Yeh Jo India Hai Na
Rohit Khanna, The Quint's Executive Editor, gives us his take on current affairs and events. From Kunal Kamra to anti-CAA protests, and more, tune in for the sharpest take you can get, on current affairs.
Wed, August 24, 2022
'We'll Get You Bail' – Message to Those Who Commit Hate Crimes Against Muslims
why are we allowing haters to gradually occupy centre stage? Why are we allowing people to think that hate is beginning to define us as a nation? Unfortunately, the evidence is piling up. 11 men convicted for the gang rape of Bilkis Bano , and for killing 7 of her family members, including her 3-year-old daughter, were freed after serving 14 years of their life sentences. Tune in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sat, March 12, 2022
A Lesson in AAP’s Punjab Win – Don't Take Gaddi For Granted
All of Punjab’s heavyweights lost – CM Channi, Punjab Cong Chief Navjot Sidhu, Capt Amarinder Singh, Parkash and Sukhbir Badal. Why? Voter anger snatched power from Punjab’s traditional ruling elite, and trusted a new option, AAP. Tune in to the podcast for more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mon, October 25, 2021
Tejasvi Surya, Diwali is Happy, a Jashn, a Riwaaj, Whether You Like it or Not
Yeh Jo India Hai Na … here, we may no longer be able to say Happy Diwali to each other! Why? Because Tejasvi Surya says so. ‘Happy’ is an English word, meaning Christian, meaning non-Hindu, and so it can’t be used before the shudh (pure) Hindu festival of Diwali. Because if we do so, it will lead to a big, loaded, high-funda word – the ‘ABRAHAMIFICATION’ of Indian culture! But the fact is that MILLIONS of us Indians are going send BILLIONS of Happy Diwali greetings, whether Tejasvi likes it or not. What is ‘abrahamification’? In fact, I’m surprised Tejasvi hasn’t coined the word ‘IBRAHIM-IFICATION’, because that would suit his brand of hate and bigotry even better. Simply put, according to him, it is the ‘Christianising’ or ‘Muslimification’ of Hindu culture. A culture which, according to him, owes nothing, nor should ever borrow anything from any other culture other than 100 percent pure Hindu culture. Tune in to the full podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, August 17, 2021
Hindutva Vigilante Groups Call the Shots: UP Police Just a Spectator
Yeh Jo India Hai Na, here whoever has seen this video, has been shocked, angered and saddened. After watching this video of Afsaar Ahmed being assaulted by a mob in Kanpur even as his child pleaded for them to stop, a viewer named Aryan wrote – “ Yeh kya kar rahe ho bhai?! Main bhi Hindu hoon yaar, Sri Ram Bhagwan ka naam aise lene ko mat kaho please! Mujhe dekhkar rona aa raha hai! ” (What are you doing? I am a Hindu, too. Don't force someone to chant Sri Ram Bhagwan's name like this. This has brought me to tears.) Mohammed Nadeem had this to say – “ Kya Bajrang Dal kanoon se bada ho gaya hai? ” (Is the Bajrang Dal bigger than the law?) Also listen to what Neelushwar had to say – “ Police ke saamne, uss masoom ko maar rahe aadmi ke liye police andhi ho gayi thi. Yeh Bharat aur Bharat-vaasiyon ka patan ho raha hai! ” This police inaction is a sign of decay in India and among us Indians. Tune in to the full podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thu, December 24, 2020
Modi Praises AMU, BJP Leaders Malign It: Time to Shut Down Hate?
