situation in shanghai as seen as a disastrous failure of china. strict 0 curve at 1900 policy, but authorities sticking to it. despite growing calls to change, this approach president she'd been paying has called on the country to strengthen restrictions in order to win the battle against the virus. katrina, u. l t 0 aging. ah. look at the main stories this now. now russia is warning that it will intensify. tax on cave auditor accusing ukraine of targeting russian border towns. it also says as destroyed a weapons factory in the outskirts of the capital. moscow has the plant made antea, craft, an antique ship miss styles. meanwhile, the us panther can officially sign washes, most of a warship was hit by 2 ukrainian missiles before it sank in the black sea. this confines keeps account of events which russia has denied. not clear how many of the

500 strong crew were evacuated from the flagship. charles stratford isn't key. what has been a response to the latest russian as strikes that statement from the cave regional military administration, saying, well they describe as 3 objects and that is literally the word that they use were hit were targeted by russian forces last night. and they saying that they cannot, in no way if issues potentially they're not being more strikes in the near future. what's interesting is that this strike comes there were came literally just hours after the russian military admitted that the flagship for the the blank c fleet had sunk as it was being towed back to port. israel's appointment is enough, taliban is wanting. his forces are prepared for any scenario. after violent

confrontations at the alex and mosque compound and occupied east, jerusalem. ah, around 300 palestinians were detained by israeli forces who entered before dawn on friday. thousands of people had gathered for pres, a use tear gas and stun grenades, while some palestinians threw rocks. tensions have sword recently after deadly attacks in israel and palestinian death during subsequent raids in the occupied west bank. and the chinese authorities are putting the city of yarn into a partial covert lockdown starting from saturday. part of the country 0 tolerance policy, which is also affected. commercial have shanghai. some people have been protesting off to being evicted from their homes. so they could be turned into quarantine centers of the headlines as our more news coming up later on. i'll see you in about 25 minutes time up front. is the program come out next tuesday without as era me?

on march 15th, the high court in india, 7 state of not to go up held a ruling banning the he job in schools and university survey and was 1st introduced far right. mobs have reportedly been heckling young women wearing he jobs on their way to school, and now the gates to those schools and colleges have been shut to them, leaving the women vulnerable to violence. this decision is just the latest in the slew of laws and policies that discriminate against indian muslims and other minorities in the country. so can india feel claim to be the world's largest democracy when minorities continue to be stripped in their human rights and facing preaching attack from hindus, the premises? mobs. that's our conversation this week on upfront. the joining me to discuss the

treatment of minorities in india are runa, are you indian journalists, opinion columns with the washington post and author of boucher that files anatomy of a cover up shadow alarm a lawyer for the supreme court of india and aucker patel chair of amnesty international india and the author of our hindu rush through what it is, how we got here. thank you all for joining me on upfront around. i'm going to start with you. on march 15th, the high court in the state of connecticut upheld a ban on wearing he job in school. the court argued that it is not essential to islam and that they must foster a secular environment. for weeks for right mobs have been heckling women wearing. he job on the way to school with the irony of this is that while there's a claim for secularism, these mobs are wearing software on scarves, a symbol associated with hindu with them and they're shouting hail lord from is

this really about secularism, or is this just an attack on muslims so much everything that has been happening in, in india since 2014 in the god above protecting muslim woman has been an attempt to kind of a dad must lumniss all. and the religious deficits and identity of people in this country. i mean, the karnataka high gold, if i may say, was extremely disappointing. and these are good to want to study who want to get educated and they're being deprived of education just because they have asked for the right to be or the his job is basically points to in the us continue to decline into the right things and move on to mentor them every muslim black, this now is not going to be questioned whether it was c a, but it was not allowing muslims to offer no mas in public school by writing the right to being mentors. and now this isn't this relentless,

