Irked by 'Fascism' Charge, Modi's Censors Look to Jail AI Chatbots; Mission 370 and the Lure of Movies as Force Multiplier
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by MK Venu, Seema Chishti, Siddharth Varadarajan, Sushant Singh, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal and Tanweer Alam | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK
Snapshot of the day
February 23, 2024
Siddharth Varadarajan
In the run-up to the crucial 2024 Lok Sabha elections, India is witnessing a barrage of raids by the central agencies – aimed particularly at those who have questioned the Narendra Modi dispensation. Yesterday, the South Delhi residence of former Jammu and Kashmir governor Satya Pal Malik was raided. He has been a vocal critic of the regime on various counts. “I was raided because I had questioned the Modi government about the Pulwama tragedy; the prime minister had told me to keep quiet about it. That I went public angered those in power,” says Malik. “I fail to understand why I was raided; there is no FIR against me. Instead of probing those whom I said had tried to bribe me to clear a file on the multi-crore project, CBI is raiding the complainant. This means I was raided for raising a voice against corruption.”
The Congress party has written to Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman urging a thorough investigation into allegations of quid-pro-quo between the BJP and several corporate donors who have been subjected to raids by various investigative agencies. The party cited recent reporting by News Laundry and The News Minute. With elections barely three months away, should the opposition rely on letters and court petitions or find political ways to up the ante? “Pity the Congress doesn’t want to ask its cadres to hit the streets on this issue. Going to court on this matter at this stage is purely political abdication,” says political scientist Suhas Palikar.
But then the real question remains: How independent is India’s Supreme Court? “By and large, the court has decided to align its agenda with that of the government in order to safeguard its autonomy. Such a court might sometimes take on the government. But it will not be an especially reliable constitutional check on executive power”, The Economist notes. “India’s constitution makes it among the world’s most powerful supreme courts. Yet anyone counting on it emerging as a strong check on Mr Modi’s authoritarian drift is liable to be disappointed. The court has been much less willing to challenge the BJP government on its political priorities. Despite its recent activities, a combination of structural flaws and political pressure has severely diminished its role as an independent bulwark against the excesses of the ruling party”.
At a public event on Thursday, former Supreme Court judge Justice KM Joseph said that ‘secularism’ is indispensable in a democracy while referring to calls from certain quarters to remove the reference to ‘secularism’ from the constitution. The word ‘secularism’ was not part of the original preamble but was added in 1976 during the Emergency as part of the 42nd amendment to the constitution along with a raft of measures, some populist and others anti-democratic. “Even if you take away secularism from the preamble, none of the features of secularism would go away. So you cannot take away Secularism from the Constitution,” said Joseph. “Secularism is absolutely indispensable in a democracy. If secularism is going to be removed by any government from the Preamble to the Constitution, under the impression that by merely removing the word ‘secularism’, you are removing the features of secularism…even if it is removed, it will sound the death knell of democracy,” he said.
Not content with blocking and censoring tweets by human critics of its policies, the Narendra Modi government is now threatening to prosecute AI chatbots for serving up uncharitable answers to political questions. A journalist upset by the ‘downright malicious’ answer Google’s Gemini gave when asked if Narendra Modi was a fascist (as opposed to Donald Trump and Vladimir Zelenskyy) tagged India’s junior Information Technology minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar on X and urged the government to “take note”.
In less than 12 hours, the minister responded, all guns blazing:
These are direct violations of Rule 3(1)(b) of Intermediary Rules (IT rules) of the IT act and violations of several provisions of the Criminal code. @GoogleAI @GoogleIndia @GoI_MeitYThe minister did not care to explain how a statement of fact about Modi – “he has been accused of implementing policies that some experts have characterised as fascist” – can violate any law. Rule 3(1)(b) only directs intermediaries (in this case Google and Google Gemini) to “make reasonable efforts to cause the users not to host, display, upload, modify, publish, transmit, store, update or share, among others, information which deceives or misleads the addressee about the origin of the message or knowingly and intentionally communicates any misinformation or information which is patently false and untrue or misleading in nature, or impersonates another person.” Even if we accept that the AI chatbot is a “user”, it is not clear how the Modi answer violates the rule’s provisions.
But then.
British MP Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi has raised the issue of farmers protests, the killing of a 21-year old farmer in firing and X’s compliance with the Modi government’s orders to take down accounts. The UK government minister calls it a “serious situation”, and says will ask UK Foreign Office to respond.
A deputy leader of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (Isak-Muiviah) faction was shot dead at his residence in Tizit town of Nagaland’s Mon district by unidentified people. As per news reports from Nagaland quoting Tizit Police, at least six assailants wearing masks broke into Khampei Opeiham Konyak’s house located in the town’s Industrial Ward at around 9 pm. First, members of his family were locked up. Then, he was dragged out of the house. Khampei’s murder is also being seen by political observers in Nagaland as a suspected case of inter-fractional fight, though no one has claimed responsibility for it yet.