Speaking at the 100th anniversary of the Aligarh Muslim University, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said – “Those educated at AMU represent the diverse culture of India,” that AMU is a “mini-India.” But other Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders don’t think so... In 2019, BJP Lok Sabha MP from Aligarh Satish Gautam attacked AMU for having Jinnah’s portrait on its campus, ignoring the context that Jinnah was one of AMU’s founders. In 2015, Sunil Singh, the UP head of the Hindu Yuva Vahini, the Hindutva group founded by Yogi Adityanath, called AMU a "nursery of terror". Members of the Hindu Yuva Vahini even vandalised the AMU campus in 2018. In 2016, former Aligarh mayor and BJP leader Shakuntala Bharti made false allegations of beef being served in an AMU hostel. In February 2019, 14 AMU students were booked for sedition after a complaint filed by local BJP leader Mukesh Lodi, charges the police later quietly dropped. In 2018, both Yogi Adityanath and Central Social Justice Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot wrongly claimed that AMU was not a minority institution. BJP MP RS Katheria, Chairman of the National Commission for Scheduled Castes, while demanding clarity on the issue from AMU, said – “This is not Pakistan, AMU must follow rules” – betraying his bigotry. Yeh Jo India Hai Na… it is confused. Kya hai India ki soch ki asli tasveer? Tune in to the podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fri, December 18, 2020
Lies, Intimidation, Violence & Politics: ‘Love Jihad’ Ki Factory
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… yahan agar Rashid aur Pinki ne ki hai shaadi... to UP Police kyon bani hai kabab mein haddi?! Yes, the harassment has started. Rashid & Pinki got married in July, went to get their marriage registered in Moradabad last week, like lakhs of Indian couples. But instead of it being the happiest day of their lives, it ended with Rashid and his brother in a UP Police jail and Pinki in a women’s shelter home. Why? Because of UP’s bigoted, divisive, unconstitutional anti-Love Jihad ordinance! It took Pinki two days to convince the district magistrate that she was an adult, who had chosen to marry Rashid. Only then could she return to her in-laws. Rashid was stuck in jail for another X number of days! Tune in to the full podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, December 08, 2020
Lesson From Diljit vs Kangana War: Oye Neta Ji, Learn to Listen!
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… Yahan Kangana ko… Sarkar ko… Diljit Dosanjh ki baat kyon nahi samajh aa rahi hai? It's not just because he’s speaking theth , meaning shudh Punjabi. It's also because the habit of listening, of trying to understand what someone is saying, especially when they’re disagreeing with you – that simple common art of LISTENING – has been forgotten! Tune in for the full podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Music: Big Bang Fuzz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thu, November 19, 2020
Uphold Arnab Goswami’s Personal Liberty; Then, Uphold It for All
Yeh Jo India Hai Na... yahan par we are all talking about Arnab Goswami. But saath mein , let’s also talk about sedition and jingoism , hate speech and freedom of expression , newsroom lynchings and media freedom . Also, about how our law courts respond when confronted with some of these crucial issues. Tune in to the podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thu, October 08, 2020
Hathras Rape or Sushant Death, Police is Loyal to ‘Bigg Boss’
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… Yahan sabko Bigg Boss bahut pasand hai… We love Bigg Boss! So, why don’t we play Bigg Boss today, with the Uttar Pradesh Police! If a 19-year-old girl is brutalised in a field and brought to your police station – you should delay registering an FIR, even suggest the girl is ‘doing drama’ Even though she is found stripped of her clothes – you should not suspect sexual assault you should ensure that her vaginal swabs are NOT taken within the first few hours, so that crucial evidence to determine a rape is simply NOT there instead, you should collect samples only 11 days after the incident by which time, all evidence of rape would no longer be there UP Police aur Hathras ki District Administration se Bigg Boss kehte hain – try to persuade the family to cremate their daughter in the middle of the night and if they do not listen to your gyaan about reeti-riwaaz , burn the body in the dead of night anyway So where does that leave us? Yeh Jo India Hai Na... It desperately needs – police reform police accountability to separate law & order from the police function of investigation VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, September 22, 2020
How Arnab & Kangana Have Re-Scripted The ABCD Of News
The ABCD of news in India has changed. A now stands for Arrogance of certain TV news anchors, not Accountability. B is for Banana Republic, C should mean Coronavirus but is not discussed. D is for Democracy, but now stands for Drama. Rohit Khanna spells out the new A-Z of News, tune in to Yeh Jo India Hai Na! VO: Rohit Khanna Music: Big Bang Fuzz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Fri, August 28, 2020
Sushant Singh, SC vs Bhushan, LAC, COVID: Truth Is the Casualty
