07/20/23 07/20/23 [captioning made possible by democracy now!] amy: from new york, this is democracy now! >> how dare you criticize our country? >> in the absence of information, conversations will turn violent. >> i warn you, change before it is too late. >> i am ravish kumar. >> he wants to break the

country. this will not be tolerated. >> those who ask questions are called traitors. amy: press freedom is under attack in india. a stunning new documentary captures what happened when one of india's most prominent tv journalists, ravish kumar, reported critically on prime minister narendra modi. ravish will join us today along with the indian filmmaker vinay shukla, who directed the new documentary "while we watched." then to "rainbowland." >> ♪ together, we can start living in a rainbowland ♪ ♪ amy: we will speak to a first grade teacher in wisconsin who was fired for protesting a decision by her school district

to ban her students from singing "rainbowland," a hit song by miley cyrus and dolly parton. >> i think people assume these things are happening in florida and georgia and texas because we hear about those stories in the news but i am here in wisconsin and it is happening here, too. all that and more, coming up. welcome to democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. an unrelenting heatwave across the southern united states is continuing today with dozens of temperature records set to fall. in phoenix, arizona, where nighttime temperatures have not fallen below 90 degrees fahrenheit since early july, forecasters are predicting i 20th consecutive day with high temperatures of over 110 degrees. this week, more than 44 million people in 28 u.s. states and several canadian provinces have

been affected by smoke from a record number of wildfires. in northern mexico migrants stopped at the u.s. border waiting to apply for asylum facing increasingly desperate conditions. temperatures in the border city sword to nearly 110 degrees wednesday. >> need to be drinking cold beverages frequently to adjust body temperature, but the rest of the day was dehydrated. my daughters lips are chapped to even though i give her hydration solutions. she is still quite affected. amy: in northern india, public health officials are warning of a high risk of waterborne diseases as floodwaters from unusually heavy monsoon rains began receding. the swollen river has caused extensive flooding across the holy cities. >> the time of the year we are

in, there's a high chance of disease, especially related to gastro, skin diseases, viral infections. amy: meanwhile, the european space agency warns a massive heat wave gripping the continent won't end anytime soon. in ukraine, one person was killed and more than two dozen others as russia's military launched a third straight night of attacks on the black sea port cities of mykolaiv and odesa. the attacks came as russia's defense ministry warned ships against sailing into ukraine's black sea ports, saying they will be considered parties to the ukrainian conflict. the threat followed the kremlin's withdrawal from the black sea grain deal, which allowed safe passage of food and fertilizer from ukraine. on wednesday, the ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy accused russia of directly targeting grain silos at black sea ports. >> this terrorist attack proves

they're targeting not only ukraine and not only the lives of our people in the ports that were attacked today, there were about one million tons of food stored. it is precisely that amount that should have already been delivered to consumer countries in africa and asia. amy: in kenya, local media report at least six people were killed wednesday as a three-day protest against tax hikes and the soaring cost of living kicked off. the ongoing anti-government demonstrations have caused unrest in the capital nairobi and other cities, shuttering schools and businesses. last week, at least 14 people died in protests, at least 10 were shot and killed by police. the opposition leader raila odinga called for protests after president william ruto announced the tax increases last month. this is a protester from kibera in nairobi. >> we came out on our own initiative. nobody made as protest. we are here because we are tired. if they want, they should just sell the country and everyone get their share and plan for

themselves. amy: in afghanistan, dozens of women held a demonstration in the capital kabul wednesday protesting against the taliban's decision to shut down thousands of beauty parlors and salons nationwide. taliban officers responded by firing water cannons and tasers against the women before shooting their guns into the air to break up the protest. in iraq, protesters stormed the swedish embassy in central baghdad on wednesday, starting a small fire before they were driven away by iraqi police armed with electric batons. no embassy staff members were injured in the protest, which was condemned by the foreign ministries of both sweden and iraq. protesters were angered over the burning of a quran outside a mosque in stockholm last month. in egypt, president abdel fattah el-sisi pardoned detained italian-egyptian human rights researcher patrick zaki and lawyer mohamed el-baqer. zaki's pardon came just one day