it is related to the point that being in the teams does seem to have normalized this every day heat against the muslim minority, but nothing actually surprises us. any more. i mean this mind that despair i think is, has now become a part of our life, and it only gets worse from hill aucker. you're the cheer of amnesty international india. when you hear those types of words, every day, hate of muslim citizens is around a 3rd. what do you make of what you take? so there's been a series of laws that targeted, but economic, social, and cultural laws, lights of muslims appointed legal rights were taken away from them before this in their doesn't, has 200000000 muslims. but it doesn't have a single chief minister which would be the same as the governor in the us been good $303.00 people in the legislative assembly the. ready looks of which would be your

us, i was calling is not on the phone with him from, from the ruling party. so that is a deliberate. wanted to go up, but i did that kept apart the not given tickets to contest and they kept separately from what the political system does. there's been receiving the laws that look at how the state can, how that's and believe muslims we have the was the look group also on method. so india has criminalized in 7 states of interface managed between muslims and hindus . and one's testimony that she changed her friends or 3 relation is insufficient evidence for the stand. it is for the man, she's matting and the family. she's letting in to prove to a local officer that there was no gorge and in what state are they to undo the marriage? even ones that have children, this is the law and this guy. so i'm glad you brought this up because it speaks to a legal matter, shut it up, i want to ask you about this, because in india you have article 14 of the constitution which guarantees equality

before the law. article 15 prohibits discrimination based on religion and article 25 guarantees the right to freely profess practice and propagate religion. it would seem to me that these bands and these everyday actions that we're talking about are examples of contravention of the law. how was this judgement able to pass the high court and how in everyday life are we not able to see a contradiction between what's happening on the ground and these sort of broader ideals of, of the, of the nation's constitution? the judgment mark couldn't have gone any other way. because in the way that this whole, he job debate was framed. the question before the court is, is it, is it an essential religious practice? is it the core of the most in region to where he job? and the court said that it's not, but it's a very odd, unimaginative framing of the problem. the state has said to the court that we

believe in freedom and dignity. and we want to encourage practices that are not dare to get pre to women's rights. and we want to encourage individual choices. the presumption is that all of this, the wedding of the job beaches. but the court never examined any of it. the court did not go into the matter of whether girls wear his job by individual choice or not. the court didn't examine whether the reading of the job or not reading of the job reaches freedom and dignity. a court just endorsed that point of view and without any kind of examination, the court has held that where he job is a violation of freedom and dignity. so we will not have indian citizens seen in public like that. and what the court therefore does is to give to the public if to the indian, public and idea of food. a good citizen is an, an idea for an aberration is,

and therefore you have cases across india where people are snatching his jobs from young girls and young women. and the think that this is a form of connection that they're indulging in because they have the court's endorsement. so to my mind, but the primary thing that this judgement has done is to is to constitute an idea of a good indian citizen. i want to push on this because again, it's 6 of the treatment of muslims in the country, runa, this year marks the 20th anniversary of the good at mass massacre. the anti muslim program that happened during prime minister modi's tenure as chief minister of gwinnett years later. we're now thing hindu nationalist calling for a genocide and an ethnic, cleansing of muslims. incomplete silence is coming from the government. what has happened over the last 20 years? that's allowed, this kind of anti muslim hate to spread. and where does hindu supremacist ideology fit into all of this conversation?

well, my not in the movie. and the entire movie has been the poster boy or for him to nationalism. in fact, he has been sold as the pin do lido, who will bring back the renal supremacy. let us not for a moment believe that indians for voting for the interim or the will being for development or routing for cause addition or find my wife like us for that. let us not have in for a minute believe that. ringback entire proceeding that we're going and going not to go high court and all that is taking place, nothing to do with the constitutional fundamental right of a muslim woman. this is back on the muslim identity, which has continued the reason that the muslim woman and that her job is being, being taken off by men in public. you saw the 1000000 attempts in 2002 mister movie was chief minister of it just to repeat. i mean, honestly, nothing surprises me anymore because this is the cause. sure. that now used to be

