after president donald trump defended russia over claims of interference in the 2016 elections. at a summit with russian president vladimir putin in finland, mr trump contradicted us intelligence agencies, saying russia had no reason to meddle. britain's prime minister has caved in to pressure from conservative brexiteers over her plan for leaving the eu and narrowly neutralised a potential rebellion by those mps who were looking to reject her brexit proposals. meanwhile, calls by a former cabinet ministerfor a second referendum has been ruled out. netflix shares fell sharply in after hours trading, after the company revealed it had added just over 5 million new subscribers between april and june — about a million less —— fewer than markets were expecting. you are up—to—date on the headlines. it is time now for hardtalk.

welcome to hardtalk, i'm stephen sackur. there are growing concerns that india, the world's most populous democracy, is in the grip ofa populous democracy, is in the grip of a divisive brand of populism. prime minister narendra modi leaves a bjp hindu nationalist government ina a bjp hindu nationalist government in a country with more than 200 million non— hindu citizens. and there are growing signs of rising communal tension. well, my guest todayis communal tension. well, my guest today is india's minister of law and justice, ravi shankar prasad. is india's democracy facing its darkest hour. ravi shankar prasad, welcome to

hardtalk. i want to begin by giving you the words of a former president who said this very recently — he said it with grave concern in his voice. he said, "any attempt at defining our nationhood in terms of dogma and identities, or religion, region, hatred and intolerance will only lead to the fundamental diversion of our de —— identity as indians" and that is what he fears is happening in your country today. we completely share what he said and we completely believe what he said. you know, the principal standard of governance of the government of narendra modi is, the prime minister, development of all with

the cooperation of all. and the diversity of india cannot be determined in terms of any sectarian ideal. but the problem is you are not the party of all. you are minor —— one of the most senior figures of the bjp and having a spokesman of the bjp and having a spokesman of the party for years. you are not an all india political movement. you have to have an 82 bjp mps. —— 282. not one of them, not one of them is muslim. first of all, let me clarify. the people of india have supported us. after 30 years the prime minister was given complete majority. how many votes did you get from muslims? let me explain. i will come to that. we have won elections after elections since we came to power, except three. therefore, we are here not because of charity but because of the love, support of the people of india. i do concede with

you that muslims in large numbers do not vote for us, for reasons also because of the sinister campaign against us. no, with respect, they don't vote for you partly because you do not seek their vote. it is quite clear what your politics is about. you are called the hindu nationalist party for a reason because that is precisely what you are. you are not interested in reading to support all the sympathy of muslims. and let us not forget there are more than 180 million muslims in your country. we are proud of our heritage. we are proud of our culture. we are proud of our civilisation. that is the core of oui’ civilisation. that is the core of our ideology but in india's ideology, heritage, the respect for each faith is part of our heritage and that is how we see it. let me explain, please, please. let me explain. now, why are our end saying that, when i have already conceded that, when i have already conceded that, because of the sharp campaign against us over the perception is

not that. but when we work, we work for all of them. and let me give you... well, again, let me count your rhetoric with some reality. you... well, again, let me count your rhetoric with some realitym is not rhetoric. it is a statement of fa ct. is not rhetoric. it is a statement of fact. this is what i am going to give you is also a statement of fa ct. give you is also a statement of fact. here are the words of a bjp politician in karnataka state and they have just had regional elections where the bjp do not perform as well as you had hoped. this is what sanje patel said during the campaign, he said this is not about roads or water or delivery of services. it is a battle of hindus versus muslims. you are not believing the senior minister of the government. you don't believe the prime minister. but an observation out of context by a gentleman... that is unfair. i am talking about

what is happening in grassroots politics across india today. the prime minister is very clear, mr sackur, that we are only for development. and people are voting because of development. in the wake india is becoming an economic powerhouse, 7.5% growth rate, the way investment is coming, the way it is becoming a power is all an affirmation of the thrust of the people that they want development.” do not belittle the economic achievements in recent years in india and we will talk about that. but i want to begin with this growing sense i am picking up from many seniorfigures growing sense i am picking up from many senior figures inside growing sense i am picking up from many seniorfigures inside india and observers of india that there is something deeply worrying happening in terms of sectarianism, communal fear and hate in india today. amnesty international, in a most recent report, just a few weeks old, said that since april 2017 at least ten muslim men have been lynched or killed in public in suspected hate crimes, much of it to do with what is now called" cow or beef

vigilantism", which amnesty says, let's not forget that cows are sacred for the religion, the bjp's campaignfor sacred for the religion, the bjp's campaign for cow protection has emboldened the vigil and egrets to seem to be operating in some cases with the approval of state authorities. i hope you will allow me to speak now. 0k. authorities. i hope you will allow me to speak now. ok. you have spoken and. don't make amnesty in a national —— international at benchmark. it is full of hostility and discrimination. let me give you and discrimination. let me give you a concrete example. bukhari, great voice of sanity, a great editor was killed. amnesty was quiet because terrorists killed him. a proud member of the armed forces was killed by the terrors when he was going to celebrate eid. amnesty is quiet. therefore, amnesty record of painting indian human rights by making silence during this victim.