after he was sentenced to three years in prison for writing about the discrimination he has suffered as a member of egypt's coptic christian community. mohamed el-baqer is the lawyer for technologist, blogger, and writer alaa abd el-fattah, a leading activist in the 2011 revolution and egypt's most prominent political prisoner. el-baquer was arrested in 2019 and sentenced to four years in prison in 2021 for his work defending el-fattah. you can see our interviews with alaa abd el-fattah and our coverage of his case at democracynow.org. morocco's king has invited israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu for a visit. the invitation by king mohammed vi was announced just two days after israel recognized morocco's claim of sovereignty over western sahara, the territory it has occupied since 1975 in defiance of the united nations and international law. in peru, tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets of lima wednesday to demand interim president dina boluarte

step down. boluarte came to power following the ouster of leftist president pedro castillo in december of last year. dozens of protesters were killed in the ensuing crackdown by police and security forces. >> this government calls it genocide. it killed 80 innocent lives and people will never forgive this. this is the reason we are here today. this is an immoral and incapable government. amy: demonstrators are calling out persistent inequality and poverty in peru. a new report by a congressional watchdog highlights the growing price of maintaining the pentagon's nuclear command, control, and communications systems. the congressional budget office says the cost of operating, upgrading, and maintaining u.s. nuclear command is expected to reach $117 billion over the coming decade, a $23 billion increase compared to an estimate made just two years ago. the report was released as vermont independent senator

bernie sanders proposed amendments that would cut u.s. military budget by 10% compared to the record $886 billion budget national defense authorization act approved by the house of representatives last week. senate majority leader chuck schumer said democrats would not block a vote on the pentagon's policy of paying for employees' abortion-related travel if it can end republican senator tommy tuberville's months-long hold-up of military appointments. tuberville recently came under fire for defending white nationalists in the military. a federal judge has rejected former president trump's request for a new trial after a new york jury ordered trump to pay $5 million to the writer e. jean carroll for sexually abusing her at a department store in the 1990's and defaming her. u.s. district judge lewis kaplan on wednesday rejected claims by trump's lawyers that the verdict was a seriously erroneous result and a miscarriage of justice. kaplan wrote --

"the finding that ms. carroll failed to prove that she was 'raped' within the meaning of the new york penal law does not mean that she failed to prove that mr. trump 'raped' her as many people commonly understand the word 'rape.' indeed, as the evidence at trial recounted below makes clear, the jury found that mr. trump in fact did exactly that." in mississippi, a 16-year-old immigrant died friday after he was injured while working at a poultry plant in the city of hattiesburg. duvan tomas perez was a middle school student who came to the u.s. six years ago from guatemala. witnesses say the teen's fatal injury came as he was cleaning heavy machinery that was left on, an apparent major safety violation. several u.s. states have recently rolled back child labor laws, though mississippi law does not allow minors to be employed in slaughterhouses and meat packing plants. to see our recent interview with the pulitzer prize-winning

"new york times" reporter hannah dreier about child labor in the u.s., go to democracynow.org. new york city has agreed to pay more than $13 million to settle a lawsuit brought by more than 1000 protesters who faced aggressive police behavior that violated their civil and constitutional rights during the 2020 uprising that followed the murder of george floyd. the settlement announced today is the largest amount paid to protesters in a class action suit in u.s. history. researchers with the national lawyers guild combed through thousands of social media posts and police body-camera and helicopter videos. they documented numerous cases of improper use of force by nypd who were filmed beating protesters with batons, unleashing pepper spray, and aggressively using a tactic called kettling to trap and arrest protesters en masse. today's settlement is separate from another case the city settled in march with hundreds of people who were kettled, beaten, detained, and arrested by new york police officers at a june 2020 protest in the bronx. in labor news, members of the international alliance of

theatrical stage employees, or iatse, are voting this week to authorize a strike that could see broadway and touring shows halted by the end of the week. the strike would affect some 1500 union members working as stagehands, hair and make-up artists, and wardrobe personnel. contract negotiations have stalled as workers fight for better health care, wages, and housing for touring crews. this comes as hollywood remains effectively at a standstill as writers and actor strikes show no sign of ending. the wga and sag-aftra filed a complaint with the national labor relations board this week against comcast's nbcuniversal, which the unions say blocked a sidewalk picketing area, forcing strikers to walk on busy roads. meanwhile, l.a. city controller kenneth mejia said his office is investigating the trimming of shade-providing trees outside universal studios, where union members are picketing amid a persistent heatwave. and in northern california, the president of stanford university is resigning after a review of