Like you, I’ve been watching the drama, the media circus around the death of Sushant Singh Rajput… Like you, I’ve watched the story of Supreme Court versus senior lawyer Prashant Bhushan unfold... Like you, I’ve watched India’s COVID death toll climb and climb… watched China grab Indian territory at the LAC… watched India’s economy crashing... And like you, the feeling I’m left with is that, Yeh Jo India Hai Na … we are not very good at dealing with the truth. We run away from the truth, we deny it, we attack it, we convert into a joke, we ignore it, we ignore glaring realities, we even punish those who hold up the mirror to us. VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, August 18, 2020
Jamia, JNU, AMU – Top Universities, Top in Protests: Let’s Applaud
Do you know about the Navnirman Andolan? Gujarat 1973-74? Okay, you would not know... but PM Narendra Modi, he must know... because he was a part of it... A student strike against a fee hike in hostel food, became such a massive agitation against corruption across Gujarat, that in 3 months it led to the fall of Congress CM Chimanbhai Patel and his government. In 1975 too, during the Emergency, as a student and RSS pracharak, Modi organised protests in Gujarat, spending months underground. At the same time, in Delhi, his late colleague, Arun Jaitley, then a firebrand ABVP leader and DU Student Union President, was jailed for leading anti-Emergency protests. Across India, thousands of students, many inspired by Jaiprakash Narayan, were on the streets – among them young Nitish Kumar, Lalu Yadav and Mulayam Singh – all youth leaders then. So, what’s my point? The point is that for students to protest, agitate, express dissent against what they see to be wrong, is in a student’s DNA! When they are young, idealistic, sensitive, aware of what’s going on around them, and have a strong view about it, when they are full of energy, and unafraid, then, of course, they will PROTEST ! Yeh Jo India Hai Na… whether it was a 100 years ago, in our freedom struggle, or 45 years ago during the Emergency, or just months ago, during the Anti-CAA-NRC protests, whether it was Modi and Arun Jaitley then... or Safoora Zargar and Meeran Haidar today... students have been India’s conscience keepers, and they must continue to do that. VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wed, August 12, 2020
Ram Mandir, LAC, COVID-19: Is Perception Shutting Out Reality?
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… yahan perception battle ko jeetna mumkin hi nahi, aasaan bhi ho gaya hai… Even as some real battles are either being lost or just not being fought. In fact, a lot is being done to keep us looking away from some realities and to keep us glued to several carefully put together perceptions instead. Yeh Jo India Hai Na… to succeed we don’t just need a strong leader, we need a strong country. And to achieve that, we must believe only reality, and not manufactured perceptions. Tune in for the full podcast. VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, August 04, 2020
China ‘Shifts’ LAC: India Needs Military Will & Diplomatic Clarity
Yeh Jo China Hai Na… it is saying to us – Galwan Valley clashes were India’s fault, the LAC is not where you Indians think it is, Pangong, ho ya Depsang, we believe the Chinese army is on Chinese soil, that’s not Indian soil, and so we’re not pulling back... Kar lo jo karna hai! Tune in for the full podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, July 21, 2020
1.1M COVID Cases, Over 27,000 Deaths: Mistakes India Must Correct
India’s healthcare system is completely swamped by this flood of cases, which is just not slowing down. The Quint will be in almost 100% work-from-home mode for the next 1 year. Why’s that? Main reason – India has NOT yet flattened the curve. Despite one of the world’s harshest and longest full lockdowns, despite thali bajana, candle jalana, we’re adding almost 40,000 cases a day! And barring Mexico, India is now also seeing the most deaths every day, close to 600 daily. With over 27,000 deaths, in a few days India will go past Spain, France and Italy. In April, we were calling them failed states. We were saying, thank god we’re not in Spain or Iran. But we’ve left them way behind now. To those who say our fatality rate of 18 per million is lower than Spain, France and Italy, I say, why not compare us with fatality rates of Japan, South Korea, Malaysia and New Zealand or Thailand, or why not with Vietnam which has not had a single COVID-19 death! Or even, why isn’t all of India like Kerala, which has seen just 40 deaths in all these months? What mistakes did the rest of India make? And are we still making those same mistakes? Tune in for the full podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, July 07, 2020
India’s Covaxin Vaccine By 15 August: Only If ICMR Ignores Science
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… It needs a COVID-19 vaccine really urgently. With over 19,000 dead, nearly 2.5 lakh active cases, adding 20,000 cases everyday. Yes, a vaccine would save a lot of lives, would get our economy back on track. But does that mean we can simply make it happen by 15 August. The answer, unfortunately, is no. Will you and I be able to have a dose of Covaxin by 15 August? No. Is the Indian Council of Medical Research or ICMR’s plan to launch India's 'fully indigenous' corona vaccine on 15 August just wishful thinking? Unfortunately, yes. Tune in to this podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, June 30, 2020
Arunachal to Ladakh, China Has Intruded: Can India Stay in Denial?
