10/06/22 10/06/22 [captioning made possible by democracy w!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> the eroding government contins to -- the uprisings continued unabated with women and girls taking to daily acts of its obedience. amy: women. life. freedom. that's become a rallying cry in iran and cities around the world in protests demanding justice for mahsa amini, the 22-year-old

iranian-kurdish woman who died after she was detained by iran's so-called morality police for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly. we will get the latest on iran and look at what cellphone video footage reveals about the protests. we will also hear angela davis' message to the women in iran. and then as india's prime minister narendra modi offers to help efforts to end the war in ukraine, we will speak to the prominent indian activist kavita krishnan. >> stood unconditially with the people of vietnam, the people of the wreck, afghanistan, palesne against american imperialism, american occupation, american invasio and so o it is theame way we should stand unconditionally with the

people of ukraine. amy: all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. president biden pledged billions of dollars of federal aid for people impacted by hurricane ian, which made landfall last week as one of the most devastating storms ever to hit the united states. he viewed the storm's path of destruction by helicopter, flying over fort myers beach, which took a direct hit from ian's category 4 winds. he met with governor desantis, potential rival of the 2024 presidential election. biden said the recovery effort could take years and blamed the climate crisis for adding to ian's destructive power.

pres. biden: more fires have burned in the west and southwest, burned everything right to the ground and the entire state of new jersey -- as much as that takes up. the reservoirs out west are downed almost zero. the colorado river looks more like a stream. there a lot going on post of i think the one thing this has ended is the discussion about whether there is climate change and we should do something about it. amy: in ethiopia, more than 50 people were killed and more than 70 injured in the northern tigray region tuesday after an air strike ripped through a school housing people displaced by fighting between ethiopia's military and separatist rebels. it's among the deadliest attacks carried out in tigray since conflict erupted in november of 2020, leaving thousands dead and millions displaced from their homes. on wednesday, both ethiopia's government and tigray rebels said they had accepted an african union invitation to join

peace talks in south africa aimed at ending the conflict. russian president vladimir putin has signed papers formally declaring russia's annexation of four regions of ukraine. his signatures came as ukraine's military continued to claim battlefield victories against russia, saying it retook more settlements with two of the regions come by the kremlin. also putin signed a decree over the zaporizhzhia power plant, the largest nuclear station, which hahas been occupied by russia's military since march. in a video statement posted online, the head of ukraine's nuclear power agency called on workers at zep reach a to resist russia's bid to take over the plates operations. >> i'sure yourravery will not yield and you will not find

any deals with the occupiers. we won't cite any statements and contras. don't do it under any circumstances. we will continue to work under ukrainian law with the ukrainian energy system. don't doubt it. amy: meanwhile, "the new york times" reports u.s. intelligence agencies authorizing the car bomb attack near moscow in august that killed a daughter of a prominent russian nationalist. "the times" reports american officials claimed they were not aware of the operation ahead of time and would have opposed the assassination had they been consulted. in russia, a former tv news producer whose on-air anti-war protest was seen around the world has escaped house arrest. marina ovsyannikova made international headlines in march after she burst onto the set of a live news broadcast of channel one, the russian state media

channel, appearing on screen for several seconds shouting, "stop the war. no to war," before the camera cut away. in august, russian police raided her home and placed her on house arrest for allegedly spreading false information about the russian armed forces. if convicted, she faces up to 15 years in prison. on monday, she posted a video online from an unknown location declaring herself innocent, showing off an electronic tag around her ankle used by russian authorities to track her location. >> colleagues [indiscernible] amy: opec, the organization of the petroleum exporting countries, has agreed to cut crude oil output by 2 million barrels a day. on wednesday, opec members in