his scientific research found it contained manipulated data. marc tessier-lavigne, a renowned neuroscientist, will also retract or issue corrections on five papers. he was previously an executive at the biotech company genentech, where he published a 2009 study on alzheimer's which the review found had multiple problems. his downfall was prompted by 18-year-old freshman theo baker, a writer for "the stanford daily" newspaper, who dug into rumors in the science world about the falsified data. he spoke to a local abc news affiliate about the case wednesday. >> all told, there are about a dozen papers in which he is the co-author, named co-author, seemed to have manipulated imagery. for five of those, he was the principal author and has agreed as a result of this report that also led him stepping down to retract or issue lengthy corrections to all of these very

widely cited papers. that is something that definitely would not have happened had are reporting not brought this into the four and stanford decided to investigate itself. amy: theo baker became the first ever college student to win a george polk award for his reporting on the case. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. coming up, "while we watched," extending new documentary capturing what happened when one of india's most prominent primetime tv journalists ravish kumar reported critically on prime minister narendra modi. he joins us today, along with the film's director vinay shukla . stay with us. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman, joined by my

democracy now! 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: we begin today's show looking at press freedom in india, often referred to as the world's most populous democracy, under indian prime minister narendra modi. modi is head of the hindu nationalist bjp party. he was once banned for nearly a decade from the united states on charges he did not intervene in a massacre against muslims in 2002 in the indian state of gujarat. but he is now being embraced by president biden and other world leaders. in june, biden hosted modi for a state dinner. last week, modi was the guest of honor at france's bastille day parade as french president emmanuel macron rolled out the red carpet for him as well. meanwhile, back home, the leaders of 26 opposition political parties in india announced a new alliance this week that aims to oust modi in next year's general election. the coalition is called the indian national developmental inclusive alliance, with the acronym india.

modi called the new alliance a "hardcore corruption convention." all of this comes as one of india's last bastions of free media, ndtv, has been taken over by indian billionaire gautam adani, who is from gujarat, the home state of prime minister narendra modi, and is believed to have close ties to modi. he is the richest man in india, the third richest in the world. now a stunning new documentary captures what happened when one of india's most prominent tv journalists ndtv's executive , editor and longtime anchor ravish kumar, one of india's reported critically on modi's hindu nationalist policies. the film resonates far beyond india. it is called "while we watched." this is the trailer.

amy: that's the trailer for the new documentary "while we watched." some have called the film an "elegy for press freedom" in india. it comes to u.s. theaters this week. for more, we are joined in new york city by its director vinay shukla and by its subject ravish kumar, the acclaimed indian journalist and author who was the senior executive editor of ndtv india, where he hosted a number of programs including the channel's flagship weekday show. in 2019, he received the ramon magsaysay award, often referred to as the asian nobel prize.

we welcome you both to democracy now! i what begin with vinay shukla. if you could talk about your decision to make this film about ravish, who you have followed for some two years and in so doing, a kind of fly on the wall in the newsroom and his home, we see what happens to press freedom. it is a kind of microcosm in india. talk about this journey you took with ravish. >> i think in the beginning when i used to watch the news, there was so much noise. i would speak to my friends often and they would say they had stopped watching the news completely because it was not good for their mental health. i used to find it very distracting, very concerning because news as a system is a made-up system of public information. at least in india. i believe we come to the news

because we want to learn something to make our lives better. when so many people are switching from the news, that was concerning for me. in india, fact-based reporting has taken a backseat. there is opinion and debate shows are the norm. when i came across -- i remember watching one of ravish's broadcast. often the news anchors will tell audiences we are here to serve you and the audience is number one. ravish was scolding his audiences, that you should be doing better, please stop watching tv and that is the only way we can all get better. i found that to be ironic that here was somebody in the news business who was asking people to stop watching the news. he was also being very vulnerable on television. he was wondering aloud if there was an audience out there for him. i found that you be a good starting point because i think

over a period of time, we become desensitized to the crisis that people are working within the news industry are facing. with ravish, i thought i wanted to investigate that. nermeen: you said now indian television news channels are dominated principally by debates and also extremely aggressive anchors. i would like to go to a clip of one of india's most popular news show hosts arnab goswami. >> i believe being a nationalist is a prerequisite to being a journalist. nermeen: this is a clip from a 2016 segment featuring an interview with umar khalid, a student activist and former leader of the democratic students' union at jnu -- a university considered india's harvard. he was one of the most prominent voices in the protests against