Did you realise that Yeh Jo India Hai Na , it has become a little smaller and China just got a bit bigger? It is now clear we have lost control of the land on our side of the Line of Actual Control at Depsang, at the Galwan Valley, at Pangong Lake in Eastern Ladakh and at least 3 areas along our border with China in Arunachal Pradesh as well. The first step to getting any of this land back, would be for the Indian government to categorically accept that contrary to the PM’s ‘no intrusion’ remarks, substantial incursions have taken place while this government looked away. How else will all this land-grab make it to the negotiation table? Tune in! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, June 23, 2020
Does Modi’s ‘No Intrusion’ Remark Ratify China’s LAC Land-Grab?
Prime Minister Narendra Modi address to the nation on the Indo-China tensions seemed suggest that China had not intruded into Indian territory. A statement from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on 20 June tried damage control, denouncing “attempts to give mischievous interpretation” to Modi's remarks. Unfortunately, y eh jo India hai na … it has been slow in recognising this strategy, and countering it diplomatically or militarily. By giving them clean chits, by ignoring blatant intrusions, by backing off each time, we’re playing into China’s hands. Tune in for the full podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, June 16, 2020
Hey, Ignore The ‘Big Quake’ Media Hype: Tremors CAN’T Be Predicted
'Bigger Quake After Mini Jolts?', 'The Big One is Coming' or 'Major Earthquake May Rock Delhi-NCR Soon'... No, these are not a satirical news headlines. They are real headlines, reflecting the question looming large in the minds of people living in Delhi-NCR; a big question a lot of the media is fanning – are we about to be hit by a really big and bad earthquake? The simple answer to that is – no, we’re not. And here is why – no one, not scientists, not politicians, not your favourite TV news anchor, not your neighbour, not your dad, not your pet cat.. No one can predict earthquakes. Scientifically speaking, no one can certify that a big earthquake will happen tomorrow, nor can they certify that it will not. Unfortunately, we’re surrounded by headlines that mislead or only half inform us and we fall prey to that. So, let’s decode some headlines. VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thu, June 04, 2020
Floyd Vs Faizan: Why Does India Forget Cases of Police Apathy?
The similarities between George Floyd's death in Minneapolis and Faizan's death in Delhi are striking. George Floyd, an unarmed man was pinned down on the road, by the knee by a police officer backed up by three other cops. Faizan and four others also unarmed, showing signs of injury, also lying on the road, being kept down by the lathis of 5-6 policemen gathered around them. George Floyd was an American-African, a community which is often at the receiving end of police brutality in the US. Faizan was Muslim a minority increasingly at the receiving end of police violence in India. But here's where the differences start. The cop who choked George Floyd to death, officer Derek Chauvin had been charged with murder in the 3rd degree, and dismissed from service along with his three colleagues four days after the incident. While in Faizan’s case, the policemen who were caught on camera assaulting and abusing him and his companions have been charged with nothings even months after the incident. What is shockingly and shamefully clear is that Yeh Jo India Hai Na, here the police can get away with anything, even murder. While the civil society in the US is up in arms about the police brutality and implicit racial profiling that led to George Floyd’s death, urging immediate, transparent legal action, here in India, the tragic and brutal killing of Faizan has been all but forgotten. VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wed, May 27, 2020
India Needs to Plan Its Economic Recovery Before it Can Upstage China
Jackie Chan wished India all the best in dealing with the Coronavirus crisis. And then there's also a video of Chinese students speaking in Hindi and telling India that they hope we are fighting Covid-19 with all our strength. There’s also a regular twitter offensive from China’s Ambassador to India Mr Sun Weidong empathising with India’s efforts at handling the pandemic. What’s all this about? Well, simply put, it’s part of a Chinese diplomatic offensive to tackle the massive negative publicity that China has been barraged with over the last few months as world’s top leaders, international media, public health experts have almost unanimously blamed the enormity of the Coronavirus pandemic on China. Ab Yeh Jo India Hai na…what does India make of all this? Is the Coronavirus crisis going to that point in history, where India is able to get back at China? Reset the equation? Regain lost ground politically and diplomatically? Acquire some economic leverage? What can India do… ? Well unfortunately, the situation is not so simple. Tune in to the full podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, May 19, 2020