-- voted to keep prices high by imposing their sharpest cuts to the world's supply of oil since the start of the covid-19 pandemic. the biden administration sharply criticized what it called a shortsighted decision to cut production while the global economy suffers negative impacts from russia's invasion of ukraine. this comes amid growing calls for the biden administration to ban exports of u.s. gasoline, diesel, and other refined fuels. food & water watch said in a statement -- "political leaders here at home must understand that the solution is not to increase drilling. corporations are exporting record quantities of gasoline, and making record-setting profits as a result. it's time to take real action to rein in this outrageous corporate profiteering." a key member of the house armed services committee has renewed his calls on president biden to

end arms sales to saudi arabia, over the kingdom's efforts to raise oil prices. congressmember ro khanna told "washington post" wednesday -- "president biden should make it clear that we will stop supplying the saudis with weapons and air parts if they fleece the american people and strengthen putin by making drastic production cuts." meanwhile, "the wall street journal" reports the biden administration is preparing to scale down sanctions on venezuela to allow the chevron corporation to resume pumping oil there. in return for reopening u.s. and european markets to oil exports from venezuela, the government of president nicolás maduro would agree to negotiate with u.s.-supported opposition groups over a new round of presidential elections in 2024. in the united kingdom, newly minted conservative prime minister liz truss faced protests wednesday as she defended her proposals to cut

taxes for the wealthy while expanding fossil fuel production. truss was speaking at the conservative party conference in birmingham when a pair of greenpeace campaigners stood up and unveiled a banner reading, "who voted for this?" the pair had their sign snatched away and were escorted from the conference hall as conservative party members booed them. greenpeace's rebecca newsom said after the protest that truss should reverse a ban on fracking imposed by conservatives in 2019. >> nobody voted for fracking. nobody voted to cut benefits or trash nature. nobody voted -- there's a whole host of things the conservative government were elected to do in 2019 that they are simply not doing. amy: a new report warns that one out of every eight species of bird on earth is threatened with extinction. in its flagship state of the

world's birds report, the conservation group birdlife international, the conservation group birdlife international finds half of all species are in decline, primarily due to habitat destruction and the increasing use of machinery and chemicals in agriculture. birdlife ceo patricia zurita said, "birds tell us about the health of our natural environment -- we ignore their messages at our peril." a michigan judge has thrown out felony criminal charges against former state officials accused of playing key roles in the flint water crisis. the ruling ends a criminal probe of eden wells and nick lyon, two former leaders of the michigan department of health and human services who faced nine counts of involuntary manslaughter for failing to promptly report an outbreak of legionnaires' disease which killed 12 people and sickened dozens. also avoiding prosecution are former cabinet members of

republican ex-governor rick snyder, who are accused of knowingly exposi flint's residents to dangerous levels of lead in the water supply. nayyirah shariff, a community organizer and director of flint rising, tweeted -- "we have many people's lives that have been upended, including my own, and there are no consequences. justice looks like someone going to jail, held criminally accountable." this follows a decision in june by michigan's supreme court to throw out charges against former governor rick snyder and other former officials for their complicity in flint's public health emergency. flint rising organizer melissa mays spoke to democracy now! after that ruling. >> no one is being held accountable. no one is seeg reparations in flint. our homes, our bodies, our lives are still damaged and destroyed and the people responsible are getting away with it because like she said, government has a

whole different justice system than the rest of us. amy: in thailand, at least 35 people were killed earlier today when a former police officer went on a murderous rampage. police say the 34-year-old suspect shot and stabbed children at a child-care center in northeastern thailand, killing 19 boys, three girls, and two adults. thai authorities say the assailant then fled the scene, opening fire randomly from his car. he then returned home, killed his wife and child, and turned the gun on himself. it's thailand's bloodiest mass shooting since 2020 when a soldier with an assault rifle killed 29 people and wounded nearly 60 others. in greece, at least 15 migrants have died, dozens more remain missing after a pair of boats capsized off the coast of greece. in the first incident, a boat carrying about 40 asylum-seekers sank off the eastern island of lesbos. so far 15 bodies have been

recovered, all of them women. al's work, authorities are searching for survivors after a sailboat caring about 100 migrants sank late wednesday. japan's government has condemned another series of missile tests by north korea. on thursday, japan's military said it detected two short-range ballistic missiles fired from north korea into waters separating the two countries. this follows four other launches from north korea in the past two weeks, including tuesday's launch of an intermediate-range missile that flew over japan. japan's defense minister spoke earlier today. >> actions by north korea are the threat to the peace and security of our country. it is absolutely unacceptable. amy: today north korea condemned the u.s. navy after it redeployed a carrier battle group led by the uss ronald reagan to the sea of japan,

saying u.s. actions were "posing a serious threat to the stability of the situation on the korean peninsula." and those are some of the cash and the french writer has won the nobel prize for literature. the nobel committee cited and for the "courage and clinical acuity with which she uncovers the roots, estrangement, and collective restraints of personal memory." her books include "happening" about a young woman student who has an abortion. last year it was made into an award-winning film. on friday, the winner of the nobel peace prize will be announced. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. coming up as india's prime minister offers to help efforts to end the war in ukraine, we will speak to a prominent indian activist, stay with us.

♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman, joined by my co-host nermeen shaikh. hi, nermeen. nermeen: hi, amy. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. amy: women. life. freedom. that is the rallying cry in iran and cities around the world as protests continue demanding justice for mahsa amini, the 22-year-old iranian-kurdish woman who died after she was detained by iran's so-called

morality police for allegedly wearing her head scarf improperly. amini died on september 16. protests broke out the next day. the norway-based group iran human rights says at least 154 people have been killed since the protests began nearly three weeks. -- nearly three weeks ago. in a new report, human rights watch has accused iran security forces of using shotguns, assault rifles, and handguns against peaceful protesters. the full extent of the protests or the security crackdown remains unknown as the iranian government has disrupted internet access in parts of the country and blocked some messaging apps. but some video of the protests continue to get out. this video obtained by reuters shows a group of female students heckling a member of an iranian paramilitary force known as the basiji. the female students are heard chanting, "basiji get lost."

we begin today's show with two guests. narges bajoghli is an anthropologist and professor of middle east studies at johns hopkins university and the author of "iran reframed: anxieties of power in the islamic republic." her latest piece for vanity fair is headlined "woman, life, freedom: iran's protests are a rebellion for bodily autonomy." also with us is nilo tabrizy. she is an iranian-born video journalist who works at "the new york times." her most recent piece is titled "what video footage reveals about the protests in iran." let's go to those pictures first. nilo, if you could talk about this project at "the new york times" and what the video shows? >> thank you so much, amy.

they examine videos that primarily were coming out in a the first week, we can have the protest. that is when the internet connection was not as disrupted as what we are seeing right now. we saw multiple things, and i can kind of boil it down into three main visual trends we saw. we saw protesters were targeting symbols of the state. so we saw protests tearing down posters of the founder of the islamic republic, protesters attacking police stations and government building complexes. another main thing we saw, which has been the topic of conversation about these protests, releasing women in the lead. everything from the defining images of women burning their hijabs and public to cutting their hair is a form of protest. as well we heard a lot of women -centric slogans like you said, very much at the forefront of

these protests. as well something that dr. narges bajoghli has written about, women, what it seems like the first time, putting their bodies in direct confrontation with the police. they're actually going to physically fight them, going up to them, being very bold. this really stood out to us and we saw that and multiple spaces across the country. the last thing we saw come the big protest has been so widespread that we have seen solidarity among social class, different regions, different ethnic backgrounds. something that really stood out to us from that is we saw protests in religious and traditionally conservative cities that are strongholds where we can hear protesters saying "death to the islamic republic." as well we could hear the chants which originates from kurdish. we heard people chanting it in kurdish in tehran so well outside kurdistan, which does

show the solidarity across the country. nermeen: nilo tabrizy, if you could also talk about the state symbols that have been attacked during these protests and the significance of those state symbols and in addition to this main chant, "women, life, freedom," there have been others. what are the ones that have really caught on? >> absolutely. in terms of state symbols, we have seen, like i said, tearing down the poster of the leader, the current supreme leader ali khamenei, and sing this is -- seeing this is a very bold thing to see. there is so much repression in the state that seeing people tear down the symbols really gives us a visual understanding of what these protesters -- it

seems like there very much calling for a complete restructure and complete dissatisfaction with the current order. as well in terms of the other chants that have caught on, the main once we kept seeing our "death to the islamic republic," "death to khamenei," really caing for a change to the system. this is something that perhaps dr. narges bajoghli might have thoughts on but something we saw, these chants are very much women-centered. in 2009 when a woman was killed in the protest, she very much became a symbol of state repression. there were chants at that time of her name. this time around, we're not necessarily hearing her name so much. we are hearing chants that