the execution in 2013 of afzal guru, who was convicted of the 2001 indian parliament attack. the protests also criticized the execution of kashmiri separatist leader maqbool bhat, who was hanged in 1984. umar khalid has since been accused under the so-called unlawful activities act. -- unlawful activities prevention act. >> the catcher poster which argues for self-determination for kashmiris. look at your statements which say -- look at your slogans. look at your pathetic slogans that call for india's destruction. you cannot be on my side holding an indian passport, getting an education that is subsidized by the indian taxpayer, and have the temerity to say i will provide a platform for people who say that we will work relentlessly until india is

destroyed. look at your statements that label india a spiteful state. look at your statement that says -- rings out and heart of every kashmiri. for far too long, lydia sent, in this country, -- ladies and gentlemen, for far too long in this country -- i will not be interrupted at this point of time. nermeen: that is arnab goswami interviewing umar khalid. i want to know if you could talk about how representative this is of the broader media landscape of indian television news program? >> thank you for having me here. a lot of viewers who watch my show follow your work and have sent huge regard do you work. having said that, this clip you

just showed about arnab goswami, and the beginning, he was the one but now we have many more like him. entire indian news channel systems have become -- there are many news channels, hundreds of news channels, but they are the same anchors do the same kind of job you just show to your viewers, arnab goswami shouting and alienating young boy, delegitimizing him from his citizenry and his right to stand for anything he believes is wrong. this media, we have to be clear this media is -- indian media -- this is not routine.

destruction is huge on a vast scale. this media has turned into a weapon. the weaponization of indian media is something to worry about. this media is day in and day out branding people saying you're a traitor, or anti-national, anti-hindu -- all things in the name of religion and in the service of the prime minister. you have a kind of media, but we do not have media where you have any kind of identity voices. this crisis is not a routine crisis. we have to be careful. no civil society can have a kind of rogue media. it is so criminal. the anchors are just not loud

and shrill, this is -- they are the voices delivered with such hatred against one community in the name of religion. they are inciting -- they are becoming a weapon of mass destruction. nermeen: you with a senior executive editor at ndtv and then gautam adani has taken over. explain how ndtv was different from other news channels. >> it was different in many ways. ndtv did put up a brave fight. they were framed with many charges. but they could not save their channel. yes, they faced a lot of problems but they never intervened in the editorial work or our job.

they fought to save the channel and have a space where you can raise alternative voices, can raise questions, you can raise -- you can get a platform to many people. like you just had the headline of northern india, the danger of waterborne disease. indian media has left this kind of story once the prime minister returned from france. they are doing their agenda and the service of their politics. ndtv was different in many ways. you rightly said it was a last bash jan of indian media -- bastion of indian media. and i don't have one journalist doing differently. you have channels who are doing the same content and that content is communal, full of falsehood. amy: i want to go back to the documentary "while we watched." in this clip, ravish, you're

talking with a reporter about the challenges that you are all facing working at ndtv at the time. amy: and i want to go to another clip of "while we watched," where ravish kumar it's farewell to a departing colleague. then we see him in conversation with his wife in their car.

amy: ravish, if you could talk about your decision to resign? every night, what was it, 9:00, millie's of people around india tuned in to hear what you had to say. also your reporting on the streets as you brought the voices out of people.

talk about that decision you came to. and what modi had to do with i t, the prime minister. >> it was very tough to reach a decision like this because i have been born and brought up professionally on that itself. when they took over ndtv, it was clear the journalism of ndtv is over now. that decision was proved after that when the hindenburg report came out. ndtv went out to make nine documentaries praising the achievement of deridder modi's -- narendra modi's government. you cannot see gautam adani as an independent businessman.