India's Healthcare Still Not Ready for Pandemic After 60 Days of Lockdown
All of India's 1.3 Billion people are fighting the coronavirus but how have some states handled it better than the others? In Kerala, even as people got infected, the state's healthcare system did not get overwhelmed. And Kerala has seen just four coronavirus deaths! The reasons are well known — early acceptance of the pandemic, testing in large numbers, efficient contact tracing, efficient social distancing, efficient quarantining...all this made Kerala’s healthcare system more successful. But can some other states boast of a robust healthcare? Yeh Jo India Hai Na...here the babus of our states and th Centre are still not ready to handle the pandemic even after 60 days of a lockdown. Tune in for the full podcast. VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, May 12, 2020
‘Dharti Ke Bojh’: No Dignity Even in Death For Migrant Workers
On 8 May 2020, sixteen migrant workers travelling home were asleep on a railway track when a goods train ran over them, killing them instantly. I thought, let me see how ‘ Yeh Jo India Hai Na ’ has reacted to the Aurangabad Train tragedy. Tune in to this podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, May 05, 2020
Rishi’s Bobby & Irrfan’s Paan Singh, Both Breathed Bollywood
Ek baar to khud maut bhi ghabra gayi hogi… Yoon maut ko seene se lagata nahi koyi… (Even death must have been scared for once... For no soul embraces death with such ease...) Naseeruddin Shah found these words from a nazm by Kaifi Aami, to say goodbye to Irrfan Khan. And just hours later, we needed them for Rishi Kapoor as well. Yeh Jo India Hai Na… it will miss both Irrfan Khan and Rishi Kapoor. Tune in to this podcast! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, April 28, 2020
Coronavirus Pandemic Is a Reality Check for India, But Will We Learn Anything?
A big crisis is always a great reality check. It show you things as they really are. It exposes your weakness, your biases, your false assumptions…your every mistake. But the question is Yeh Jo India Hai Na — will it learn anything from the coronavirus reality check? Tune in! VO: Rohit Khanna Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, April 21, 2020
COVID-19: Give Migrant Workers Food And Cash Or Face Their Wrath
22 March, when all 12,500 passenger trains across India were stopped and all bus travel too, the government saw millions of migrant workers crowding train and bus stations to get home. Yet trains and buses were stopped, leaving them stranded in the cities. On 24 March a 21-days lockdown was announced within just 4 hours’ notice. Despite Modi Ji's plea, lakhs decided to walk home. Why would they risk coronavirus? Why walk for days with their children on their heads? Because with no jobs, no money, getting to their villages was their only hope. Where did the government go wrong? Tune in to this episode of Yeh Jo India Hai Na . Host: Rohit Khanna Editor: Purnendu Pritam Producer: Sonal Gupta Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, April 14, 2020
Coronavirus Lockdown: India Now Needs Mitigation, Not Suppression
First, an important word – supression. And then, an equally important word, more important, actually – mitigation. And we must understand these words well to answer the two big questions: 1. When to unlock the lockdown? 2. And how to unlock the lockdown? So, what is suppression? Attacking coronavirus with all we have, to suppress it! Complete lockdown – no air, rail or road travel. Everyone at home. Social distancing at a national scale. Business, industry, agriculture – all shut! Lakhs jobless. The economy at a standstill for 21 days to suppress COVID-19. So has suppression worked? India had 500 positive cases when the lockdown started, and now we have crossed 7,000 cases! The numbers doubled every 4-5 days, not as fast as the US, but perhaps not able to suppress the way a nationwide lockdown should have. The learning is that suppression helps, but has its limits. Hence, we arrive at this word – mitigation. This means that by being very well-planned, right down the district, taluka and block level, by using reliable data about the spread of the virus smartly, by implementing carefully targeted lockdowns, we mitigate, we limit the spread of the virus and minimise the loss of life. Yes, suppression and mitigation, both are needed. But a country needs to know when to suppress and when to switch to mitigation. With limited testing capacity, with limited healthcare resources, with the number of cases and deaths rising, on 24 March, we did need a lockdown – to flatten the curve and to slow the virus down. Host: Rohit Khanna Editor: Purnendu Pritam Producer: Hera Khan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, April 07, 2020
