Hafta 254: Citizenship law, Delhi fire, death penalty, and more

They begin with a discussion on the Citizenship Amendment Bill that has garnered massive attention in the media. Abhinandan questions whether the BJP had anticipated the reaction to the passage of the law. Mehraj responds, “Maybe they even figured this in their calculations and are fine with it. I mean like in Kashmir, they are fine with what happens in Kashmir as long as they get the votes elsewhere.”

Manisha points to the misconception that persecuted minorities in Afghanistan and Bangladesh can find refugee in India after this law comes into force. Manisha also says she was extremely disappointed that the opposition did not corner Amit Shah in the Parliament over the Citizenship Bill.

Talking of the Anaj Mandi fire and its media coverage, Anand says, “I think it has to do with the media’s imagination of the public. In that imagination, the only profitable binary is State versus something or government versus something.” He says though there was an air of horror around the incident because the owner was an ordinary citizen and the people killed were also ordinary citizens, they didn’t matter to the media.

Samrat adds, “We have an imagination of the poor, where poor lead a miserable life and often die miserable deaths.”

The panel also discusses the public demand for death penalty to rapists, the British election, and much more.

Tune in!

Hafta Letters: On Citizenship Amendment Bill, death penalty, and more

References

Andhra Pradesh passes Disha Bill, rape case convicts to get death penalty

Anaj Mandi fire tragedy shows how safety norms and labour laws are rampantly violated in Delhi

The Great NRC Mess

Why Citizenship Bill endangers the very people it claims to help

Why did Nitish Kumar’s supposedly secular party vote for the Citizenship Bill?

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