yes, he may be but he is seen in the public he is an extension opposition, blame allegedly this man is a part of the prime minister's politics. yes, he said there will be a difference between editorial and management but now we can see where this channel is going. before gautam adani, the minister, and a spokesperson started by -- they did not appear on my show. now my minister is on record and reported by the news, if i'm correctly, she says she is -- she is a prominent minister. she is saying, i have not spoken to you for long and now i believe there is a regime change. that is where she is making it

officially that we were boycotting you and now we are not boycotting because there is a regime change. what is this regime change? adani is in. it was clear to me, though it was very hard, it was a heartbreaking decision for me to leave ndtv, but i had to take this decision. i could not work under that man. nermeen: you explain, first of all, what happened to the founders of ndtv. you show a little bit of that in the film. explain why the press in india is referred to russell he to as -- explain what that means. >> i'm not privy to all kind of information and stories which the founders have gone through.

yes, for a lot of cases and even this man you showed, he covered live and spoke many bad things about him and his house was being rated. -- raided. yes, they faced a lot. i can sense that they have a house -- they must be feeling sad when they come out of their house. indian media, we have to be careful. we cannot be casual about this. this media has become. dangerous. -- this media has become very

dangerous. it is become so and to opposition, anti-muslims. you cannot imagine the scale i am talking about. i have a number of examples to make my point. i still think indian media is gone. we have many things in india. we still have many systems which make us hopeful ultimately democracy will survive. but we do not have media in a true journalistic sense. nermeen: given the fact the description both of the film and what you both have been saying, the media climate in india, is there any prospect at all that your film will be released there?

has it been shown at all even in private screenings? >> ok, so i think it is a two-part answer. i have received a lot of love from people whenever i go out, whenever there is a post about the film. people are waiting for the film to come out. it premiered in toronto last year. we have been winning awards since. every time i talk about having won an award or screen the film international, people say, please, bring it back home. there's a fair amount of demand amongst the audiences. i so far have not had any offer from a distributor to put the film out, which of course is challenging. on my previous film, a political film, i was able to release that in theaters and it went for many weeks. i'm hopeful i will be able to do that because alternately i need this film for audiences back home. i made this for my cousin,

parents, my friends. this film is made in a language in which i believe i will be able to communicate and speak to them. i would like to show them the film and i am really hopeful. and go ahead up prime minister modi's official state visit to the white house last month, the committee to protect journalists and other organizations ran a full-page ad in "the washington post" highlighting what they call the press freedom crisis in india. the ad said in part -- "india is the world's largest democracy, yet it is one of the world's most dangerous countries for the media." during modi's visit, he and biden held a joint news conference. modi was questioned by "wall street journal" reporter sabrina siddiqui, who is believed to the first journalist to ask modi a question at a news conference since 2015.

this was the interaction. >> mr. prime minister, india has long prided itself as the world's largest democracy but there are many human rights groups who say your government has discriminated against religious, minorities, and sought to silence its critics. as you stand here in the east room of the white house were so many world leaders have made commitments to protecting democracy, what steps are you and your government willing to take to improve the rights of muslims and other minorities in your country and to uphold free speech? >> we have always proved democracy can deliver. when i say deliver, this is regardless of caste, creed, religion, or gender. there isfor discrimination. amy: following the news conference, "the wall street journal" reporter sabrina siddiqui faced an intense online harassment campaign by supporters of modi. ravish kumar, it is something

you are very familiar with. first, we surprised that she got to ask this question? and underlying all of this is your views of what is happening to india under modi right now as he is being hailed by world leaders what you see happening at home. if you could respond to this? >> yes, i was surprised and i thought whoever -- did a great job. sorry to say, our prime minister who comes from leading democracy in the world, has not done any press conferencen nine years of his government. he came to power -- the prime minister gave a number of speeches that he could not hold one press conference and take questions.

i was happy because -- for one reason. this is one prominent question people have wanted to ask for many years and finally there was the chance and she asked that question. this is the question he is running away. in many ways, her question was representative of many questions which we are raising. that media has become so weaponized and the communal hatred so high in india, and anchors have legitimacy -- the question was very right. i do not think that question was answered very well. nermeen: could you explain the

question of communalism in india? muslims constitute about 14% in india. why are muslims the target repeatedly of the indian press? >> since 2014, nobody had idea. if you look at the muslims organizations, even they did not say anything which should be countered like this. they were very quiet. but suddenly, this media turned into a communal machine. it has become a factory for communal hatred. anchors -- they started spreading communal hatred.