Use the 21-Day Lockdown to Beat Corona: India's Two Bucket Story
Imagine a bucket. This is India, with 1.4 Billion people. And imagine a smaller container. This is our healthcare system. Our doctors, nurses, hospitals, beds, ventilators, all of that. And today, using this bucket and smaller container, let’s try to understand coronavirus in India. Where the epidemic is at, what we are doing about it, and what next during and after lockdown. First thing to understand is this model. In India, when anyone falls ill, they go to a hospital or a doctor, like water being poured in the small container from the big bucket. If the healthcare system can handle the number of patients easily, people enter, getting treated and cured and healthy people exit. All flowing smoothly, efficiently. If the number of people falling ill suddenly gets too much for the medical system to handle, too much pours into the smaller container too soon and it spills over. This is literally people dying. This uncontrolled spilling over is what happened in Wuhan in January, what’s happening right now in Italy, Spain, France, Iran and of course in the USA! Host: Rohit Khanna Podcast Editor: Mohammad Ibrahim Producer: Hera Khan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, March 31, 2020
Not Just Coronavirus, India’s 2nd Big Battle is Economic Pandemic
Yeh Jo India Hai Na , it is fighting a second big battle – and that is an economic pandemic. Visuals from Pune show the railway station packed with people, with bigger worries than social distancing. And pictures from a bus stand in Kolkata show thousands of workers desperate to get back to their villages. They are waiters at restaurants that are shut, housekeeping staff at offices that are shut, loaders of goods at factories that are shut. They’ve been told, ‘ Daftar, hotel, factory... sab band, salary nahi hai, ghar jaao. Do-teen mahine ke baad dekhenge. (Offices, hotels, factories... all are closed, there’s no salary, go home. We will reconsider it after two-three months.)’ Now multiply this scenario for industrial cities and big metros across India. Across Mumbai, Delhi, Gurgaon, Chennai, Coimbatore, Kochi, Surat, Ahmedabad, Ludhiana, Noida, Kanpur, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mangalore, lakhs of them, suddenly with no jobs, heading back to their villages – the direct and immediate result of the coronavirus lockdown. An additional worry: If any of them are positive cases of coronavirus, then this exodus from the cities, is one sure way of the pandemic spreading to rural India. Listen to the podcast for the rest! Host: Rohit Khanna Editors: Sandeep Suman, Varun Sharma Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, March 24, 2020
Yeh Jo India Hai Na, Is Our Coronavirus Testing Plan Going Wrong?
Yeh Jo India Hai Na… is it clear about its novel coronavirus testing strategy? The Quint 's Rohit Khanna asks whether India should follow South Korea’s ‘mass-testing’ model? Could ‘symptomatic testing’ for COVID-19 result in India becoming another Italy? Host: Rohit Khanna Producer: Shohini Bose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, March 17, 2020
Coronavirus & Global Economic Panic: A Double Whammy From China
Loading... This is the Coronavirus, it is scary with over 5,000 dead and many more expected. China, Korea, Italy, Iran and several other countries with massive outbreaks. Tom Hanks, Iranian and British ministers all testing positive! No cure available. The world in lockdown. Borders being sealed. Entire countries in quarantine! Airports, stadiums, malls, schools, colleges, cinema halls shut or empty, IPL postponed, Olympics may be scrapped. Panic at a never-before world scale. But let's rewind to some other recent panic events – 2008 saw a market and financial crash, SARS, MERS, Ebola – these epidemics were health emergencies. What’s unique and new and extra scary about the Coronavirus crisis is this – that perhaps for the first time – your life and your livelihood, the world’s health and the world’s economy is under threat, it’s a DOUBLE WHAMMY and so, panic bhi dugna hai! Listen to the podcast for the whole story! Editor: Vishal Kumar & Purnendu Pritam Producer: Rupsha Bhadra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, March 10, 2020
Modiji, Can You Afford to Lose the Perception Battle with the World?
