this is the burial of john mark foley a man who leaves behind a checkered and divisive legacy he'll be buried next to chattel his real home in northwestern tanzania catherine so you are to 0. more on that story and everything else that we've been covering here on al-jazeera on our website there it is the address al jazeera dot com. i am. now reminder of the top stories on al-jazeera a high level talks between the u.s. and china are set to wrap up after on unusually heated public confrontation both sides hit out at the other's policies in front of the cameras revealing the tensions between the 2 the u.s. secretary of state began by outlining his deep concern about human rights abuses and economic coersion his chinese counterpart hit back at treatment of minorities

in the u.s. and the way the country uses its financial might james bays is in anchorage. clearly if we are going to have statements as i suspect. obviously they will have their own spin on how things go on and some of what they're going to be so each will be aimed at the national audience will be a bit of deduction listening to both sides to see how this is gone and whether what we saw open exchange was a clearing of the air. referring to exchange of views and they move all over the actually got with the start of a deepening of the division move charities u.s. relations which of the 4 years of the trumpet ministration is certainly at a low point. the astra zeneca vaccine is back in use a crow across most of europe after regulation was the clear that safe the french prime minister was among those rolling up his shirt sleeves. it's not soon enough to stop the capital paris and 16 other areas going back into

a months long lockdown just hours from now several european nations are upping restrictions as case numbers rise germany's health minister says an accelerated vaccine rollout will not be anough to stop a 3rd wave in the country. brazil's president is taking several of his country states to court in a bid to overturn lockdown restrictions he says state governors don't have the authority to impose new rules even as infection rates hit record highs more than 100000 new cases were a registered on thursday the 1st time that that barrier has been passed president jalal scenario says he wants people to have freedom but health leaders say the hospital system is collapsing in some areas those are the top stories stay with us up front is coming up next i'm going to have more news for you in half an hour thank you for watching.

as prime minister narendra modi's government cracks down on dissent in india still call itself the largest democracy on earth. marc lamont hill also on the show anger and desperation is mounting in lebanon over a financial and political meltdown the country is hurtling toward collapse what can be done to stop it that's our debate but 1st india's growing crackdown on dissent including farmers' protests internet shutdowns online censorship and the jailing of

activists is ringing authoritarian alarm bells is democracy being dismantled in the range of modi's india last this week's headliner national spokesperson for the ruling by the tea janata party. so thank you so much for joining me on upfront. thank you very much. india has long been touted as the world's largest democracy but in recent years under prime minister narendra modi. india has been seeing its democratic credentials called into question just this month the democracy watchdog freedom house has downgraded india from free to partly free and soon after the v. dem institute in sweden reclassified india no longer as the world's biggest democracy but as an electoral autocracy have these institutions gotten it right is it time to recalibrate whether india is a democracy anymore well let me tell you that it is not only largest

democracy but it's the mother of all. because we have. just been back to history. of history and you will find that democratic process is followed in this country fitted with. the relations something we inherited. and it is that there. were no democratic process let's talk about some of those democratic processes you you're right i mean the thing that makes a nation a democracy is its democratic processes and practices but what we've seen in the last few months alone is a series of things that some have considered to be anti democratic. that cracking down on dissent in recent months in light of the agricultural reforms that have taken place in the form of protests that have ensued since the reforms your government ordered twitter to block more than 1200 accounts including journalists

and media organizations deemed to be sharing content or views on the protests that the government didn't like this doesn't seem like a democratic process or practice it seems dictatorial. not it does not on a computer disagree with people who have this kind of began to disappear going to because safety and security of citizen is that is the paramount importance for every every government. sponsored look up this government fog and it is important that some but somebody who is trying to use the social media to propagate something we just speculate and own little sense necessarily. get the information we need to friction within the society it is important for the government to ensure that those. which can create tricks in particular collection should be. done if you're saying that if there is something that is dangerous and in correct in unfactual and causing some kind of public crisis so public damage is

up there then yes i can understand the conversation about potentially taking it down but 1st of all according to human rights watch just to give one example they're saying that this is a kind of attack against journalists and media authorities oppose bail for the journalists to decompile and after he was arrested on his way to report on the gang rape of a dallas woman in a dish also almost sharma is a journalist who was charged with spreading false information disobeying the order of a public servant and acting negligently to spread infection of a dangerous disease what did on sharma do it was the posting of a facebook a live report that showed stranded workers in need of food during a lockdown what did they do that warranted these charges do you even in retrospect believe that this was appropriate. well you have to understand. the sensitiveness of your particular sure and how it will impact the society and if it's in the heat