even supreme court's on many occasion have strictly criticized this kind of media and asked question of government that can't we stop this kind media? but nothing has been done. if you surf any news channel, even right now, you will find one or other journalist doing communal agenda. so it has been legitimized by media. media has become direct to spread this communal agenda. the scale is vast. i'm not talking about indian newspapers, i'm talking here about indian television. shameful there is no other issues are being covered but every anchor has come up with some kind of communal advances and giving voices to majoritarian's. this kind of television, journalism, we have.

we are not talking about this. individuals have suffered because of that. there are many incidents where people on the street thought they have the support of television. even at home, they are legitimizing and discussing this kind of communal vices to end younger generation. no institution is scared to stop. when the lockdown happened during covid, suddenly these journalists started blaming one group of muslims organizations. many were targeted. many places we had incidents like that, people went on the street and start checking id cards of fruit and vegetable sellers.

it was a kind of atmosphere which was created by these television channels. after many months, courts say television channels have done great damage to this country and this kind of fake news has been propagated by the news channels. yeah many official accounts of the communal agenda and criticized with the supreme court. i'm not alone. nermeen: you have said trolls have become the authority in india and authorities have become trolls and india since 2014. in other words, since modi came to power. explain the power of these trolls and how much fall snooze, disinformation is circulated on whatsapp and the effects of that. >> trolling started in india public life post many people

active in public affairs used to tell me these things will come and go. but i could sense these are not social trolls. these kinds of trolls are not coming from random part of society. but it has an institutional support. by now they have become an authority in itself. if they start trolling you, will find out things are being filed against you, police will be at your doorstep. i know one journalist who had to leave her town, who was a bright female journalist that promoted a few days back but because of trolls, she was fired. she loved her job. she was brought to a police station where these goods were

asking her to apologize. she had to apologize and front of the police. these trolls are not normal trolls. they have the power of the government. they may be invisible, but their impact is so on your career and life that you cannot imagine. yes, i am the one case but many female journalist are suffering -- their sufferings are not being told. these trolls have been successfully marginalized any journalist -- any female journalist. they are in great distress. they have the power. they have the political power. they had the legitimacy to drag you in any controversy and they can do whatever they want to do

with you. amy: vinay, you end the film with ravish winning an award in the philippines, considered the asian nobel prize. the significance of this for you, ravish, and what you're doing now as you resign from your position as this renown primetime host on ndtv as it was taken over by the richest man in india, allied with modi? >> i am doing -- i am running my own youtube channels. i've got huge support from my viewers. i have to say one thing, that we have been sentenced to a kind of professional exile in our country. many journalists like me are not

getting jobs. they have been isolated. yes, if there was not -- if it were not for youtube, we would not have survived in this profession. i am grateful to youtube, but i do not know when this channel will be killed with one notice or notification and the uncertainty of this youtube channel is great. it is so vast. yes, i am grateful that -- many people let me are earning, but we have been sentenced to professional exile. amy: as we wrap up, i want to ask you how covering and living with almost ravish kumar, his family, his community at ndtv, changed you?

you are a well-known film maker. but what this has meant for you? >> i was honestly very surprised when i started shooting because there's a public perception that you have -- ravish is a very well-known anchor. people are polarized. people have charged opinions about him. when i began shooting, i was thinking he would have a team of 10 people around. he was operating from a very small room with a very small team. i was also very, very impressed, to put it simply, by the amount of rigor and work that goes on within the entire newsroom. i am very invested in processes. when i was there at ndtv and on the floor, i was suddenly given a very clean insight into how much it takes from people to be

able to do the job they do. journalism has been dehumanized so much in the last decade or so. sure, there have been bad agents. at the disinformation campaign against journalism has been so strong, that we have forgotten to understand the processes of journalism. my film shows you the cost, emotional and financial, that journalists have to pay in order to do what they do. we have a larger conversation around the systems of journalism. very often we tend to focus, for example, today we have ravish with us and the story of ndtv. for as long as we're concerned about one individual or government, it is a very short-term myopic view of things. it is fundamental for me to understand, at least in india, even across the world, what are the systems we are building that

will help us build a better journalism. amy: we have to leave it there. i want to encourage people to see this profound movie. vinay shukla is director of "while we watched." ravish kumar is a claimed indian journalist and author featured in the film. he was the senior executive editor of ndtv where he hosted a primetime nightly news, flagship weekday show. tonight i will be moderating a panel with ravish andvinay after the film is shown. next up, we speech a first-grade teacher in wisconsin was fired for protesting her school district's decision to ban students from singing the hit song "rainbowland" by miley cyrus and dolly parton. ♪♪ [music break]

amy: "rainbowland" by miley cyrus and dolly parton. this is democracy now! i'm amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. we end today's show with a first-grade school teacher who was fired after she protested her school district's decision to ban students from singing the hit song "rainbowland" by miley cyrus and dolly parton during their school's spring concert, newlin officials said they were concerned the song was not "appropriate for the age and maturity level of the students." the song supports inclusion.

