Hate speech or freedom of speech, the Indian judiciary has failed on both fronts. On one hand activists, lawyers, authors, poets, comedians (you can add your favorite 'wtf' moment here from the wide range of people targeted by the government) have been hounded and silenced by the government, while on the other hand the likes of Anurag Thakur and Kapil Mishra have openly incited violence through hate speeches. In both situations all that the Judiciary has done is remained submissive to the government diktat.

Our high judiciary should therefore be called "High High Judiciary". And who else can be a better person to talk about this than Dr. Ritumbra Manuvie? Dr. Manuvie, is a lawyer by training and academic by choice. Her work lies at the intersection of politics and policy. She is a Lecturer of Law at the UCG Groningen (khroningun) in the Netherlands. She is the CEO of Foundation: the London Story and is currently on a mission to stop hate speech & associated violence, and promote accountability, integrity and pluralism at all levels and across all sectors of society. She has been a fellow with the United Nations and worked in Tokyo and Bonn. A well-versed lawyer in international laws, her work traverses between immigration, citizenship and asylum laws, and policies governing transnational issues. She is also a recipient of the prestigious Commonwealth Scholarship and has conducted her doctorate research at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom on governance of climate migration in Assam.

Well, that was a short bio of our guest on the the show this month. We hope that you have been listening to our podcast and sharing it with your friends and family and following us on social media @the_ghadar.

Links:
1. Communal violence tracker
2. EU India People's Summit

Memes are perhaps the most influential and intuitive form of expression. Once a meme is out in the wilderness of internet, no one can predict when, and how a meme will "go viral". Like all means, memes have also carried hateful ideas and while we are talking about hate speech this month, there could not be a better movie to review than "Feels Good Man".

This is the story of a cartoon character created by Matt Furie, "Pepe the Frog" a chill college kid who hangs out with his friends and does weird stuff that college students do. But unbeknownst to Matt Furie, Pepe the Frog becomes a symbol of hate, used by alt right and neo-Nazis for hate propaganda. By the time Matt Furie realizes how his benign, fun character has metamorphosed into a poster child of hate, it is too late and Pepe the Frog has become a hated and a hateful symbol. 

Take this journey with us, as we navigate through the complexity of meme world, artistic responsibilities, misuse and abuse of art works and of course, hate speech vs. freedom of speech.

You can watch the trailer of Feels Good Man here-

Feels Good Man Trailer

From our beloved "Shehenshah" Prime Minister Modi Ji to his chaddi-buddy, the Chanakya of Modiocracy, Home Minister Amit Shaah, to the budding Hindutva hero and Delhi pogrom fame Kapil Mishra- hate speech (subtle, and not so subtle) has been one of the most effective tools used by the politicians to polarize the electorate for poll gains. It is impossible to imagine the contemporary right wing politics in India (and for that matter right wing politics in any other country) without the frequent 'garnishing' of popular narrative with hate speeches. Historically too, hate speech has remained a highly debated topic, especially because it often clashes with the notion of freedom of speech.

This month, we focused our attention on this topic. In this  sixth episode we talk briefly about some recent and famous cases of hate speech in India, what we think makes a speech, a hate speech, what motivations lie in saying hateful things openly and how the society and institutions like the Supreme court, play a role in creating an environment where hate speech can go unchallenged.

We also discussed about the recent custodial death of Fr. Stan Swamy, a fearless activist who fought for the rights of the marginalized in Chhattisgarh for thirty years. To Fr. Stan Swamy, we can only say on thing- "Sab yaad rakha jayega" (we will remember everything).

We also dive into "Pegasus" and the abuse of institutional authority of cyber snooping, espionage and use of cyber attack against civilians in India. The list of atrocities seem endless.

Despite all that, we have Ghadar, and innumerable activists joined together by the common camaraderie to seek justice. In our podcast we celebrate their grit and commitment.  And of course, we need you, our listeners to support this spirit by identifying and speaking against hate speech,  by talking about hate speech to friends and family, and ask them to listen our lovely podcast (wink wink).

We hope you will like our podcast as much as we love making it. During our research, we collected some material on the topic:
1. Getting away with hate speech in India- Al Jazeera
2. NY times talks about (missing) hate crime data
3. News of Father Stan Swamy's death by the Economist
4. Background on Pegasus by Vice
5. Court case filed against the NSO group, founder of Pegasus