particularly had no references translated into women-centric references. the chant we might have heard previous protests, "i will defend -- i will seek revenge for my brother," and now we are hearing "i will seek revenge or i will defend my sister." we are hearing that translated into women-centric chant to reflect the movement. nermeen: professor narges bajoghli, your piece for vanity fair is headlined "woman, life, freedom: iran's protests are a rebellion for bodily autonomy." you make a very interesting point which is that mahsa amini, whom these protests began around her death, that her real name, a kurdish name, could not actually officially be registered under iranian law. could you explain why that is

and the significance of these protests beginning around the debt that this young kurdish woman -- death of this young kurdish woman? >> women have been repressed pre-and post-revolution. a lot of the authorities in iran, especially the border areas, have severe repression as well as review resources going to those areas of the country for development, for job opportunities, for all of those things. many kurds as well as other ethnic minorities in iran are not allowed to speak their languages in school. gina's name could not be registered under iranian law because under iranian law, only certain persian and islamic names can be registered formally. so they had to register her persian name instead of her kurdh name. it is significant's uprising

started over the death of a rdish girlho was visitg tehran she did not live in tehran. these issues over identity and ethnicity have often been sort of faulines thattates have ed in iran to not allow solidarity to take placecross the untry. wh we see is a nationose up in defense of the death of a kuishirl anthe centl slogan of this entire uprising is a slogan thatriginates kurdish, comes fr a milant feminist kurdi background- fr turkey, fst of al and then it's translated into the kurdish womanighting in syria, against isis in 2014 and 2015 and then travels around and comes to iran. the reas it becomes a national crisis because during her

funera you can hear urners anting tha slogan. it is captured on video and circulates on social media and then it spells out all across the country and persian. amy: professor, you write, "it is only fitting it is iran's feminist revolution and the young generation on the front lines. for decades, iranian women and queers have borne the brunt of a political system predicated on their subjugation your daily policing and criminalization. they're now showing the world despite the severe repression and potential death they face how to fight back, like feminists." take it from there. >> this is really at its core a fight for women and queer folks to have choices over their bodies. what is important is that the

islamic republic has implemented laws that are severely restrictive for women since the very beginning of the 1979 revolution. and what is significant here about what happens to amini's she was caught at the hands of the so-called morality police, which are a police force -- all women have had some kind of interactions with the morality police and families, including religious ones, have had some form of interaction with these police because their daughters may not be availing as religiously as the mothers have. this is something that women are dealing with every day. when amini was taken, first ended up in a coma and later died from the injuries she sustained, what we are seeing is the ways in which women in iran

have been existing everett -- resisting every single day echoes these restrictions over the past 40 years, we now see this as a rupture in collective action. it is not surprising to me that sort of this generation and in our global moment, our generation's first big feminist uprising that is militant in style is taking place in iran on this level because iranian women have over four decades of experience of daily acts of resistance against patriarchal laws and norms. as the conservative movement rising across the world, more and more laws that are coming down against women -- i think it is worth noting conservative movements when they rise in religious movements when they rise, first and foremost, they go after the rights of women. right now even though traditional media has been very

slow to cover this uprising, it has been -- internet users all over the world have started the trend. that is the reason we are having this conversation today. striking a cord with people all over the world who are in one way or another experiencing either once again or a continuation of increased patriarchal control over women's bodies. so the protest in iran are capturing our attention because we are seeing in real life how women are putting their lives on the line and are refusing to comply any longer. we are seeing now young women and women across iran who are saying, "i will no longer comply with this." nermeen: professor, i want to ask you about what you see as throw test -- potential outcome of these protests. i was listening to an interview on the bbc with an a running

graphic knowledge just -- iranian graphic novel is. you write in your vanity fair piece street regina lien's may or may not succeed in changing the loss but that is almost beside the point. can you explain what you mean by that and what the effects of these protests might be even if the regime doesn't fold? >> i don't have a crystal ball. i cannot predict what is going to happen. at the moment, what is very significant about these protests is women are taking control back fr the state. they are saying we will not allow you to define how we come off the street. we will define this for ourselves. what is significant is when you rise up against powers and things that have been around for