Meanwhile, Kuki families who were evacuated from their homes in Imphal by security forces in September last year say their residences have now been taken over by “armed militia”. These unoccupied houses, in the New Lambulane area, are now “illegally occupied”.
Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, former Member of Parliament from Tumakuru SP Muddahanumegowda resigned from the BJP and returned to the Congress fold on Thursday. He is likely to be the face of the Congress in the Tumkur Lok Sabha constituency for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. With his candidature, Congress is confident of winning Tumakuru seat.
Meanwhile, a decade-long attack that the BJP government has launched on civil society “is hurting policy and millions of poor Indian lives”. “Since coming to power in 2014, Narendra Modi’s administration has shut down or depleted thousands of charities, according to industry veterans. The sector is operating in an “environment of fear”, says an ngo boss”, says The Economist.
The Chinese research vessel Xiang Yang Hong 03 has reached the Maldives. Malé has said the vessel will not conduct research in its waters. Though it is unknown if India has registered its concern with the Maldives over the ship, Indian officials have previously alleged that such vessels could be used for military purposes and have objected to the presence of Chinese vessels at Sri Lankan ports. Xiang Yang Hong 03 had previously alarmed Indonesian officials when it sailed through the Sunda Strait in 2021 and turned off its tracking system thrice.
A resolution passed at a large public meeting in Delhi on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has urged the Modi government to refrain from any sort of complicity with Israel’s war on the Palestinians.
Evidence of an industry downturn keeps piling up. Now alumni want engineering graduates, top of the line people for giving jobs to, to be helped, as placements are hard to find.
An umbrella body comprising nearly 800 hospitals in Gujarat says its members won’t accept any patients under the Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana – or PMJAY – health insurance scheme between February 26 and 29 in ‘symbolic protest’ at the government’s alleged non-payment of dues to hospitals for the last two years. It says the government hasn’t offered assurances in writing and that several of its hospitals are “on the verge of bankruptcy” due to the non-payment. The three-day protest may extend indefinitely if the issues remain unresolved after Leap Day, it said.
More evidence that the Narendra Modi government may be discriminating against the South and opposition-ruled states: the Tamil Nadu finance minister has asked why the Centre is not approving the Chennai Metro Rail project’s second phase (and thus sharing its financial burden) and for not providing funds for natural calamities, “while other States have got it,” reports BusinessLine.
Anyone remember Verghese Kurien and the milk revolution he ushered in? No need to anymore. Here is a well-deserved tribute to the three men who apparently made possible the world’s largest dairy cooperative.
Airlines have cancelled 200 flights linking the Mumbai airport to 12 other cities, and two cities – Hubli and Jabalpur – have lost connectivity with Mumbai altogether, reports the Business Standard. IndiGo apparently cancelled 110 flights on routes to the city within the last week alone. Fares in some cases have soared up to 193% as a result of the cancellations. The Civil Aviation Ministry said it “had to step in” after the Mumbai airport operator, owned by the Adani group, failed to proactively deal with the persistent congestion. “Thanks to the inexperienced operator, who got the charge of the airport thanks to over active agencies we see the airport management in a mess,” tweeted Priyanka Chaturvedi, Shiv Sena MP.
Speaking of Mumbai, a cab driver booked via an app told his (Muslim) fare that he would agree to take him only if he first agreed to say ‘Jai Shri Ram’. The would be passenger told the Free Press Journal, “I have no issues with 'Jai Shree Ram' or any other salutations but it should not be forced.”
Read this editorial comment in Parsiana on the recent Ayodhya temple consecration. Parsi wit at its finest, it is a caustic comment on the state of India, the state of its media and a reminder that majoritarianism has unsettled all of India’s minorities, including the ‘model minority’ so beloved of Hindutva ideologues.
The long arm of repression
In its latest report titled ‘We Will Find You: A Global Look at How Governments Repress Nationals Abroad’, Human Rights Watch advocates for the UN and international organisations to “recognise transnational repression as a specific threat to human rights”. The Indian navy’s alleged cooperation with Emirati authorities in forcibly returning Sheikha Latifa features among the report’s examples of transnational repression. Also listed in the report as examples are countries abusing the Interpol to target its nationals abroad – India recently received a (dis)honourable mention in a New York Times investigation on how countries misuse the organisation’s notice systems. But India’s most widely-known link to transnational repression is, of course, the alleged plot to murder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.