Yeh Jo India Hai Na … It is a messy democracy, but it is a democracy! Some countries are still stuck with Kings & Sheikhs… some are sham democracies.. with a single leader for 25-30 years.. some are out and out military dictatorships. But India is that jeeta-jaagta democratic miracle.. that decade upon decade… has stayed faithful to its core identity as a federal, secular, democracy. Also… few would argue against Narendra Modi’s diplomatic successes… he has hugged his way into the good books of countries as opposed to each other as Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran. He has entertained both Xi Jinping and Trump in Ahmedabad… looks like they sat at the exact same spot at Sabarmati Ashram. So… why would the Modi government want to lose all this political capital, all this goodwill that it has built so painstakingly?! And yet.. in recent months, unfortunately… that is what has been happening… Yeh Jo India hai na… Duniya iss India se aajkal naaraz hai. And for the first time.. in a long time… India’s credibility as a secular democracy is being questioned… For instance… the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, plans to appeal in India’s Supreme Court against the Citizenship Amendment Act. She says the CAA is “fundamentally discriminatory” and breaks away from our “long tradition of secularism”. Listen to the podcast for the full story! Host: Rohit Khanna Editor: Mohd. Ibrahim Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, March 03, 2020
Yeh Jo India Hai Na, Its Police & Neta Must be Held Accountable
Yeh Jo India Hai Na – Is our police really so incompetent? It is impossible to believe that Delhi Police is so bad at their job? It is impossible to believe that Delhi Police failed miserably at dealing with the violence in northeast Delhi because of sheer incompetence? Look at the long list of mistakes that the Delhi Police made in the wake of the violence in northeast Delhi, pointed out in media reports and by former senior police officers. Is it really possible that the Delhi Police is so incompetent, so partisan, so leaderless? Many of the Delhi Police’s acts of omission, a lot of this baffling incompetence, is the Delhi Police actually following orders. This is the sad fact. Political leaders practically asking the police to look away as communal violence and casteist violence unfolds. Be it Delhi in 1984, Mumbai in 1992-93, Gujarat in 2002 or Muzaffarnagar in 2013. Host: Rohit Khanna Editor: Varun Sharma Producer: Rupsha Bhadra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, February 25, 2020
Modi Wants BFF Status From Trump, But Terms & Conditions Apply
Yeh Dosti Hum Nahi Todenge…Todenge Dum Magar…Tera Saath Na Chodenge! Trump and Modi sounded a lot like Jai and Veeru from Sholay. But please be warned. While Trump praised Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli, praised Bollywood… and praised Modi’s personal journey from selling tea to Prime Minister. The script for Trump’s speech at the Motera stadium was not written in Bollywood. It was written in the White House, which means yes, Indo-US ‘dosti’ is growing, but woh jo line hai na that we hear at the end of every juicy business offer. For Indo-US relations to prosper, Terms and Conditions do apply. And what are those Terms and Conditions? Most of the clues and indicators are in the speech Trump made at Ahmedabad’s Motera stadium – so let's dive into it. Host: Rohit Khanna Editors: Vivek Gupta, Varun Sharma Producer: Shohini Bose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mon, February 17, 2020
Can a Union Minister Use ‘Rumours’ to Defame Jawaharlal Nehru?
Here is a True or False question. Nehru did not want Sardar Patel in his Cabinet! True or False? The answer is False. And here is the clearest proof of that – an excerpt of this letter written by Nehru to Sardar Patel on the 1st of August 1947. “Dear Vallabhbhai, as a formality I invite you to join the new Cabinet. Writing this is superfluous because you are the strongest pillar of the Cabinet. ” And for further confirmation here is Sardar Patel’s reply, dated 3rd August, 1947 – let’s read it in detail as it says a lot – after ‘Thanks’, Patel says. “....our attachment, affection, comradeship of 30 years needs no formalities.” That was the true nature of Nehru and Patel’s relationship – huge mutual respect and affection, not enmity. But, wait. Foreign Minister S Jaishankar stirred controversy with a tweet, where he said, “Learnt from a book that Nehru did not want Patel in the Cabinet in 1947 and omitted him from the initial Cabinet list.” But, where's the evidence and the proof to back this up? And yet here we are, swallowing conjecture and rumours, and allowing two national icons to be reduced to bickering daily soap-opera characters. Listen to the podcast for the full story! Host: Rohit Khanna Editor: Vishal Kumar Producer: Shohini Bose Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Thu, February 13, 2020
Delhi Rejects Hate Politics: Shaheen Bagh ‘Shocks’ The BJP