the waukesha, wisconsin board of education voted to fire melissa tempel after she complained in a tweet that went viral that school officials decided "rainbowland" was too controversial for students to perform. the superintendent jim sebert told democracy now! tuesday in a statement -- "the decision of the board was not about any particular song, that may or may not have been selected for a concert, but the process by which an employee goes about expressing their concerns in a productive manner in accordance with board policy." a group are calling for the states justice department to investigate claims of repeated discriminatory behavior toward lgbtqia+ students and staff by the waukesha superintendent. for more we are joined by melissa tempel in milwaukee. welcome to democracy now! we just have about five minutes,

but i wanted to ask you if you can talk about what rainbowland meant to the students, why they wanted to sing it, and why they were stopped from singing it. >> good morning. it is really nice to be here. i am so honored that i have a chance to talk about this with you, amy. my students heard about this song. they had practiced it a few times with me. in our daily morning meetings, the person of the day gets to lead the meeting and pick a song. rainbowland was the song they wanted to pick. when i was told we could not seeing it anymore, i wanted to just make a point that when i tweeted about it, my students were devastated. they love the song. i did not view what i was doing is making a complaint. the song had already been taken

out of the program. the music teacher was conducting a program. it was not part of my specific job duties. but it was horrifying to know that is school district's underscore nation content policy would go so far to send we could not saying rainbowland." that is why do people were going to be interested to find out that had happened. i knew it was going to create a lot of public discussion and i think that is what it did. nermeen: what was the response? could you elaborate on that? >> in response to my tweet from the public? nermeen: correct. >> overwhelmingly, surprise, shock. people were saying, what is wrong with the lyrics? what is wrong with the song? if i had a dollar for every time everybody said, i listen to the song and i could not figure what was wrong with it. it is a really wholesome song.

i equated to any other song i would play. i was a "rainbowland was what is ultimately even more of a first-grade song that something like "rainbow connection" because the message is such a great piece and coming together song about acceptance. amy: has miley cyrus or dolly parton responded to the kids not being allowed to sing "rainbowland" in their concert? >> both of those have library or book foundations and miley cyrus did make a donation but i have not heard anything specifically from either one of them, no. i also want to mention as well, you asked me about the response. people have asked me, how many parents complained and what did they say? i heard there were complaints from parents. nobody has said to me they wanted me -- nobody has said

they thought it was inappropriate for their kids. i had 24 students and zero complaints to me or anyone i heard -- any administrators that i know of. nermeen: have other teachers in your school district been similarly attacked? >> yes, i believe so. but their stories have not gone public yet. it is really dangerous. i think these policies like the controversial content policy are expanding and we're seeing that in places like wisconsin where they have not really been affecting our public education system are now being affected. teachers are not allowed to wear rainbows in my district. we are not allowed to have signs that say antiracist classrooms. we are not allowed to have anything that could be deemed controversial, although the controversial content policy does not explain what controversial means other than something that could be seen as political. we're seeing the same things happening in florida and other places where we have all seen

and been really horrified and those things are happening in wisconsin now as well. i think it is important that people realize school boards and school board policies are really important we can't let groups like moms for liberty come in and take over and pretend they are these grassroots, homegrown when there really will funded political organizations designed to take down our public schools. amy: you have been a teacher for 23 years, won the outstanding teacher award and recently renewed your national board certification because of her commitment to the profession. we have 10 seconds. there's a call for the wisconsin justice department to investigate what is going on in the superintendent? >> i don't really know a lot about that because the parents of waukesha and the parents alliance have been so amazing. i think they're doing what parents should be doing all over the country, and that is getting involved in the education of their children.

i really commend them for that. america we want to thank you for being with us, melissa tempel, first-grade teacher at heyer elementary school in waukesha, wisconsin, who was fired after she publicly criticized her school district over its decision to censor the song "rainbowland" from a school concert.