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Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

theguardian.com

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Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#191

Post by throwaway20231 »

Having to create a throwaway account as the last time I commented using my real username, someone from the Indian government looked me up and followed my Linkedin activity.

India is on a path to being a totalitarian state. One that will normalize ethnic cleansing of minorities, "re-education" of those who can't be eliminated and a state that strips away your fundamental rights especially if you belong to the minority.

The short term India is busy growing its nationalistic ambitions at all cost. The long term India is Akhand Bharat which will attempt consolidate Pakistan (even at the cost of nuclear war), Bangladesh and Nepal all into a single country.

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#192

Post by throwaway20231 »

screye wrote: post #189

How is every HN thread about India/Modi such a crapshoot ? Is no one willing to entertain the idea that maybe, just maybe, Modi is par-for-the-course among leaders in the sub-continent ? Modi seems to be called an authoritarian more often than actual authoritarians. It is fair to criticize Modi for divisive politics & hard nationalism, but he is very much a democratic leader. The party has accepted any defeat graciou…

'Modi's response to Gujarat riots' - what response. He single-handedly orchestrated it and the BBC documentary has implicated him, not to mention the dozens of court cases that initially found him guilty. Do you remember the time when Amit Shah was on the run and hiding from the police due to the involvement and indictment in fake encounter cases.

Are you blind to the rising incidents of violence against minorities that has dramatically increased under Modi or are oblivious about the fact that a mosque was razed by his party only to build a grand temple there?

'Hindus (and Indic peoples) have been persecuted for a good few decades in every neighboring Muslim country.' - Where are the facts? Quotes like these without facts mean nothing.

'The removal of article 370 was a massively popular move' - not for the people who were actually impacted by this. Who still do not have a legitimate election or government. Is Kashmir a part of Democracy? What happened to the state government?

I am surprised that educated people still support Modi. It echos well with the growth at all costs story. Every country that has a majority which considers itself as the victim resorts turns towards Facism and Modi is leading us there really quickly.

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#193

Post by whatshisface »

imbiased wrote: post #173
snapcaster wrote: post #134

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is repression of journalism/press and saying "but they're bad/wrong" is just a label applied by the powerful to their enemies

So in your logic anyone can say whatever they like and there is no control at all, so lies can spread by malicious actors. I disagree and value this minimal control when exercised properly with checks, which is the case in europe

If people cannot be trusted to distinguish between information and misinformation, and you are a person, how can you then say that you have determined that the BBC documentary Modi has banned is not misinformation? Either people have to be shepherded through the library or they don't.

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#194

Post by luuurker »

sjnonweb wrote: post #186
luuurker wrote: post #181

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's the other side of the story here? Are they being raided or not? Does the Indian state likes to start investigations after someone criticises them or not? And was the documentary so wrong to the point where it had to be censored?

Well two things! 1. BBC was sent a notice for tax evasion 2 months before this documentary was released - the fact that they are being raided now could be a reaction to the doc or maybe just a coincidence. No org is above the law, so being raided for tax evasion is business as usual. 2. The documentary doesn't cover the reason as to why the riots happened, it'll take nuance and understanding of the past 800 years his…

1. The problem is not being raided for tax evasion. The problem is them and others being investigated/raided after criticising the government. It's the usual "we'll ignore things if you keep things quiet and make your life hard if you don't". No one is above the law, but the application of the law is very selective... Any journalist or org will get the message.

2. You want a 2 hour documentary that covers who did what, who did it first, back it all with believable proof, and also cover 800 years of nuance, interpretations, opinions... yeah, good luck with that. It's not going to happen.

There are indications of what happened and how some didn't do anything to stop it from happening. Pointing this out isn't an attack on India or Indians (there's a difference between you and the government/politicians). It is what it is, no need to be so defensive.

The funny thing is that no one really cared about this until the Indian government decided to censor it (why?) and presented it as an external attack (well, now I'm interested!). They decided to make a big deal out of something than only they actually cared. Now apparently the BBC is the "most corrupt organisation in the world" (to quote a BJP spokesperson) and raids are needed because, of course, "no one is above the law".