millennia, which is unfortunately one of the universal values we see, patriarchy, this is something that -- we have to be able to envision that we can live in a society without that. so what that requires is a representation of resisting that kind of power. and what we have now in iran, for iranians, is we have on a daily basis now. swarms of civil disobedience which are about standing up against patriarchal power. we are seeing more and more slogans that say, "it might not always be the morality police, but the morality police could also be called your father." it is going to the core of the patriarchy in the state and home. that is what makes us feminist to a core, sang in order for us to have any kind of freedom, political or otherwise, women need to be free. the long-term consequences of this are significa because what we see also in iran is

young girl in schools, elementary school students, little school and high school students, as you showed on your piece, are throwing out those who have enforced these laws in their school for over four decades. this is just the start of women and girls seeing their power, seeing it reverberate and then so many people around the world showing solidarity to it. that is significant for iran but also for all of us as we are sitting here contemplating how we are going to be fighting back against all of these laws that are trying to restrict our bodies now. we are now seeing a very confrontational militant form of feminism rising up from iran, showing us how to do that. amy: during a speech in the european union assembly, a swedish member of the parliament, abir al-sahlani, cut her hair in solidarity with the

iranian protests on tuesday evening in strasbourg, france. >> the hands of the regime in iran is stained with blood. god almighty will forgive you for the crimes against humanity that you're committing come against your own citizens. we the people in the citizens of the eu demand the immediate stop of all the violence against the women and men in iran. until iran is free, we are going to stand with you. women. life. freedom. amy: there has been dramatic video of solidarity with the protests in iran all over the world.

in addition to the protests drawing thousands and thousands of people, including in los angeles which has a very large iranian-american community and the swedish mp we just played, prominent french actresses also posted a video online cutting their hair. nilo, if you can talk one about the video getting out of iran but two, the video of these actions of solidarity -- how easy is it for people in iran, for the women to see the solidarity when apps are being shut down, and etc.? >> the internet cracked out is happening right now. i have a hard time reaching my family members. for iranians are really smart. they know how to maneuver around state rression s up to

mething th have beenoing for yes. there arwindows an ways in which they can see the outside world and how videosre sti getting nt out to people like me who are watching and monitoring. videos are very much our primary wind into what isoing on in ir given the repression of jourlists that re once acedited to be basethere. this is really primary way we are seeing it. and seei these vids of women iran cutting their hairs ry movin it is methinwe focused oin our ace. when wspoke wi one of r expes about , hsaid it very mh the symbol that is unique to these protests. it is women saying, back to the morality police, back to the state. if this is what is bothering you sarcastic way, let me cut it off. something that really caught me when we were watching the videos coming out, specifically with cutting hair is a former

protests, there is video of her protesters funeral. often in the past when protesters have been killed by the state, there very much dissuaded from being public at all about it. it is a quiet burial and things like that. we saw a video broadcast from one of these funerals that was put on social media that you can see this open grieving, you can see people grieving for their young family member who was killed in these protests. one of the family members begins to cut her hair over the casket. not only making this funeral a public statement, which in itself is very shocking and bold in these protests, but at individual of her cutting her hair on top of it is incredibly moving to see. nermeen: professor, what do you think accounts for the extent of global solidarity in this very visual and open way -- not just demonstrations, but so many

women cutting their hair and posting it online? and if you could compare this also in 2009 were in iran during the protest called the green movement. what differentiates that one from this one? >> to answer your first question , i think the reason this is reverberating so broadly across the world is, again, we are feeling lots of frustration all around the world with not just the rise of conservative power, but also the concentration and the monopoly of power around the world. whether it is by different states that we all live in, corporations like the applications will use in the ways in which they are owned by very, very few companies -- we are in this moment in which, especially those in the millennial generation and what we call generation z, they are

showing outbursts of rebellion just sort of being like it is enough towards different forms of power we have around us. #blacklives and #metoo. this is a moment where it crystallizes all of these frustrations and i think that is one of the reasons there's so much solidarity around the world. as far as the difference between this and the 2009 movement in iran, the green movement, that movement was still very much within the bounds of politics at the islamic republic. it was a movement for electoral integrity and for reform of the system. today's movement, it is not calling for reform. today's movement is calling for a new vision of politics, calling for a vision of politics

that is about life and not destruction, that is about the future and women at the helm of it. that is significantly different. there protesters today in iran, they are in many ways they have moved beyond the states. this is no longer about the state. this is about trying to create a new political imagination of what comes after the islamic republic. so this is why this is such a significant moment. it is not about toppling down, but for the first time we have a national movement of sorts that has moved beyond the parameters of the state. it is no longer looking to reform the state and is calling forth a completely new vision for politics in iran. amy: narges bajoghli, thank you for being with us, anthropologist and professor of middle east studies at johns hopkins university, author of