you talk of silence, why is narendra modi so silent on so many of these communal attacks, which have been perpetrated by hindu nationalists? first of all, you are being too judgemental. many have been convicted. since you ask about the prime minister, at a public event he once said "please don't kill them". "attack me if you have the courage". let me tell you, the tolerant nature of hindu society, and for that matter the entire country, i never condoned these events. some have been done. many have been convicted for life. well, with respect, in one incident men have been convicted for life. in a host of other incidents nobody has been convicted at all. the trial is going on. the police have filed a chargesheet. india believes in the rule of law. without

afair believes in the rule of law. without a fair trial then you will save india has become a different country. the point is there is a robust legal mechanism in the country whereby those who take law into their own hands for reasons such as completely unacceptable, the law responds very ferociously. you are law and justice minister so let's get to the details are the cases recently which have raised serious questions about the attitude, the strategy, the policy of the bjp. look what happened after the most atrocious crime, the rape ofan the most atrocious crime, the rape of an eight—year—old muslim girl in northern india. she was called asifa according to police evidence. she was drunk, repeatedly raped by a group of hindu man. she was actually held in a temple for a while before she was killed —— drugged. as shocking as that crime was, within days and weeks it had become the source of communal tensions because local bjp officials cited with the hindu population who claimed that

this was somehow an attack upon their rights, not the rights of the murdered girl. this instance, prompt action has been taken, charge sheet has been filed and the two gentleman you are talking about have resigned from their ministerial post. or you discussed at that your own party has individuals within it that can make that kind of argument? it was a clear disapproval. the story you have presented is not entirely correct. the police charge sheet has been filed. as a law minister i would not like to make any comment except to flag you one thing. rape is very unfortunate in india or america. we have a robust law. we are getting capital punishment if you rape a child below 12 years of age. if it is taught to 16 it is 20 yea rs. age. if it is taught to 16 it is 20 years. in recent years your government said it is committed to protecting women. the fact is that

india is the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman today and that's not my rhetoric. that is the considered solution of a global survey of 550 experts conducted by thomson reuters. yes. the most dangerous country in the world. yes, ina dangerous country in the world. yes, in a world besides. 0nly dangerous country in the world. yes, in a world besides. only 500 levels. commissioned by the european commission. what does it say? 70% of respondents felt sexual harassment against women is common in this country. the sexual offending in england and wales in 2013 sees 85% of victims are not reporting. in india, this is not my view, it is the people who study these things inside your own country. in india, sexual violence has become part a toxic cocktail which is part of

religious hate, caste and class resentment and hate, and gender violence. let me quote you kavita krishnan from the all india progressive women's association... the communist party, mind you, not neutral. i thought you were doing well. you are seeing responsible people. you are surely not saying a woman who represents the all india progressive women's association is entitled to a political view. if i may, this is what this woman, who works for the women's association says, she says "the ruling party has to be held responsible for creating and islamophobia. . . " that to be held responsible for creating and islamophobia. that is an agenda! i am and islamophobia. that is an agenda! iam happy. please give and islamophobia. that is an agenda! i am happy. please give me some time. the communist gutmann in india has been defeated after election after election. it is not just marginalised, it is super

marginalised. they bring out these reports which mollify against my government. 49 senior retired civil servant opened wrote a letter to your prime minister accusing him, civil servants, of fomenting a frightening climate of hate, fear and viciousness in india. they said in our country's post independent history, this is our darkest hour. in reply to this, 90% of civil serva nts in reply to this, 90% of civil servants here are those who, in 2014, appealed to the people of india not to vote for narendra modi and that is the democracy of india. ican and that is the democracy of india. i can quote 200 civil servants who are saying narendra modi is leading the country in a transparent way with no corruption. let me quote you a senior lawyer. you are a lawyer. you are an advocate of the supreme court. a lawyer the supreme court says the government can make 100 laws and yet it will fail because

there is no enforcement. your legal system is in dire trouble. there are 55,000 pending cases before the supreme court alone. india hasjust 18judges for every! supreme court alone. india hasjust 18 judges for every! million people. that is pathetic compare to most countries in the world. 0ver two thirds of india's hundreds of thousands of prisoners are still awaiting trial. there is a deep dysfunction at the heart of your criminal justice system dysfunction at the heart of your criminaljustice system and you as minister after a link to fix it. what we are doing is that we are improving digital technology for indianjustice. improving digital technology for indian justice. do improving digital technology for indianjustice. do you improving digital technology for indian justice. do you acknowledge my characterisation that your system is in crisis? i'm acknowledging it and saying we are fixing it. include the number of judges, a and saying we are fixing it. include the number ofjudges, a number of infrastructure, we have done 16,000 districts of india is digital, all

