In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Sudipto Mondal discuss if Shashi Tharoor is at a breaking point with the Congress party, and TNM-Newslaundry series on police excesses and impunity across India. Joining the discussion are lawyer and activist Vinay Srinivasa and TNM’s Chennai Bureau Chief Shabbir Ahmed.
On Tharoor’s political future, Dhanya says, “Tharoor has had issues with the Congress for some time now… he has made it very clear that he would want to be the Chief Minister-face. But there is absolutely no way that’s going to happen because there is VD Satheesan, there is Ramesh Chennithala, there is KC Venugopal. There are lots of people who will not allow that to happen.”
Pooja reflects on the deeper ideological spoilt Tharoor represents within the Congress: “He is taking a softer stance this time. I also want to kind of investigate what would have happened if he had become the president of the party… they represent two very different visions of Congress, right?”
Sudipto questions, “Remember, once upon a time, there used to be a term called soft Hindutva. It’s no longer in vogue… we have to not lose sight of the fact that his umbilical cord is right wing… The Nair Service Society was one of the backbones of his campaign… so we have to question his role.”
Vinay argues that the party must be accountable to progressive civil society movements. “The Congress owes Muslim groups, Dalit groups, communist groups, civil society groups, liberal groups, and all of that. And after owing them… it still props up a DK Shivakumar, Shashi Tharoor, or a Bhupesh Baghel.”
As the conversation shifts to the TNM-Newslaundry investigation into police excesses, Shabbir details an RTI that uncovered 304 instances of accused persons being admitted to jail with broken limbs in Tamil Nadu. “Right hand forearm fracture, left leg fracture… this is the first time we are seeing data that clearly shows this brutal practice has become institutionalised… not even a single cop has been held accountable.”
Dhanya adds, “Tamil Nadu is the same state which was very angry when Benicks and Jeyaraj were killed in custody… let us say, today somebody turns and says, Benicks and Jeyaraj also had done something wrong. Then would it have been okay for the police to beat them like that?”
Sudipto highlights, “The only cops who have ever got caught are the ones who are actually trying to uphold the law… Sanjeev Bhat is an example… If you look at why he is in prison today, it is because of a custodial death case.”
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Audio Timecodes
00:00:00- Introduction
00:02:04- Announcements
00:03:29- Headlines
00:19:12 - Shashi Tharoor and Congress
00:39:33- Police Excesses and Impunity
1:17:50 - Letters
1:20:42 - Recommendations
1:24:50 - Support TNM
References
TN police’s ‘slippery’ toilets: Data shows over 300 suspects fractured limbs in custody
Balveer Singh IPS accused of smashing detainees’ teeth in Tamil Nadu suspended
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Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali.
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