RTI crusader who fought the good fight against electoral bonds
Retired Indian Navy officer Commodore Lokesh Batra spoke to Article 14 about the rationale behind his transparency crusade against the now-unconstitutional electoral bonds scheme. Responses to his RTI queries revealed, among other things, how institutions such as the Election Commission and the RBI expressed their apprehensions with the scheme as well as how the government reacted to them – the finance ministry claimed the RBI ‘didn’t understand’ its proposal when the latter flagged amendments made to facilitate the scheme as setting a “bad precedent”. Batra also revealed he once received a message saying those who spoke against the prime minister would end up like Gauri Lankesh – but the sailor remained unfazed.
Historical sites in Afghanistan ‘bulldozed for looting’
More than 37 archaeological sites in Afghanistan have been destroyed and targeted with “systematic looting” under the Taliban-run government, according to researchers at the University of Chicago. Researchers at the university’s Center for Cultural Heritage Preservation identified 162 ancient settlements that faced devastation at an alarming rate between 2018 and 2021, continuing at 37 sites since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. The analysis of satellite images of sites identified around northern Afghanistan’s Balkh region has provided the first evidence of patterns of looting that were initially identified under the Taliban’s first stint in power and have continued since, according to a BBC report. The sites that have been plundered date back to the Late Bronze Age and Iron Age, with some even predating 1000 BC, researchers say.
The Long Cable
Mission 370: The Modi Machine Sees Movies as Force Multiplier
Sidharth Bhatia
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been exhorting his party workers to work for 370 seats. He predicts the BJP itself will get that number, and along with the allies, get around 400. In 2019, the BJP won 303 seats, so it's a pretty big jump of about 67 seats, not an easy electoral feat that Modi is predicting. Why 370? If the idea is to touch a 2/3 majority in the Lok Sabha, 358 seats should be enough. Nor is 370 higher than Rajiv Gandhi’s 400 plus in the 1984 elections. So how did Modi choose the number?
It's obvious really — 370 is also the number of the Article in the Constitution that gave Jammu and Kashmir its special status within the Union of India. Getting rid of this article was the first major decision of the BJP government after 2019. Lest voters forget, this call by the prime minister will remind them of that. And the media — especially the television channels will do their part, constantly talking about Mission 370 on the nightly news.
It's a clever by-half tactic by the BJP, the kind that it specialises in. The idea is to always remind the people of its agenda and its ‘achievements’, so that they don’t forget. And they corral social media supporters, mainstream Godi media and of course fellow traveller popular culture.
Right on cue, arrives Article 370, a film starring Yami Gautam and Arun Govil (who once played Ram in the TV serial Ramayan).
The synopsis of the film on the site 'Book my Show,' where one can buy tickets for movies, reads:
“In the aftermath of the 2016 Kashmir unrest, a young local field agent, Zooni Haksar, is picked out by Rajeshwari Swaminathan from the Prime Minister's Office for a top-secret mission. Their aim? Cracking down on terrorism and putting an end to the billion-dollar conflict economy in the valley, by doing the absolute impossible - Abrogating the notorious Article 370. That too, without spilling a single drop of innocent blood.” Lots of guns, explosions, and killings nonetheless follow, as per the trailer.
The trailer of the film also shows Gautam saying, earnestly, “Kashmir is a lost case. Until the special status exists, we cannot even touch them. Nor will they allow us to change it.” But then come our heroes, Narendra Modi and the fiery Amit Shah, telling Parliament that it is being removed. As if we, the ordinary public, do not get the message, the (real) prime minister has endorsed the film. Tax exemption will no doubt follow.
Nor is this the only one in the pipeline. Waiting in the wings is Bastar-The Naxal Story. The title should explain what this could be about — if you have doubts, the teasers, as trailers are called now, will clear them. I won’t give away too many spoilers, but it opens with an angry-looking woman (Adah Sharma, last seen in The Kerala Story) speaking to the camera and informing us that the wars with Pakistan killed only 8,738 Indian soldiers, while in this very nation, Naxals have killed over 15,000 Indian jawans. When Bastar Naxals killed 76 jawans cruelly, there were celebrations in JNU! Apparently ‘Left-liberal pseudo-intellectuals’ are great supporters of these Naxals.
Two other films that are also being made, a biopic of V D Savarkar and Kangana Ranaut’s Emergency. No doubt a few more will come.
Not all such overly nationalistic and propaganda films have been successful. A recent biopic of Atal Bihar Vajpayee sank without a trace, as did Akshay Kumar’s big-budget Samrat Prithviraj, touted as a Hindutva film. But small films without stars The Kashmir Files and The Kerala Story did well and such movies do get traction on social media even if they don’t succeed at the box office.
For the BJP however, flops or hits, each of these films adds to the noise it creates and are force multipliers. They confirm the prejudices of its followers and potential voters, especially from a younger demographic who will probably ‘learn’ their history from this. And as the prime minister’s open support for Article 370 shows, the BJP on its part, will throw its full weight behind those projects, such as Article 370 it thinks will help its mission of getting those 370 seats.
