Why Indians have stopped reading

Unless you were under a rock the past few weeks, you must have seen images of Neha Bora sprinting away from the Delhi Police demanding the removal of Gyanesh Kumar, the Chief Election Commissioner, now accused of rigging the voter rolls in favour of the Bharatiya Janata Party.Bora has now emerged as the face of the anti-Gyanesh protests that started in Delhi on October 10.In a wide-ranging conversation on Scroll Adda, the 29-year-old tells Shoaib Daniyal why they consider the BJP India’s most dangerous political party. They also laughingly reclaim BJP attacks on them for trying to implement “regime change”.“Regime change is one of the most fundamental aspects of a democracy,” Bora says loudly. “But people are out on the streets since it is no longer possible to do it through votes.”Bora swats away questions on “switching sides” and, like Kanhaiya Kumar, going from a Left party to a larger one like the Congress.On their own statement that there were disagreements during the July Jantar Mantar movement with the Cockroach Janta Party, Bora cleared the air. “They [CJP] don’t have a political understanding on different issues so there can be differences in strategy,” they said. “But at the end of the day the July protests happened because we worked together.”----Host: Shoaib DaniyalShoot: Priyali Dhingra & Raghav KakkarProduction: Priyali DhingraEdit: Hyder Habib-----Chapters00:00 Precap02:01 ‘I am for regime change’08:30 Why they won’t sign a peace bond13:40 How to crush a protest18:30 Attacking godi media23:32 Relationship with Congress26:50 Why the Left is so small electorally33:30 Tensions with the Cockroach Janta Party35:42 The toll of being an activistContribute to the Scroll reporting fund and help protect democracy. https://scroll.in/reporting-fund Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The reason for Indian democracy’s downslide is the collapse of judiciaryFew people know more about India’s courts than Indira Jaising. In a career spanning more than half a century, Jaising has practised both at the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.On this episode of ‘Scroll Adda’, she speaks to Shoaib Daniyal on the ills plaguing the judiciary. Dynasty has taken over the courts, she says, leading to a lack of intellectual development. Bright young lawyers without family contacts are forced to leave litigation.The judiciary is not doing its job of being a check on the executive. Jaising argues that this government is simply ignoring the Constitution and the courts are unable to stop it. ‘The reason for Indian democracy’s downslide is the collapse of the judiciary,’ she says.Meanwhile, public movements like the Jantar Mantar protests, sparked by the Chief Justice’s ‘cockroach’ comment, show that anger against the judiciary is boiling over into the streets.Producer: Raghav Kakkar Host: Shoaib DaniyalEditor: Hyder Habib Chapters00:00 Precap02:12 ‘Sons of judges are judges’13:10 The cosy relationship between collegium and government21:09 Government is ignoring the Constitution25:29 Basic structure is dead31:30 The Ram Mandir judgement35:50 Corruption and the judiciary39:30 The fear of contempt of court45:36 Judges and cockroachesSubscribe to Scroll's YouTube channel and turn on your notifications, so you don't miss new videos.For more explainers, and the web’s most interesting videos - https://scroll.in/video/ For the latest news and analysis - https://scroll.in Support our award-winning journalism by becoming a Scroll member - https://scroll.in/contributeFollow Scroll.in here - Facebook: https://facebook.com/scroll.in/Twitter: https://twitter.com/scroll_inInstagram: https://instagram.com/scroll_in/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@scroll_inBluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/scroll.in Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After independence, the middle class ruled India. High-quality university education, good urban infrastructure, and law and order in metros: the government strove to meet white collar India's needs.Today, however, argues investor Saurabh Mukherjea, that is not the case. He says the middle class lacks political leverage despite contributing the most towards taxes.In a new book, Breakpoint: The Crisis of the Middle Class and the Future of Work, Mukherjea, along with Nandita Rajhansa and Sapana Bhavsar, argues that falling employment, stagnant wages and exploding debt driven by social media envy means the Indian middle class is facing an existential crisis.Host: Shoaib DaniyalProducer: Priyali DhingraEditor: Hyder Habib Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In 1966, a 22-year-old Zoramthanga joined the Mizo National Front and started an armed struggle to secede from the Indian Union.Over the next two decades, he was on the move: India, East Pakistan, Burma and, after East Pakistan became Bangladesh in 1971, Rawalpindi.In 1986, the MNF ended their rebellion with the signing of the Mizoram Peace Accord with Rajiv Gandhi’s government. Today it is seen as one of India’s most successful attempts to end an insurgency. Since the accord, Mizoram has been the most peaceful state in the Northeast.In a remarkable turn of events, Zoramthanga, who had spent two decades fighting the Indian Union, became a chief minister of a state in the Union in 1998.On Scroll Adda, he tells us about his remarkable life.Host: Shoaib DaniyalProducer: Priyali DhingraEditor: Hyder Habib Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Based on the 1988 aircraft crash that killed Zia-ul-Haq, the military dictator of Pakistan, A