Be it India or another country, this is bad and shouldn't be defended or encouraged.

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#195

Post by busterarm »

rnk wrote: post #147
busterarm wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be real, the beneficiaries of re-shoring manufacturing were always going to be the countries that used to do it before China became the cheaper option. Namely: Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Japan.

I don't think that's right, apple moving some iPhone and other production to India is a big deal. But it's not going to be easy because of all the production lines and parts that are made by other companies in China and the built up expertise. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/sep/27/apple-shi...

No country is going to benefit from just one company moving their production there. Focusing on just Apple is blowing things out of proportion.

A lot of India's electronics manufacturing at the moment is still limited to recycling (e.g, Sony Trinitron CRTs)

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#196

Post by busterarm »

fleddr wrote: post #176
busterarm wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's be real, the beneficiaries of re-shoring manufacturing were always going to be the countries that used to do it before China became the cheaper option. Namely: Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Japan.

No idea why you're downvoted because it's a good remark.

Probably because I said that Taiwan is a country.

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#197

Post by nocababges »

anaganisk wrote: post #112
nocababges wrote: post #45

on a flip side what is the point of releasing it now vs before, seems some malice intent on part of BBC. Indian Supreme Court already aquitted Modi of the Riots in 2012.

Supreme court or a local mobile court, all function based on evidence. And evidence can be tampered. And dont tell me in India people dont say "If he has money/power he will be free". Courts dont investigate. They listen to what prosecution has to provide, if prosecustion has new evidence decades later, the acquital can be oveturned. Doesnt mean someone is innocent forever. Its not a certificate of innocence.

So you will trust BBC propaganda more than Supreme Court. right on.

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#198

Post by MPlus88 »

sjnonweb wrote: post #131
MPlus88 wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The Maurya Empire? Yeah right. You should thank the British for the Maurya empire. The so-called Maurya Empire was cooked up by a pseudo historian by the name of James Prinsep to instill a sense of one people for political purpose. The British at the time assumed the British empire in South Asia was forever and it was hard to rule a place when the people practically hate each other historically. This Maurya Empire th…

Pseudo Historian so good that he cooked up all the ancient texts, ashoka pillar, coinage, stupa, architectural remains, etc right? Anyways! Can you cite a non-pseudo source for you claims?

Yeah, a pillar here and a coin dug up there and you can weave a whole story. It this is true I would assume the British would learn this history from the native people in the subcontinent instead of the other way. It would be like the Europeans have never heard of the Roman Empire or Julius Caesar until they learned it from Japan.

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#199

Post by MPlus88 »

sjnonweb wrote: post #164
lesuorac wrote: post #141

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely the British arrived in India well after 0 AD. Not sure how an empire that disolved long before then would matter to what the British saw when they first reached India.

I'm just citing one example from the many. India as an entity has been dissolved and established multiples times in the history. British came at the weak period of India, essentially during a long civil war that was going on across the whole subcontinent.

"India as an entity has been dissolved and established multiples times in the history."

I found it interesting that Indians for some reason like to insist on this absurdity. There must be some benefits or advantages of making such claim.

Re: Tax raids at BBC offices in India enter second day

#200

Post by MPlus88 »

babypuncher wrote: post #185
frontman1988 wrote: post #179

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't matter what you think. Modi is hugely popular in India and won with a very strong mandate. Countering attempts of brainwashing by the former colonialists only makes Modi more of a hero to the locals. There is a reason Modi is taking up this fight, he could have choosen to ignore the bait. But it actually helps drive support for him in India. And it really shows in the latest approval ratings: https://www.n…

I don't really care what the people of India think, I'm just stating what this makes me think. I think I speak for most of the developed world when I say actions like this make the man look like a despot, and make us think less of India as a whole if they are OK with it.

There is A LOT of dirty little things you don't know about India. And it is not just the usual oppression of the Dalits and Muslims. I will talk about it in due time.
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