normalized to the extent where the average hindu has been told that the muslim and in the taking your thought is taking what was right pretty your has been up fees over the years. and mr. moby is bringing back the road and, and which is why sort of winning election despite going performance? he has made the muslim the enemy of the said for the average in do this is being done by the back to support of those in follow that idea. that idea of enemy of the state is really important. one because human rights watch says that authorities in india have already adopted laws that systematically discriminate against muslims. but also that prejudice have infiltrated independent institutions like the police, like the courts. for example, after the 2020 deli riots where hindu mobs massacre $53.00 people, mainly muslims, an independent investigation discovery evidence during the ride showed that several policemen were being injured. muslim men, 5 of them lying on the street,

forcing them to sing the indian national anthem just to prove their patriotism. i mean, you're a lawyer, i gotta ask you, ah, 1st of all, beyond the absurdity of this actual incident, does india still have an independent judiciary? i think it doesn't work. we do have an independent judiciary somewhat. but it's that the system is getting in the way and i'll explain myself. you, you mentioned the, the deli borg room and that sort of emerged from very widespread protests that were happening in the week of the, the special a regime brought in by this government. the citizen amendment act and the national register for citizens, which sort of reconfigured the idea of citizenship, which left muslims, betty scared and muslim students and muslims, but generally out on the streets, protesting. in december of 2019,

the police entered one of our central universities in delhi, jamie emilia lamia, at night and assaulted students. the student's went to court the next day, challenging bullies faction and reba before the supreme court. what failed from the supreme court was 1st get off the streets and stopped building stones. and ben, we'll help you. so this was, this was an order remark which had no basis in law. it had no basis. in fact, because you, you, you can't say to students that i will, i will protect you from disproportionate police action. only if you stop protesting . but what it did was it, it molded popular sentiment. when he said stop building stones, there was a glitch in between. simply, just in tele, english, meet in palestine everywhere. and that's when we started to hear about the global conspiracy. so what does a do, what, how, how does it begin formed the most subject him, india,

that must be the subject is seen as somebody who's just always agitated, who's very prone to violence, who's always conspiring, and was always disloyal. and on top of that, just the fact that you are out in the streets, there's not even any allegation that you were armed, but just the fact that you were out on the streets must embed bodies and now being equated with people weapons. i go to the organisation genocide, watch has sounded the alarms, warning very full fledged genocide against muslims could happen in india or the president of the organization says, our view is that it is a huge danger in india because it won't be the state that carries out any genocide, it will be mobs, the worry about a genocide in india, and more specifically are these mobs being in bold and if not outright supported by the state? the answer to the 2nd question is yes,

that the state does support and emboldened mobs in india and we have examples. so the state has let go its monopoly over violence in bugs of the copper to city of india. so that bug, so this city deli, when i am, where muslims have been allocated space by the state to pray on friday by mobs, have gum and retorted and force them to get off. and the state has succumb to the mob. similarly, in parts of this country, spaces in which muslims bend food went eggs were models, have them to leave those spaces. and the state has agreed with the moms and let go over to monopoly or violence. so i knew you would the idea that in india, the primary aspect of must violence, which is that the state of abandoned its rule is in bliss. do i feel

the fact that a genocide might dick with i do? i think that what is happening in india is slow, but that every day we have to order something on the other that deals with how muslim the willingness and every day the state doesn't respond to come in and act against those. we're seeing these things. i think that the driving in the public spaces in india is quite poisonous, and i think it is very dangerous. the size of the state in south asia, very small, we don't have the capacity to be able to control. and rob's once they are unleashed, it appears to me that under the b b, what the government of this bank louis unleash moms and other than ring them in attacks from far right. hindu nationalist have extend it to other minority groups as well. like christian in my the pradesh last year in january hindu nationalist stormed a church shouting hindu supremacy slogans, and punched pastors in the head. they've also burned down churches and smashed that

