In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Pooja Prasanna first discuss  the safety of Indians abroad in the context of a surge in anti-immigration sentiments across Ireland, US, UK and more. Joining them are guests Joyojeet Pal and Bharathy Singaravel.

Joyojeet says that most of the anti-immigrant protests are driven by far-right, white populations, triggered by anger at wealthier immigrant populations. “In the UK there is a very significant religious element around Muslims. There is also conversation about what is an authentic Brit or Australian, etc.,” he explains. He adds that now, the anti-immigrant anger has transcended the digital spaces to physical environments. 

“The bigger threat is state action,” he says.

The uniting factor of the protestors is how they are white supremacists, nativists, etc., says Bharathy. “Charlie Kirk’s death has also become a galavanising point around projecting hate speech against immigrants as free speech,” she says.

Pooja asks if the anti-immigrant uprising is a crutch to deviate from the politics of the land like unemployment, financial crisis, racism, and so on.

“Yes. In the UK, prior to the election, immigration is the top issue discussed, tied to economic insecurities for the future. The existential fear is not only imminent upon the poor, but also among others who are grappling with the uncertainty of the employment market,” Joyojeet says.

The second is an ex parte injunction in favour of the Adani group, allowing them to add any number of URLs to be taken down–YouTube, Instagram, and others, including an episode of South Central. Investigative journalist Saurav Das joins the hosts. 

Saying such an order is unusual, Saurav notes that not only the injunction, but the order also broadly gives the company the right to request that any link or publication be taken down. “This order is sweeping, and it is unusual. The reasoning is flawed with no legal application,” he adds.

Saurav further says that the reasoning given is a reproduction of the fears of one of conglomerates about his company and his reputation. “Seasoned lawyers will even tell you that this is an illegal order because it does not satisfy the test of defamation as mandated by the law,” he explained.

“The court must examine the URLs submitted by one of the conglomerates before giving an injunction. But here, the court has not done that and has further given him the leeway to keep pulling out more URLs and send take-down notices,” Saurav says.

Dhanya says that the Vantara order also gives a clean chit to Vantara, negating allegations of animal trafficking, flouting wildlife laws and so on. “The court permitted Vantara to take action of any kind against anyone who spreads misinformation, which means all journalists who have done investigative reporting on the enterprise will have to take them down,” she adds. 

Pooja says that the court did not scrutinise the contentions, and the passing of the SIT report in a sealed cover prevents journalists from further reporting on the order. 

Tune in to the discussion here.

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Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 - Introduction 

00:00:43 - Support TNM 

00:03:36 - Headlines 

00:09:05 - Are Indians safe abroad? 

00:50:45 - Freedom of press at stake? 

1:14:36 - Recommendations

Recommendations 

Bharathy Singaravel

Girl, Woman, Other

Joyojeet Pal

Holy Night: Demon Hunters

Ronth

Saurav Das

The Great Book of Rules of India

Pooja Prasanna

The Post-American World

Dhanya Rajedran

The King: Eternal Monarch

Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali, written by Sukanya Shaji.