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BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

theguardian.com

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Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#211

Post by andybak »

eunos wrote: post #166
andybak wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you referring to economic Liberalism (classic or otherwise) or something else?

Not economic liberalism, more political liberalism.

The period it seemed invincible was fairly brief. During the cold war, the West wasn't especially "liberal" in it's interactions with the rest of the world.

Post cold-war there was maybe a few years or less of Fukuyama-esque optimism. The Arab Spring looked positive and ended with most places worse than they started.

So - not sure there was much of a window of invincibility. Unless of course you want to hark back to the Fin de siècle period. Imperialism was in full swing so that's controversial.

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#212

Post by salawat »

sidibe wrote: post #139
skilled wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think a better question is, "Who is causing this reaction?". As in, who is the person who cannot bear this and is it because the ego is being bruised, or because it portrays India in a certain manner? Maybe some of these world leaders should consider therapy seeing as they can't handle their own problems by themselves and rather punish people around them for it.

I think the point might actually be to remind the public what Modi did (or didn't do), which was and is very popular in India as abhorrent as it is to the West. He can't openly brag about it but he can make sure everyone remembers before the next election by making it such a huge story. Bonus if it stirs up tension at the right time

It's called realpolitik; and the rest of the world should be calling it like it is.

Modi may be able to brush off the English as patronizing assholes who have no right to lecture India on anything; but that doesn't change the fact he's playing by a Hitler-lite playbook, and speedrunning European rhetoric circa 1930-1945, with the serial numbers filed off.

The British/Irish and the Troubles, the Germans and the Jews; it's really not that hard to perceive the direction things are being steered. That the rest of the world is not more openly hostile to this type of atrocity is more frightening to me than anything else.

But eh, "India's problem, and we have bigger fish to fry". Mark my words: this won't be the end, and the ensuing bloodshed will be a stain on the state for many years to come.

People like this are why we cannot have nice things.

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#213

Post by adharmad »

jdthedisciple wrote: post #30

I most likely wouldn't have bothered with the documentary. But oh boy do I wanna see it now - what is it that Modi doesn't want me to see about him? Definite watch for me!

The Streisand effect :)

I agree - there is nothing in the documentary about Modi and the BJP that has not been hashed out dozens of times before. Its all the more surprise that it is getting suppressed, which will lead to people watching it even more than if it was ignored.

The BJP is media savvy, but using the Indian bureaucracy and especially the Tax department to score points is clumsy.

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#214

Post by dharmach »

oblio wrote: post #114
dustedcodes wrote: post #80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, extreme ideologies (left and right wing) and authoritarian views are on the rise because of three factors playing out at the same time: 1. Globalisation showing its cracks and becoming increasingly clear to be the reason for the skyrocketing of inequality and the widening of the wealth gap between the rich and the poor 2. People waking up to the fact that the West and the East are equally bad with a constant str…

> People waking up to the fact that the West and the East are equally bad You probably want to define what "East" is in this context. If East is Russia + China, it's trivially easy to prove that the West is better for its own citizens. 1. Economic levels in the West. 2. Respect for citizens' lives in the West. I'm from a country that used to be in the Eastern Bloc, and let me tell you, nobody respects its citizens' l…

> People waking up to the fact that the West and the East are equally bad

The West has resources and well-oiled propaganda machinery in place to control the dissent that's why they don't need to use violence as openly as not-so-rich countries. When their monopoly is threatened, they act equally ruthlessly.

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#215

Post by Loughla »

Laaas wrote: post #207
ryandrake wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How does one get malware from playing a .mkv or .mp4 video file?

A sophisticated attacker could make use of bugs in the player to hack the system. This sort of trick is often used against high value targets where the effort needed makes it worth it.

Why do I feel like the people downloading ConAir(1997)YIFYWEB-DLs.MKV are not high value targets?

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#216

Post by wavefunction »

dharmach wrote: post #205
mihaaly wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Apparently it struck too close to home. Unleashing tax officials on an organization painting a negative picture (well, not, Modi and accoplice paint it, the BBC only presents it) is a failed attempt of masquerading an authoritarian government overstepping their limits of governance. If they were honest and not coward they would simply tell: 'Shouldn't uncover our dirty laundry, get out of here or will get hurt!' They…

Modi is scared of BBC otherwise he should have banned BBC like RT.com in the West.

This is a terrible analogy. RT.com is a reliable purveyor of conspiracy theories and incendiary lies. The BBC's examination of Narendra Modi's well-documented behavior leading up to, during and after the Gujarat riots is well-supported by other media and academic sources.

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#217

Post by JumpCrisscross »

andreygrehov wrote: post #201
bovermyer wrote: post #41

Is it just me, or are authoritarian regimes on the rise world-wide?

I somewhat disagree. To me, it looks like many countries are trying to diverge from the sphere of influence of the US, and US doesn’t want that happening. When the big media portrays every other country as dangerous, authoritarian, etc., it’s always interesting to seek for motivation behind the claims. As a quick example, Brooklyn is much more dangerous than pretty much anywhere in Moscow. I can’t imagine NYTimes or…

> countries are trying to diverge from the sphere of influence of the US

It’s the BBC. Also, India is drifting towards the American sphere of influence. It’s historically been between non-aligned and anti-American.

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#218

Post by headsoup »

amriksohata wrote: post #109
headsoup wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Muslims and Hindus have found peace then this would not create disharmony...

Because our friends have some nasty people in every community that are still willing to instigate and use this as a tool

Which means it sounds more like living under tyranny through threat of violence more than harmony.

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#219

Post by _fat_santa »

skilled wrote: post #53
azalemeth wrote: post #13

Honestly, a lot of the documentary is a mixture of interviews and CCTV camera footage with a fairly even handed narrative on the top – it, by itself, isn't that shocking and certainly isn't presented in a particularly sensationalist way. I'm amazed by the reaction it has generated. Yes, there's some post-colonial history there and it doesn't look great that it's the BBC that has made it, as opposed to, say, a US or c…

I think a better question is, "Who is causing this reaction?". As in, who is the person who cannot bear this and is it because the ego is being bruised, or because it portrays India in a certain manner? Maybe some of these world leaders should consider therapy seeing as they can't handle their own problems by themselves and rather punish people around them for it.

Another victim of the Streisand effect. Modi's reaction to the documentary has done far more damage than just the documentary by itself. It's like the BBC released this doc and Modi's government is giving it free marketing worldwide with the outsized reaction.

This would have been just another docuseries on the BBC had they not reacted like this. Now everyone is sharing links and wanting to see what the fuss is all about.

Re: BBC offices in India raided by tax officials amid Modi documentary fallout

#220

Post by JumpCrisscross »

orbital223 wrote: post #184
FooBarWidget wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm Chinese. I'm not commenting on Russia but please keep China out of "trivially easy to prove that the West is better for its own citizens". Chinese citizen have been found to be far more satisfied with their government and their future prospects than for example the US. This "propaganda"-sounding fact is even something found by western institutions such as Harvard, York University and Democracy Perception Index! E…

> keep China out of "trivially easy to prove that the West is better for its own citizens" China has concentration camps.

It’s difficult to argue CCP rule hasn’t been a blessing for most Chinese citizens. There are major blemishes, and signs point to Xi having taken advantage of the popular complacency. But Beijing has delivered on its mandate to date. I’m a China hawk, and I can recognise that.
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