Briefly, when counting for Delhi elections started, some 'godi media' channels were saying that compared to the 2015 Assembly elections the BJP has improved. But, eight seats in an Assembly of 70 seats simply cannot be given a positive spin. It is a wipe out and this must be contrasted not with the 2015 Assembly elections, but with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections where, just months ago, the BJP won all seven seats winning in 65 out of the 70 assembly segments. From that, is has tumbled back down to less than 10, and it is what the BJP must now do ‘chintan’ on. The word that the BJP must be hating the most right now ironically, is the word hate and its religious twin bigotry religious hatred. VO: Rohit Khanna Music: Big Bang Buzz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Tue, February 04, 2020
Beware! Some People are Using Poha & Biryani to Divide India
Nowadays, people can not only be identified by what they wear but also by what they eat! At least that's what BJP leader Kailash Vijayvargiya says. Poha, a wonderful, simple dish poha which all of India loves, and perhaps Bangladesh does too, is at the centre of an unsavoury controversy. The most interesting fact is this – in Indore, where Kailash Vijayvargiya was born, poha is loved by Indoris! It is a favourite snack there. Another set of people hugely puzzled by Vijayvargiya’s claim are Maharashtrians! Maharashtrians have poha every morning. School kids, office going people, everyone. There is also an excellently researched article by Kaushik Das Gupta in The Indian Express about how variations of poha are popular in so many other parts of India. Poha in Odisha is made from a smaller grain of rice. Odiyas use more of carrot and ginger in their poha as against the onion, peanut, masala-driven poha of Indore and Mumbai. Bengali poha is called chire’r pulao , and to this, they often add raisins. Goans cook poha with milk, sugar and cardamom to make doodanche fov – a sweet dish during Diwali. I believe that Kailash Vijayvargiya’s poha anecdote is not an accidental or stray comment. It is part of a continuous attempt in creating a sense of 'us' and 'them' in this country: that guy there eating poha is a Bangladeshi, that makes him different from 'us' roti-eating ‘ shudh bharatwaasis ’ . Listen to the podcast for the full story! Host: Rohit Khanna Editors: Sandeep Suman & Ashutosh Bhardwaj Producer: Rupsha Bhadra Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Mon, February 03, 2020
Did Kunal Kamra Have to Borrow From Arnab’s Playbook to Counter Him?
Yes, Arnab Goswami’s style of journalism has been described as divisive, sinister, taking jingoism to a new level of shrill. Yes, Arnab Goswami abuses people on his TV shows he heaps of insults on politicians, activists, even countries that he doesn’t agree with. Yes, I find a lot of Arnab Goswami’s brand of journalism distasteful. I believe it is doing this nation a lot of harm. But do we need to deal with Arnab Goswami by borrowing from his own playbook? On an IndiGo Airlines flight on Tuesday, 28 January, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra heckled Arnab Goswami. You’ve seen the video and read the story after which IndiGo Airlines banned Kamra from flying in their airline for six months. And after Aviation Minister tweeted an informal advisory for other airlines to also ban Kamra, most Indian carriers have done just that. Excessive for sure as expected, maybe we could call them ‘Godi’ Airlines? But let’s return to Kunal Kamra. Listen to the podcast for the rest of the story! Host: Rohit Khanna Editor: Ashutosh Bhardwaj Producer: Aparna Singh Click here to watch the video story on The Quint . Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Wed, January 29, 2020
Missing! Not Just Vikas, Even Vishwas, Ekta, Adarsh, Gaurav & More
Yeh Jo India Hai Na , yahan ke kuch log lapata hain. Some people have been reported missing. We have their names and some related details. If you have any information about them, let us know. Vishwas has been missing. His name stands for trust. Vishwas was lost when policemen beat up those they were meant to protect. Not once, but again and again. Across India, Vishwas is now missing. Ekta has been missing. Her name stands for unity. Ekta has been lost for some time. And it’s becoming harder to find her. Sometimes Ekta is in veil, sometimes in hijab; sometimes in jeans, sometimes in a salwar, sometimes on a scooter, glued to her phone, a Virat Kohli fan... Ekta, you could say is, every girl. Muslim or Hindu, it’s hard to tell. We can only hope that Ekta returns. Brothers Tawfeeq and Salman are also missing. Tawfeeq stands for harmony. Salman, a name we know so well, stands for being safe and secure. Unfortunately, with Tawfeeq, or harmony, missing, it is easy to understand why Salman, or being safe, is missing too. Vivek has been missing too. His name stands for wisdom – one who has the understanding of the good and evil. Yes, Vivek is missing. Vivek has gone missing just when we needed him most. And Siddhant is missing. His name stands for principles. Rules by which we hope to be governed. Siddhant, or principles, now declared missing. People are randomly arrested as they protest peacefully, abused in police custody for weeks, and then freed in the absence of any charge, while MLAs and MPs openly making hate speeches roam free. It is clear that Siddhant, or principles, can simply not be found! Interestingly, Adarsh, whose name also stands for principles, is also totally missing! Host: Rohit Khanna Editors: Vivek Gupta, Mohd Irshad Alam Check out the story here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
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