"iran reframed: anxieties of power in the islamic republic." we will link to your piece in vanity fair headlined "woman, life, freedom: iran's protests are a rebellion for bodily autonomy." and nilo tabrizy, i what to thank you in vancouver, journalist and writer, currently a video journalist at "the new york times" where your most recent piece is titled "what video footage reveals about the protests in iran." we will end this segment with the renown political activist, scholar, and other angela davis who expressed her solidarity with protesters in iran in a video posted on social media. this is an excerpt. >> i want to offer my heartfelt solidarity to all ose in iran who have decided abir al-sahlani 's -- mahsa amini's dth at the hands of the republic shall not

be in vain. as one of the many scholar activists in the united state who has identified for a long time as an ally of progressive anradical movements in iran, i offer my condolences to mahsa amini, family and friends and say thank you to all of those militant refusals directed at the regime, along with the morality police, have created the occasion in mahsa amini's name to reverberate around the world. in her name, people are standing up and are saying no to the repression bthe islamic republic. there are harbingers of hope. hope not only for the peoplef iran, but for all of us who want an end to racial capitalism, misogyny, economic repssion,

and whotrive for more habitable future foall beings on thi planet. long le mahsa amini. amy: political dissident, activist, author angela davis, sending her message of solidarity with the women of iran. coming up, we will also hear from india. as in his prime minister offers to help efforts to end the war in ukraine, we will speak to the activist kavita krishnan. stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: the unoicial anthem of

the iran protest. the lyrics are taken from messages posted online about why they are protesting. the song was posted september 28 and received 40 million views before he was forced to take it down. he was arrested the next day and released earlier this week on bail. he is awaiting trial. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. as we turn now to look at russia's invasion of ukraine with a focus on india's response come on tuesday the indian prime minister narendra modi spoke by phone with the ukrainian president vladimir zelenskyy. his office released a statement saying "he expressed his from conviction there can be no military solution to the conflict and conveyed the readiness to contribute to any peace efforts." this came just days after india joined china and brazil and abstaining from a vote at the u.n. secured because of

condemning moscow's annexation of four regions in ukraine. last month, modi told vladimir putin that today's europe is not one for war. -- today's era is not one for war. it was widely criticized. despite modi's comments, and yet as economic ties to russia groves since the figure invasion. india now imports about 750,000 barrels of oil from russia per day come up from about 20,000 barrels a day year ago. joining us is kavita krishnan, a prominent feminist activist, recently stepped down from her leadership position of the commonest party of india in opposition to the party's stance on the war in ukraine. what we begin right there? welcome back to democracy now! talk about why you stepped down

and what indisposition is and what the communist party's position is stuff you will e longtime marxist feminist. >> that's right. i think across the ideological spectrum's in india, there is a lot of misinformation about the war, about russia's invasion. therefore, a lot of sympathy for russia rather than ukraine. the vast majority of indians and indian political formations do not see ukraine, do not acknowledge ukraine. they have an old relationsh with the soviet union and see ukraine as some sort of -- of russia. i think that is a more general problem. on the left, i think the problem is much more acute. in india you have a far right ideologically aligned with --

supportive russia's invasionn. the center of the elite [indiscernible] he put together -- we want to put together an indian empire. that is the far right position. the left position -- parties which have much more openly position. the openly look forward to a relationship growing between russia and china. one officially says it is in solidarity with ukraine. but having said that, it undermines -- putin propaganda.

exaggerating the presence of neo-nazis and nazis in ukraine. the extent of danger that is presented to the world. the main problem -- the idea must support those in the world seen as a challenge to america, which is the only country -- all others like putin or bolsonaro or xi,