of the moment if you. put something on to get out and live like show because we'll get into a lot of. security issues then it is it is the authority which is asking you to not to go on because of the way that in every every channel every. shows and the government can you please can you comment on those 2 cases because i don't i don't i don't want to see. you in a big country you cannot just pick one or 2. 100 plus and i could put hundreds are you can you courts and my dear pradesh denied let's there's another court in my department pradesh denied bail to a muslim stand up comic know what a photo who was arrested under section $295.00 for jokes that apparently hurt hindu sentiments even the police admit they have no evidence that he even had a performance and basically didn't make the jokes so a get it seems like time after time was in crackdowns on dissent could you

acknowledge that at least appears to be a threat to democracy do you. no let's. get a few clinical information and you'll be the it one being followed in the country see better than you're talking about the muslim community and i come from the muslim community and i said that no government in the past has to be overly concerned about disposal of community because this government will actually do all the interests of the government is that it is not a muslim we have been left to standard by the previous governments that successive government that's fine but it doesn't that doesn't that you have yet to answer any of the questions and about how the media government transept treats journalism that i gave 3 specific cases of crackdowns on dissent whether it's from a comedian whether some journalist do you have any interest in greece writing to those specific cases if not i'm happy to move on but can you sir address those cases not absolutely no distinction only for the government is not about the journalist not about anybody with that it's you know do you let

anybody on the list who are who have been to create some kind of fiction through their life being all of them or that a statement other men will be there. that will be under the law that let me if i if i move on people protesting the citizenship amendment act last year which was seen by many to be unfair and discriminatory against muslims were beaten arrested and killed in subsequent crackdowns during the citizenship protests copula mishra a member of the b j p in delhi used inflammatory rhetoric against protesters including the slogan shoot the traitors shoot the traitors he also issued a fiery speech declaring that a police didn't clear the streets he and his supporters would the violence that ensued ended up killing 53 people most of whom were muslim why is capital misha still a member of the b j p s. he he was he was

a member of another political party ignore his part of the b. dip b. and the us political party had been damaged he was indicted the political party was making noise no extremely happy and comfortable with this kind of hypocrisy is wrong but if somebody i'm dealing with conviction and i'm telling you that let everyone must know that if anybody got mixed but i am going to speculate that it's from the bar they don't but i feel the ruling by b. or from them by b. and its citizens look at me and constriction and aspect of that affair i don't get the association of the political party they will not be spent it will not work in their favor because a lot of the land is absolutely let go it's good fiction mostly punished so you've said. that now minister of home affairs described migrants from bangladesh as termites you've had to janet the chief minister of the country's most populous

state say that there is nothing wrong with india becoming a hindu state and referred to muslims as quote a crop of 2 legged animals that have to be stopped i would ask a very simple question that i'd love to get an answer to do you condemn this language well it has been spoken in a very different perspective and it should africa do in. one of the chips when it's done it's going to stop this click country you have to see how many statement is given for the community and to simply add the time in writing or do you condemn it is laying a worse or do you condemn this in him in iceland which. no it isn't this. they're not going to for the committed this must seem that there's less spoken of would be the. people who are coming to india and getting just a disruption suddenly and people referred to muslims as a crop of 2 legged animals who have to understand that it's not.

i completely disagree with this the kind of and. this statement you are making and that has not been 10 and then it just then it is always you are picking what that sentence and you are making that kind of. your your analyses but fact that it must be spoken in a very different perspective and people who are or know yes he called them a crop of 2 legged animals would you say under what circumstances an is it is it proper to use a sling with no heat migrate from bangladesh as termites i mean would you look let's let's let's focus on that for a moment sir just so that i can get a clear response from let a little is there ever a time what's ok to call migrants from bangladesh that termites know anybody was enduring into our country illegally they're coming illegally in our country

not through a legal process the out of their maid what does that might do it would be the basic approach might. it may consider though they read about it they're going to become the system and that's what they were doing in many parts of the country illegally come into our country and what do what is sources available for our country many of us because we live so you could say. this flow that people of this country are not for the people who are coming illegally so it has so you're saying so you're going to take it from cite please continue let me let me let let me tell you you're talking about. you know you know that they're not who is the couldn't. define a set of the largest in a state and let me tell you you're talking what he said he said something about the muslim community but i am dealing with it in perspective but when you see his militants martin you see that are not suppose that people in addiction 22000 homes