use of christ. looking at the situation. many would think whoever is not hinder with under threat have india become a country without religious freedom? well, all mark the a dangling the cushion minority, just like the attack when muslim minority is not a recent phenomena. back in the day, in the ninety's graham stains to was a missionary was boned a life with his 2 children in a car by a hindu nationalist. and one of the people, one of who's accused of conspiring this is now a minister in mr. moore. these government fathers dance, rami another just read greece who was fighting for the rights of tribe. he was arrested for sedition. this is a, he is yours madness a b. c was not even given band to come out to do, to receive the medical treatment. that man died because of the complicity of the

steed. and the unfortunate bit is that the average indian does not see these crimes us criminal as fundamentalists enough i was watching the gush. me to file is a firm that is now being used as a propaganda material all over the country. i love the peer done in 25 minutes because the visuals. ready are, you know, are read all muslims in sculpt gaps of brutalizing innocent hindus at the time that we are living in. and there were people in the kiddo were shooting every time a muslim was a bag. and i was i had to leave the period in 25 minutes because the, the lady sitting next to me was abusing muslims. and i got into of, you know, of an argument and they literally made me leave. and when i was leading, she's a young go to pakistan. i mean, if it can happen to me, it was an upper middle class privilege to women. imagine what happens to muslims who do not have the same privilege. so many i was, i was saying in india that, yeah, so, so let's talk about the kashmir files. the film portrays the exodus of kitchen miti

hindus in the ninety's and some say the film. skewed account of this history is fanning anti muslim sentiment. in addition to what around are described, there are reports of audience members and theaters across india are standing up at the end of the film and shouting slogans like, shoot the traitors, kill them, referring to muslims. of course, our prime minister modi has praised the movie and several beads apd ruled states have made the film acts free, shook to what extent do you believe a messages like this are considered hate speech as opposed to freedom of speech? and where do you draw a line? that's a difficult question. also mark the see that the law is, is very, very clear about what is his speech or what is not protected speech. and that to speech that is directly inciting violence, the spark and about a cake, dest. but the problem with hate speech is that it's, it's never that it's, it's never just a spark in the powder keg. he had speech is all this cumulative you,

you build on it over over years and years of such or treating a community in a particular way. but unfortunately, it's difficult for the law to then penalize somebody who's, who's building on accumulative discourse off of hatred. and i think that is the, that is the problem that the indian chords are struggling with. so gosh me, fires in itself is just a very badly made film of propaganda film. it, it is a problem can be banned the film on its own or can be banned the, the activity, the interactive actor would do that is going on around it after that. and i see you are looking to jump in there. yeah. my, this is north of brooklyn gander failing. this is not like, i mean that's the only time i defy the shower. it's it's, it's not a badly meat for it is a very, very, all of you read it hate speech. you with the invention of spreading hatred against

muslims in an id and why the supreme court engaged, i should have literally given orders to not screen this is living, breathing heat against muslims. there is an actual problem committee. pundits again, forced to flee out of the value, but the read this has been misconstrued and the foot of it is leading to hatred against muslims in a way that i have more bitterness before we've been talking a lot about listen populations. but there are also many non muslim populations who have been discriminated against in the country as well. are awkward. ah, even among hindus, there is vast discrimination against dallas, for example, who are designated as the lowest cast in india's cast system. according to the national campaign on die with human rights, a crime is committed against the valid every 18 minutes. 13 ballads are murdered per week and 3 dell at women are raped every single day. just to give you an example in 2019 a young man was beaten to death by upper cast people for simply eating in front of

them at a wedding reception. that same year, a minor was tied up with a rope and also beaten to death for trying to enter a temple. the conviction rates for crimes against balance remain very low though. is this all a reflection of religious nationalism? or is this something more structural, more systemic? it's more structural and a do more systemic and has been going on. ready for quite a while, i don't think that we should attribute to the b g b thing that have been present in india for decade. certainly the abuse of the aids of the lids who should be got in the constitution and the peoples of india that she knew were james had been going on for dickens. if not for centuries, i think what is happening today and has been happening for some time that the state is enthusiastic about enforcing those violations. so for instance,

