Going South
Going South Podcast: Episode One
Aakar Patel on India’s Democratic Decline and Human Rights Struggles
In this inaugural episode of Going South, we delve deep into the evolving socio-political landscape of India with Aakar Patel, renowned journalist, author, and human rights advocate. From his incisive critique of India's shift toward Hindu majoritarianism in Our Hindu Rashtra to the metrics of democratic decline detailed in Price of the Modi Years, Patel provides a compelling overview of a nation at a crossroads.
The conversation explores the structural transformation of India’s democracy, the weaponization of laws like UAPA and anti-conversion statutes, and the erosion of freedoms under a growing ethnonationalist agenda. Patel shares his personal experience leading Amnesty International India through a period of unprecedented state crackdowns on civil society, including the forced closure of its operations.
This episode also addresses the global ramifications of India’s political trajectory, its reception in international fora, and the challenges faced by the diaspora advocating for human rights. Through Patel’s insights, we examine the broader implications of these developments on freedoms of expression, movement, and religious practice, alongside a critical look at recent criminal code reforms.
Join us for an eye-opening discussion about India’s present and future, set against the backdrop of elections, human rights struggles, and international diplomacy.
Bio: Aakar Patel is an Indian journalist, author and social activist. He was the head of Amnesty India between 2015 and 2019 and since then has been the Chair of Amnesty International’s Board in India. His book, Price of the Modi Years has become a popular socio-economic entry point to understand ‘Modinomics’. In his first book, Our Hindu Rashtra: What It Is. How We Got Here he talks about the arrival a Hindu majoritarian India using its existing constitutional apparatus. As a journalist, Aakar has written pieces reflecting on the declining state of India’s institutions, attacks on civil society, state of human rights and regressing democracy. His works have appeared in several notable platforms like The Wire, Livemint, National Herald and Business Standard.
Reading List
House Resolution 745 - 116th Congress (2019-2020): Urging the Republic of India to end the restrictions on communications and mass detentions in Jammu and Kashmir as swiftly as possible and preserve religious freedom for all residents.
Library of Congress, State Anti-Conversion Laws in India: India’s Freedom of Religion Acts or “anti-conversion” laws are state-level statutes that have been enacted to regulate religious conversions. The laws are in force in eight out of twenty-nine states: Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Uttarakhand.
The Guardian, “Amnesty to halt work in India due to government witch hunt”: in 2020 Amnesty International India halted its work in the country and laid off all its staff after its bank accounts were frozen amid constant harassment from the Home Ministry of India.
European Parliament, Motion for a Resolution on India’s Citizenship Amendment (Act): The motion called to recognize the international law violations as visible in the text of the Citizenship Amendment (Act), and the crackdown of the Modi government.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Report on the Situation of Human Rights in Kashmir: Developments in the Indian State of Jammu and Kashmir from June 2016 to April 2018, and General Human Rights Concerns in Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan:This report covers both the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir (consisting of the Kashmir Valley, the Jammu and Ladakh regions) and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir (Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan). The focus of the report is on the situation of human rights in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir from July 2016 to April 2018 over which period allegations of widespread and serious human rights violations were received, notably excessive use of force by Indian security forces that led to numerous civilian casualties.
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Update of the Situation of Human Rights in Indian-Administered Kashmir and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir from May 2018 to April 2019: This second report of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the situation of human rights in Indian-Administered Kashmir and Pakistan-Administered Kashmir covers the period from May 2018 to April 2019.
U.S. Department of State, International Religious Freedom Report: India (2023): The report covers the declining state of religious freedom in India, emphasising the adoption of ‘anti-conversion’ laws in 9 out of 28 Indian states.
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, Annual Reports: This page follows annual reports of the USCIRF and its India chapters. From 2020, each USCIRF report has recommended the designation of India as a country of particular concern.
Aakar’s work
Why I Write: Essays By Saadat Hasan Manto (Tranquebar, 2014)
Our Hindu Rashtra: What It Is. How We Got Here (Westland, 2020)
Price of the Modi Years: A History of India Since 2014 (Westland, 2021)
A regional memory bursting at the seams revisited
Going South talks South Asia with South Asians for South Asians (and everyone else of course).
A policy podcast crafted by nerds with years of explaining the million cascades of culture, politics and tradition under their belt - to those who don’t know. This series of conversations hosts experts, historians, journalists, scholars and civil rights activists with expertise in geopolitics, security concerns, memory, history, human rights issues, jurisprudence, and constitutional freedoms in South Asian countries.
With monthly deep-dives into different South Asian issues, Going South hopes to be both, a ‘101’ on South Asia’s concerns whilst also
Find our most recent episodes below - complete with a reading list of resources discussed/mentioned in the episode. If you can’t find/access anything, reach out to us at podcast@hindusforhumanrights.org.