which i don't want to have been given. citizen wouldn't have changed it in or that but i think that i have ties muslim community it in part of the 22 was given to muslims so minute lead that electricity connection to the which was left in darkness by the u.s. government all the electricity connection which had been given. the gas connection the water connection everything had been provided by the state and. so he's very clear calling for him to supremacy in fact he said there's nothing wrong with india becoming a hindu state let me let me ask you very directly do you agree with the idea of india becoming a hindu state would that be proper. so. this state which is as i said it's the mother of all democrats but that's not my that's not my question my question is you know you know i think you have said there's nothing wrong with telling a hindu state do you agree with this statement so literally you mustn't stand when

you became a center there must understand what exactly it means it does not. and in this case he said he's ready for a religious war he said we're all preparing for a religious war he said that muslims were a crop of 2 legged animals that had to be stopped he said he's from a temple that is known for hindu supremacy and then he said there's nothing wrong with a hindu state that is not a single sentence that is a body of work sir and my question for you is do you agree with this would you prefer if india become a hindu state yes or no. country and ramadan is something that every. being good as it is a good thing and many many places in the world including. very differently than my and. so permissive. nationals that other faiths are being created. in this great country no other

country probably gives the kind of freedom which we. will have to leave it there sides for islam thank you so much for joining me. a dying economy a pandemic that has crippled the health care system a currency in freefall and more than half the population living below the poverty line add to that a government stalemate and one of the biggest non-nuclear explosions in modern times lebanon is suffering on an unprecedented scale since 21000 protesters have been on the streets calling for change they say the political elite beset by corruption and mismanagement is to blame but they will not relinquish power is lebanon hurdling towards total collapse. joining me to answer that question from beirut is camel artist she is nonresident fellow at carnegie endowment and the author of the book black wave and dana as cultural and social activist and executive director of haven for artists thank you both for joining me in the arena

dana i want to start with you last august nearly 3000 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in the port of beirut that killed more than 200 people and injured thousands of others between that and the country's financial crisis many were hopeful that lebanon would finally see. genuine reform. a lebanese citizen a director of the average farm initiative called it quote a once in a lifetime battle for the soul of lebanon but today people are still in the grips of a mounting crisis why did all of these catastrophic events happen and yet they didn't become the tipping point for the kind of change that many thought we'd see. when it comes to the tipping point i think that 1st you have to assume that the situation was deteriorating was to average a pretty 2nd that it was at any point stable or efficient and that was never the case it was never stays where there was never a question we had protests every couple of years we've had occupations from 2 different regimes that have and or by lebanon so the premise of it being it's

a point where it was always something that we were negotiating with on an everyday basis because it wasn't just a blast it was the way that we were able to even live in this country was practically impossible prior to it but the problem i think of it isn't whether we like it or not there is too many persons in power when it comes down to it we're not fighting one lesion we're fighting 8 different persons that are in control of one regime so it's not like you can go after one of them and be able to remove that person from their chair all in a way protecting one another because they know that their interests are extremely interconnected and that if one of them falls all of them do and we're waiting for lab i don't moment i don't think activists have ever relinquished the streets and i don't think they ever will and can do that assessment yes i do agree with some of the points that just made we're still in the process of bringing down what is essentially a system a political establishment of former warlords for the large part you know mafia

lords in some ways a political cartels and malicious you know how we should not forget to mention hezbollah as the militant shop political group not to iran as one of the main key players in this equation which is not the only problem but is the most powerful group armed to the ts which helps to uphold the system because it too benefits from the corruption and it feeds into that system but i would add one thing to what do you not said i think we're going to continue to see. tests on the street i think we're going to continue to see popular pressure against the political establishment. and we're going to see also regional movement because unfortunately for lebanon we're at this sort of crossroad of geopolitics where everyone is involved the russians the americans the french and what we really need

here is international pressure as well as vocal pressure and it's also up to people here for us in lebanon to push for true reforms can you brought up hezbollah of course the shia political party and militia which has dominated the country's politics for decades for some they are the problem at same time hezbollah provide social services schools health care we could go down to youth youth programs etc is hezbollah's popularity a roadblock or should we incorporate that into whatever salute whatever political solutions we develop or imagine has been it is a state within a state they are free to provide social services to their community but there is no reason for them to remain aren't and there is no reason for them to use lebanon as a base for their regional 'd military adventures in syria and iraq in yemen they are

a paramilitary expeditionary force that is royal to iran they didn't play a great role in helping to liberate southern lebanon from israeli occupation but that was then and today the lebanese want i think in the majority of them want to build a state they need governance they need rule of law and so you have a lot of charities organizations that are politically if you do that to provide social services and hezbollah's social services are great and they can continue to do that. the shia community in lebanon on should be free to choose and should be provided with other opportunities beyond border to trust fund and i think what we're seeing is the shia community making very clear that as well as not even providing enough for them anymore they are 2 going hungry and that's why you are