the lead to other should do because they lose their rights to a former direction. one is called renovation in their sure they changed their feet . this is true also of the, in your tribes, the need to be bills of this country who have a form of constitutional protection by law, but which they lose should they change their feet. if i may add to that mock me, i just added something to what god said. i agree with that. it's always have had structures what violence and we've always had explicit violence on dallas. it's on women on tribal people, all of that. but earlier i taught this operated on the margins of the state, these but these were the few do things that happened. i think that has changed now . the violet violence against muslims now and even the lips. now it's,

it's unapologetic and it's unapologetic because the courts, the media, public discourse, all pains them as people who are outside did outsiders who don't, who, who are aberrations so that the state and the mob taken a, take it upon themselves to connect those aberrations. so this violence, in fact, is seemed to be in the service of the nation. you are constituting a better nation state by being violent against these communities. as opposed to earlier when it was, it seemed to be outside the ideal for modern state. or we've been talking about violence against minorities in a legal system that's allowing all of this to happen or this stuff continues. what does that hold for the future? that's a good question. mind i wish i had an answer to this. as a muslim myself, i feel like in as a privileged muslim and up on the good last muslim, i must confess. who's good. i mean, the chances of might, and it is and my family members of getting lynched on the streets for eating beef

are much, much less than than a normative class. mostly moderately. i mean, what more do indian muslims need to see and to do, to have faith in this country where apartheid and all 4 genocide are becoming a part of the life. so there is, i wish me and other muslims in the country could see some hope. i could see some semblance of all i, fortunately, people in this country, the majority seemed to be developing in this hate that is being extended against muslims and it is happening this hate is being emboldened due to the complicity of the van. meaning people in this country who i'm not speaking loud enough, i want to thank you for joining me on up front as maps and pleasure to talk to in this episode, some of our guests implied that members of india's ruling body, tear jeanette to party. the b j p, along with members of state governments and law enforcement had been complicit in

discrimination and even violence against minorities either through direct action or lack of adequate response. we put these statements to senior members of the b. j. p . the prime minister's office and the ministry for home affairs, asking them for their perspective or a specific response. at the time of this recording, we have yet to receive any acknowledgment of our messages. allies of the b j. p. point to statements made by prime minister nor injure mowdy such as the one in 2019 made to members of parliament. he said, we have to move shoulder to shoulder without discriminating on the basis of cast sect and religion. following the deli riots in february 2020, which left 53 people dead, 40 of the muslims. modi tweeted, peace and harmony are central to our ethos. i appeal to my sisters and brothers of delhi to maintain peace and brotherhood at all times. it is important that there is calm and normalcy restored at the earliest. should we hear back from india's government. once this program has aired, we will be sure to post their response online. that's our show. thank you for

watching. a front will be back next. ah ah, with accounting the costs, latin america's inflation nightmare returns come governments bring prices down. lebanon reaches a draft deal with the map that will the nation implement reforms and my staff because worth prices in a decade. oh fun. the much needed a counting the cost on al jazeera in a conflicted world. millions of children are abandoned,

abused and deprived of their basic rights and needs. is the international community doing enough unicef, executive director, catherine russell and goodwill. ambassador david beckham talk to al jazeera, ah, [000:00:00;00] a, a

with wherever you go in the world. well, my line goes to make it for you. exceptional katara always going places to get. ah, hello i, mariam mit and london are main stories. now. russia is warning that it will intensify . attacks on keys after accusing ukraine of targeting russian border towns. it also says it's restoring a weapons factory and the outskirts of the capital. moscow says the plant made anti aircraft and anti ship missiles. this is a 1st major attack in the area in 2 weeks. meanwhile, us pentagon officially sang rushes muscular wash it was hit by 2 ukrainian missiles