This week, we're bringing you an episode from Making Peace Visible, a podcast that helps us understand the human side of conflicts and peace efforts around the world.
The episode explores the how democracy is faring in India after years of democratic erosion by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. We've covered democracy in India several times on the show, but it's been while and thought this episode was well-timed for a check in.
Guest Suchitra Vijayan questioned whether India can still be called a democracy in a recent Time Magazine article. She talks with Making Peace Visible host Jamil Simon about how journalists who have criticized the government have been harassed, detained, imprisoned, and even murdered. As you’ll hear in this episode, today’s Indian government uses complicit media outlets as a weapon against non-violent dissent.
This article is sourced from the Democracy Works podcast. Listen or subscribe below.
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Scroll below for transcripts of this episode.
Jenna Spinelle is a writer and podcaster who tells stories that inspire hope and change in trying times. She hosts the podcasts Democracy Works When the People Decide, both productions of the McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State. She is currently writing a book about the democracy reform movement and how more people can get involved in the work to strengthen American democracy. Spinelle teaches courses on news writing, podcasting, and content creators at Penn State’s Donald P. Bellisario College of Communications. Her writing has appeared in outlets including Time magazine, Inside Higher Ed and Current, a trade publication covering public media.
We are part of The Democracy Group, a network of podcasts that examines what’s broken in our democracy and how we can work together to fix it.