the high courts are digital, we have a properjudicial data grid, nearly 16,000 cases and we are fixing it. 4296 16,000 cases and we are fixing it. 42% of respondents claim that they we re 42% of respondents claim that they were asked to pay bribes within the court system and another survey shows that after your government told parliament that police strength was going to be increased by up to nearly 2 million officers, almost a quarter of police positions were found to be vacant. first of all, what we are doing, you are thinking that as justice minister, what we are doing, you are thinking that asjustice minister, i taker of all the states. india is a federal state and we have state governments. so you are powerless to fix this system ? so you are powerless to fix this system? i'm not powerless, allow me to compete myself, that is not fair. what we are doing is giving them infrastructure in terms of logistics

and training. the prime minister calls the day to police themselves. these are the areas of challenges you have to address. have you say india has become completely dysfunctional? i've gone through every level, from the backlog in the courts to the corruption in the judicial system to the failure to appoint police as promised. those are dis— functionalities. let me add one more, the supreme court itself, you are a lawyer, it is in crisis because four of the senior judges you are a lawyer, it is in crisis because four of the seniorjudges on the supreme court bench expressed lack of confidence in the chief justice himself. the court is at war with itself and one of the justices warned that unless the integrity of the supreme court was restored, democracy will not survive in this country. we are making an all effort to ensure greater modernisation of the police force. the government of india and all the state governments

including money, training, cyber security and in the case of women, a fast—tracked board for all the cases. as law and justice minister, i'm supposed to get the infrastructure. we repealed about 1000 archaic laws of the british. 0ur 1000 archaic laws of the british. our system to do —— celebrity —— delivery in terms of digital examination is faster. with the supreme court, i have to make authorisations. i would only say we trust the supreme court to decide differences, differences happen in the american supreme court in your supreme court. your supreme court is at war with itself. is that not worrying? as minister, i should not make any public comment that my supreme court is at war. many the most seniorjustices on the supreme court bench do not believe in the integrity and independence of the chiefjustice. that is an unfettered

criticism of the chiefjustice. 0nly three years ago, he is given a stern judgement. the indian judiciary three years ago, he is given a stern judgement. the indianjudiciary is as fairas it judgement. the indianjudiciary is as fair as it could be. abri proud of ourjudiciary. we have suffered to the cause. that is our commitment. politicisation by political parties political divide is not fair political parties political divide is notfairand political parties political divide is not fair and those who have lost elections cannot be sponsored certification to create chaos.” wa nt to certification to create chaos.” want to move to the bigger political picture but just want to move to the bigger political picture butjust one last question on questions of law and justice, and this is specific to kashmir. you the federal minister of and justice. i wonder how you respond to the un's call to an international investigation into government abuses, the literary and policing abuses, the literary and policing abuses, security forces in jama

abuses, the literary and policing abuses, security forces injama and kashmir over the last couple of yea rs kashmir over the last couple of years because according to the latest report, indian security forces have been using excessive force, they killed and wounded numerous civilians and he says it's time bring international enquiry. that report is a report by a gentleman of questionable integrity and i'm using all these words. this gentleman has an agenda. i repeat, this gent tim lunnon's report is not verified. i take that as no. the indian government is not interested. it has nullified it. the author of the report, today i can tell you, kashmiri elections or not, today, the kashmiri people i'd joining armed forces in a big way. they are doing well in sports. pakistan as a

terrorist agenda to create disorder there. do you think the bjp is trusted by the population of jammu in kashmir? wejust had wonderful support of jammu kashmir. in kashmir? wejust had wonderful support ofjammu kashmir. weise we swept the entire ladakh area. how many people voted ? swept the entire ladakh area. how many people voted? it was a free and fair election. you made a point of in dash of referring to the growth rate of 7%, claiming big success in the economy. why is it that so many indians appearto the economy. why is it that so many indians appear to believe that modi's promises of not being kept. his own population is in serious decline. if everything is a success? india isa decline. if everything is a success? india is a free country. we missed only by four seats in karnataka. we

swept up, we smacked this —— we we —— we swept himachal pradesh. swept up, we smacked this —— we we -- we swept himachal pradesh. look at the situation in rural areas. your support amongst farming communities is draining away. 0n your support amongst farming communities is draining away. on one other issue, corruption. every thing tells us that india is endemically corrupt. i can proudly say to you on bbc hardtalk, or the decision—making has been made fair, the decision of the modi government. variant is clearly corruption at every level of the public service. you cannot do