[indiscernible] we must temper our solidarity to the movements against those regimes. we must ration out our solidarity because it is our job to somehow maintain the balance of power. the kind of realist rhetoric and ideological corruption is i think what troubles me very deeply right now. nermeen: just on the question of supporting what might be or is developing into a more multilateral global frame, there been many who have expressed hope in the economic alliance of brics, brazil, russia, india, china, and south africa. what is your response to that? together they constitute 41% of the worlds population, 24% of real gdp, and over 60% share in

world trade. >> when it comes to economic sanctions, why not? i think -- some sort of multipolar regionalism and so on . i saw an interview on democracy now! i -- for me, whether it is west or east, the main thing she could turn us now are the struggles against authoritarianism inside of various countries. whether it is america or the u.k. in the brexit context, putin in russia, modi in india, you have -- we should be talking about how to strengthen. instead of that, if you have sort of a blind ecno

and -- i think that is pretty dangerous because you're not looking at the politics of china, the politics of russia, the politics of india. china, for instance, in the region -- india is ruled by an openly islamaphobic government. likewise, china practicing modern authoritarianism for which the indian regime is taking those in learning. it is backing funding from a military which is doing genocide against the rohingya people. at least let ought to address or mention or recognize. likewise, i find large portions

of the left to not even mention russian invasion of ukraine. the interview on democracy now! for example -- no mention of russia coming -- refusing to recognize it and wanting to wipe it off the face of the art. that is what i find deeply disturbing. the prospects of the left as well as -- nermeen: could you speak specifically about what india's interests are now? obviously, as you pointed out earlier, india has historic relationship despite being part of the nonalign movement. we just reported earlier that opec, for example, opec plants

have decided to cut oil production by two billion barrels a day. critics say this will increase profits for russia because they are one of the oil exporters and the less oil there is, the higher price will remain. india is one of the main importers of russian oil. could you talk about some of the other links between the two? >> india is one of the biggest exporters of arms from russia. nermeen: importer or exporter? >> importer. sorry, i'm it porter. -- i met importer. apart from that, military exercises with russia and china at russia's behest.

[indiscernible] it is walking a tight rope. it would like to enhance its relationship with russia. at the same time, -- what you see in you doing between modi and zelenskyy and between modi and putin sang today is not the time for war and so on and so forth coming into balance these words and their rather empty symbolism with action. in his action has been -- india's action has been to abstain from the earlier condemnation of the russian invasion of ukraine and now again on the russian annexation of the ukrainian territories. and i think we also have to keep

in mind this ideological -- should be paying much more attention in india and the world to the fact the language about the rise of civilization which basically should have domination in the world rather than liberal democracy and lgbtq rights and so on, which putin associates with western countries alone western power. i think that is a dangerous rhetoric. the idea human rights for lgbtq rights or feminism are basically western ideas that they should not dominate the world, that is something challenged by the feminist protests in iran or you 70 other places in the world.

-- or india or so many other places in the world. the ideology -- all these ideas that represent domination and western concepts of democracy to which we not be answerable. i think that is extremely dangerous that we need to pay attention to. amy: you have talked about russia as really a center of the far right globally. if you could expend what you mean. that might surprise many. >> i think the relationship between russia and the campaign for brexit, between russia and donald trump, financial relationships as well as other political relationships, i think those are pretty much well-known

by now. but i think to dismiss a some kind of phobia, whatever it is, would be wrong. i think we need to pay attention to the fact russia is trying to set itself up as the far right railing sentiment. i think in india, inns are somewhat different. the indian far right. has its own kind of -- its own world. but there is no doubt for a very long time, the russian far right , russian fascists -- dugin in an article -- as the rise of civilization in india, tentacle to the language used [indiscernible]

the genius of any allies and values have passed and religion and so on and so forth. and, again, he said western liberal democracy are enforced on india and modi's government is the first general in touch with indian values. these relationships in that article quoted in 2018 -- amy: 10 seconds. >> yes, yes. i see these lesions as extremely important to pay attention to -- relations as extremely important to pay attention to. supporting each other struggles for democracy against authoritarianism and fascism.

these are absolutely the most important, far more important than geopolitical balance. amy: we have to leave it there. kavita krishnan, steps down from her leadership position of the communist party in india.

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