Reportedly
The flip-flop of the government of India’s hare-brained internet and laptop import regime has shown up in the shrinking of the Indian PC market by over 6%. This drive of Aatmanirbhar, without a plan, is proving to be a self-goal. There is nothing being done to make sure that vital inputs required for making in India, as it were, is something that India produces independently first. Else, like in pharmas, our export market is badly hit.
Deep dive
The state of ASHA workers, on whom the entire burden of India’s health and wellbeing lies are not even recognised as workers — called Activists — that is the A in ASHA. They remain “overworked, underpaid and on the edge of breakdown.” They take on the double burden of domestic chores while running around the community as health workers. This detailed account by The Hindu finds they are “at risk of anaemia, malnutrition and non-communicable diseases.”
Prime number: 38 in the last two years alone = Gujarat Formula for Preservation
As many as 38 exotic birds and animals, translocated from abroad and other states, have died in the last two years at the Sardar Patel Zoological Park, popularly known as Jungle Safari, in the Statue of Unity complex in Gujarat. The unfortunate deaths happened despite the Gujarat government spending more than Rs 4 lakh on such exotic birds and animals in the last two years.
Opeds you don’t want to miss
While SC judgments on electoral bonds and Chandigarh mayoral election are welcome, they ought not to merely be an episodic legitimisation of the façade of constitutionalism, writes Pratap Bhanu Mehta. “It is a measure of how low the Court had sunk that two straightforward decisions come as something of a relief. It will be heartening if this trend continues and if other institutions feel similarly empowered to do their constitutional duties.”
Mitali Mukherjee writes on the electoral bonds — a big win for transparency in elections, but “deep-rooted industry-politician ties highlight the need for broader reforms and sustained action”.
Dilip D’Souza writes on a new addition to Mumbai’s landscape — Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), whose actual usage in the first month was less than 40% of its projected capacity of 70,000 vehicles daily.
At a time when every constitutional body has abdicated its responsibilities, Ravi Joshi says that Supreme Court has “exposed the Orwellian double-speak and fake narrative put out that Electoral Bonds were meant to clean up black money from the electoral arena and that it had introduced a system of honest and transparent funding to all political parties.”
“Factory owners can now rejoice that no one can threaten them with jail for accidentally offloading untreated toxic chemicals into water bodies, operating without consent, or even violating court orders restraining them from polluting, instead they can now pay penalties,” writes Shailendra Yashwant about the recent amendments to the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act. He says the changes introduced will prove detrimental to the future of the very economy that the government is trying to boost.
There are many who stick to textbook economics and ask why MSP should exist, writes Yogendra Yadav. “But the debate has moved on to concrete discussions on how MSP can be realised.”
The Telegraph’s editorial today is on how the Sandeshkhali allegations are a “cruel irony” on part of the Trinamool Congress and how the BJP has received a “potent political weapon” ahead of the general election.
Why have cartographic realities created by British geographers, administrators and lawyers suddenly come alive to dominate South Asian politics? TCA Raghavan asks and answers.
The next time you see a short, viral clip by a celebrity or a minister, pause to consider whether the words you hear have been taken out of context, says Meera Sreenivasan, a case in point being a recent statement by S. Jaishankar urging a questioner at an event to go to Sri Lanka on his next holiday.
Listen up
On the new episode of Jewish Currents, ‘On the Nose,’ listen to Aparna Gopalan speak with Siddhartha Deb, Angana P. Chatterji and Safa Ahmed about Hindu nationalism’s new temple, how it was achieved and what it means for the country’s minorities.
Watch out
On the Wire Wrap this Week: How the plan to rig the Chandigarh Mayoral Polls was rumbled and fell apart, why fencing the Indo-Myanmar border is a terrible idea and what the crackdown on farmers portends for everyone else. Jahnavi Sen in conversation with Siddharth Varadarajan and Angshuman Choudhury of the Centre for Policy Reserach.
Over and out
A recent genome study has shed light on the ancestry of the native people of Lakshadweep, revealing a blend of northern and southern Indian origins. Despite speaking a dialect of Malayalam akin to Tamil, the founding population arrived from mainland India around the 3rd century AD. Published in Molecular Genetics and Genomics, the research by Gynaeshwer Chaubey of Benaras Hindu University and his team highlights greater genetic influence from northern Indian populations. Closest genetically are seven Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe groups from mainland India, including Velmas and Kurumbas from the south — enriching our understanding of Lakshadweep’s complex historical tapestry.
That’s it for today. We’ll be back with you on Monday, on a device near you. If The India Cable was forwarded to you by a friend (perhaps a common friend!) book your own copy by SUBSCRIBING HERE.