that to us. what i'm saying is we are putting system in place. give me half a minute. what about the transferring? by direct debit tra nsfers to transferring? by direct debit transfers to the poor, we have saved close to $13 billion. 120 million poor indians have been given nearly 60,000 rupees. white mark why are the farmers in india so certain that you have betrayed them? a look at all the polls, farmers deserting modi atan all the polls, farmers deserting modi at an increasing rate.” all the polls, farmers deserting modi at an increasing rate. i think it is hard to say. what about gujarat, himachal pradesh, the

north—east. you have a two thirds majority, including an area we didn't have. a lot of indians appear to have lost faith in your government. you tell me all the results suggest it's not true. i live the polling evidence. you will look to the survey, mr sackur, but not the people in the states. but when you do is to judge. are you forgetting all those parliamentary by—elections the bjp did? forgetting all those parliamentary by-elections the bjp did? what about four, one —— what about 45, the others? please be a little objective. there is something profoundly alarming and i want to end the interview with these words, when a former foreign minister serving the bjp government and mr modi announces that democracy in india today is in grave danger. the

third time i'm hearing his name on hardtalk. you can go beyond him.l former senior minister says this. let me finish the thought, you can tell me what you think. the events of the last four week ——4 years caused great anxiety. we were replacing facts with fiction and peddling lies. subverting the institutions of democracy. for the simple reason that it is also personal, he resigned from my party. he was disgusted. discussed is not primarily political, it can be personal. please see the totality of india with mrmodi personal. please see the totality of india with mr modi as the global leader. the whole of europe, others,

because of democracy and performance and good governance. today, mr modi's voice is heard on climate change and sustainable development and climate justice. we change and sustainable development and climatejustice. we want change and sustainable development and climate justice. we want to see that emerging global profile of india. thank you very much had been on hardtalk. hello there. monday was a day of contrast for the weather here in the uk. we had the searing heat in the east and temperatures pushed 32 degrees celsius at gravesend in kent. but for further north and west, for many areas, it was a fresher day. we had a weather front across us. and this is how it looked in north yorkshire through the afternoon. now, that weather front is a cold weather front, and it's been pushing its thundery rain eastwards and northwards through the night.

and because it's called a cold weather front, yes, you guessed it, it is introducing cooler air. so we will notice a fresher feel to the weather into tuesday, except for the far south and east. there will still be some thundery rain around north—eastern areas first thing and certainly through shetland. but a much more comfortable night i think will have passed for many of us, and the coming few nights should be a bit more comfortable as well, because not only are we cooling the air down, we are losing the humidity. a lovely start to the day, plenty of sunshine, which will clear any mist quite quickly. the cloud will tend to bubble up, fair weather cloud, and it will produce a few showers through the afternoon, particularly across northern england. scotland, there could be some heavy ones, slow—moving ones across the north and east with the light winds, but there will be very few showers elsewhere. but in contrast to monday, temperatures will be notably down across england and wales and it won't feel quite so intense, the heat. still lovely and warm, though, in the sunshine. and more of that will follow as we move into wednesday,

that high pressure starts to build in again, so another comfortable night tuesday into wednesday, and plenty of sunshine first thing, any mist, as we will see this morning, clears quickly. and then we will see a scattering of showers, mostly in the west, possibly in scotland, one or two heavy ones as well but, by and large, the exception rather than the rule. temperatures will start recover a little bit as we see more heat coming in from the sun than we lose. the temperatures are creeping up a degree on wednesday. they'll creep up another degree on thursday, with high pressure with us. very few showers, but later, thursday into friday, we'll watch the approach of this low pressure, it's been giving us a bit of headache all week, but at the moment it looks like it will bring showery rain, mostly to scotland, to northern ireland, possibly northern parts of england and wales as well, but for the bulk of england and wales, again, it will be quite hot and dry, temperatures exceeding those of thursday by another degree. and there will be a little bit of brightness between the showery rain further north as well. and with high pressure re—establishing itself sa we go towards the weekend, it will push

the unsettled weather away. and, actually, there will be a lot of dry and fine weather. but you can see for yourselves there's still that risk of quite a bit of cloud even into saturday in the north and west, particularly scotland, but at the moment, the weekend is looking very promising, particularly in central and southern areas. this is the briefing. i'm sally bundock. our top stories: vladimir putin says the claims that his country tried to influence the us election are ridiculous. uk prime minister theresa may narrowly wins a series of votes in the uk's parliament on her brexit policy. a boat carrying tourists to view hawaii's erupting volcano, mount kilauea, is struck by molten lava. the crown has slipped — shares in netflix plunge in after—hours trade, as the streaming giant disappoints, adding fewer new subscribers than expected. also in business briefing, we're at the biggest airshow

in the world in farnborough, where the boss of qatar airways has been talking to us about the impact of the year long blockade.