Case of Exploding Mangoes made a big splash in the South Asian literary world when it was released in 2008. Readers loved that a desi writer was nailing political satire.Since then Mohammed Hanif has written three more novels, masterfully blending politics and the absurdities of life. He’s so captured the genre that some say he’s the Pakistani Joseph Heller. Hanif has a new book out, The Rebel English Academy. On Scroll Adda, he talks about why he uses satire, his relationship with three languages – Punjabi, Urdu and English – how Operation Sindoor ended up strengthening army rule in Pakistan as well as describing Imran Khan as a political prisoner. Contribute to Scroll's studio fund: https://pages.razorpay.com/scrollstudiofundHost: Shoaib DaniyalProducer: Priyali Dhingra Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Very few things are as controversial in today’s India as its history. The academic discipline now sits at the heart of popular politics, with the Bharatiya Janata Party and its Hindutva supporters using India’s medieval past to power its politics.Into this battlefield rush in writer Namit Arora and India’s most famous historian, Romila Thapar. In their new book “Speaking of History”, Thapar and Arora deconstruct what the discipline means in India today, the role of popular history and why ideas such as perpetual Hindu-Muslim conflict say more about the present than the past.In this episode of Scroll Adda, Thapar opens up about what it has been like being attacked by the Hindutva right for so long and why she thinks academic history will, eventually, prevail over short-term politics.Producer: Raghav KakkarEditor: Hyder HabibHost: Shoaib DaniyalComments: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Few people know more about Indian publishing than Scroll's books editor, Arunava Sinha.Sinha has translated an incredible 100 books from Bengali to English.On this episode of Scroll Adda, he tells Shoaib Daniyal about his experience as a translator and what it takes to render a work from one language – and culture – to another.He also delves into the weeds of Indian publishing.Why are Indians not reading anymore?Is English eating up the space for other Indian languages? Why do publishers now chase influencers to write books? Is the space for serious literature now dead?Producer: Raghav KakkarHost: Shoaib DaniyalComments: [email protected] Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Over the past months, the entire world watched in surprise as Iran stood up to the most powerful militaries in the world.On February 28, when the US and Israel launched attacks on Iran, killing its head of state, Trump was hoping for a quick, Venezuela-style regime change. Instead, Iran fought back, attacking Arab states in the region which host American military bases and even successfully closing off the Strait of Hormuz, a major thoroughfare for the world's oil.On this episode of Scroll Adda, writer and anthropologist Alex Reza Shams explains that one should not be surprised by this dogged Iranian resistance. For decades now, sanctions have made Iran self-sufficient in a way few countries are. Moreover, for the Iranian government this is an existential war. There is no option of surrender.In fact, Shams argues that this war might end up strengthening extremist elements within Iran. The fact that the United States has broken all agreements with Tehran has greatly weakened the moderate Iranians who championed dialogue.Rather than being a monolith, the current Iranian system has seen liberal, democratic movements in the past. But long years of sanctions and now war mean that these political actors risk being shut out by extreme elements, who favour conflict with US and Israel, given that trying for peace has only seen Tehran being double crossed.Producer: Kritika PantHost: Shoaib DaniyalHave any feedback? Email us at [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We all know someone who has been scammed over the internet. It could be a dramatic digital arrest scam or something milder like a phishing scam.In her new book, Scamlands, journalist Snigdha Poonam explores this epidemic. For many Indians, desperation drives them to become scammers. Shut out by the iron gates of caste, communal prejudice and poverty, tricking the elite is often the only way out of the shackles Indian society.On the other side, for the people getting scammed, it is often a moment of deep shame. Scammers gain their confidence and then abuse it for money. The experience is so jarring that in many cases, people do not even admit to being scammed.Contribute to Scroll's studio fund: https://pages.razorpay.com/scrollstudiofundProducer: Raghav KakkarEditor: Hyder HabibHost: Shoaib DaniyalWe welcome your comments at [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“In the age of monetisation, we cannot judge the internet based on morality,” argues Anurag Minus Verma, podcaster and multimedia artist.In this episode of Adda, the host of the widely popular Anurag Minus Verma Podcast speaks with Shoaib Daniyal about his book The Great Indian Brain Rot. The conversation jumps from “cringe” creators to the economics of virality and the rise of the internet as the new battleground for caste pride and superiority.Verma also reflects on the dichotomy of profound loneliness in the age of hyperconnectedness.Support our award-winning journalism by becoming a Scroll member: https://scroll.in/contributeProducer: Aryan MahttaEditor: Hyder HabibHost: Shoaib DaniyalWe welcome your comments at [email protected]. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.