyush Goyal were happy to talk to him because “he fawned all over them” rather than ask tough questions. “But it was a question of use and dump,” he says.
 
There is a lot of more obscene and violence-inciting content online, but no one bothers about that. “But now if the Broadcast Bill comes there won’t be much opposition to that. This Bill will be a disaster.”