seeing people protest in areas where hezbollah has a strong presence there to help me think through this has below question because this is one of the most contentious issues some countries designated as a terrorist group others see it as a legitimate social political force now of course we know in 2009 the lebanese parliament overwhelmingly approved hezbollah to have weapons the only militia to do so after the civil war this creates a very unique dynamic for hezbollah in terms of its power in the region in the country specifically the question though is do we disarm what do you say is that the only way out to have to have this kind of coexistence. i think we cannot eliminate the president of the presence of people that supports hezbollah or support the other movements because there are shihad that do not follow his ball or that problem either there are other shows that are independent so the shah community and of itself has multiple leaders but the premise of it is if we want an actual democratic representative state we all need to come to the table coming to the table with a gun no matter who it is is

a problem including or when it's somebody like the lebanese forces who say they don't have guns but one can't push comes to shove there are. all ready to go out to the streets because everyone personally under god doesn't need to be the militias because i also think that this is a very different understanding we always assume that the militia itself is the only one that has a gun but there's also people that we the people that don't consider themselves with guns like el appen f.m.p. which is appreciate your articles and one of the largest blocs currently with hezbollah the last time we had a protest they went down with guns and they were shooting up and you know they were shooting in the air trying to shoot at protesters so you do have different different elements of it and 1st of all before we even get to the point of this army has what we need to sort of the tactical i don't think we've even gotten to a point where we coexisted truly and for me there's always been someone it was this was just what the sitting at the same table looked like as a practical matter in the current context. i think well 1st of all iraqis are coming in and we're extremely excited to finally present ourselves with independent

candidates and especially women candidates as we know we only have 4.5 percent of our entire parliament that is represented by women. of course the many laws that are all entailed into that so firstly we have to just get to the elections in a promise the people understand there is an alternative because the state media is owned by the same you know militias that are running the country and like him said hezbollah does offer social services and so to all of the militias and their own way whether it be the dollars in the short or i'm going to be heavy at it and problems will suffer the so all of them do this thing the premise of it is that he made the government so in fact so incapable that you must follow them as a militia all of these militias are doing the same thing all of them the difference is hezbollah is not a horse that is easily negotiated with because they are so much controlled by external postle but also let's not forget that the saudis are not easy and the saudis are also and are how do you think so you have multiple elements of

geopolitics playing here and the 1st premise of it is understanding that these politicians and about them in of themselves are the problem not just the people that they're leading another big geo political question in the middle east and certainly in lebanon is the question of the refugee there are 7000000 people in lebanon and in that country there is an extraordinary responsibility to house refugees to host 1500000 syrian refugees that's a proportion of refugees higher than any other country in the world. lebanese people right now are finding it more difficult to feed themselves for a living on less than $14.00 a day we've seen food prices skyrocket as this goes on what future is there for the families who have fled neighboring countries to lebanon what's the future the refugee when it comes to the refugees it's all up to allow. us to decide when they should go home to a country that still at war it is

a very large burden for levanon and the international community has not done enough to help lebanon on and syrian refugees in general my great hope for for love or not as we go forward begin up lots of things that day not say it is that activism is going to turn into political work i see a lot of the groups that have been that have taken to the streets over the last 18 months really understand that activism on its own charity work n.-g. o. were is not enough and that they need to get involved in the politics they need to run for elections elections will take place we hope in 2022 sometime in may or in the sprint we hope they will indeed take place and the establishment will not try to cancel them because i see a lot of really excellent work game changing approach to how you run elections and how you run for elections and you know i don't want to put up my hopes too much but

i think we could be looking at a new political leader political leaders coming onto the scene that's all we have time for chemical at this dana bash thank you both so much for joining me in the arena. that is our show up front will be back next week. to want to i'll just. tell me what the government you represent is now illegitimate

and we listen we do not sell the fence material any country. conflict and yet we meet with the global news makers untold about the stories that matter on syria from the al-jazeera london broil cost center to people info phone conversation generally whenever you talk about race or race and people act offensively with no host and no limitations our society has structural racism built into any season of studio to be unscripted blind spots to being imply and. you know some aspects of our history basis have been different types of prejudice coming soon on al-jazeera.

the air in. the area is. hello i'm barbara sarah in london these are the top stories on al-jazeera high level talks between the u.s. and china are set to wrap up after on unusually heated public confrontation both sides hit out at the other's policies in front of the cameras revealing the tensions between the 2 the u.s. secretary of state began by outlining his deep concern about human rights abuses and economic coercion his chinese counterpart hit back at treatment of minorities in the u.s. and the.