Twist of faith: religious hatred in India
The Intelligence from The Economist
The Economist
4.5 • 3.7K Ratings
🗓️ 26 January 2022
⏱️ 23 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
As the country celebrates its secular constitution, we examine the rising bigotry of Hindu nationalists—at best tolerated and at worst encouraged by the ruling party. China’s propagandists are onto something: after years of dull jingoism, the entertainment they put out now is glossy, big-budget and ever more watchable. And why South-East Asia’s obsession with otters poses a threat to them.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hello and welcome to the Intelligence from the Economist. |
| 0:06.6 | I'm your host, Jason Palmer. |
| 0:08.8 | Every weekday we provide a fresh perspective on the events shaping your world. |
| 0:17.7 | Propaganda as entertainment in China used to be really, really dull. |
| 0:22.9 | The party bumped up viewing figures by making students and state employees watch. |
| 0:28.0 | These days they're glossy, Hollywood style blockbusters just bursting with patriotism. |
| 0:35.2 | And have you seen the otters on the internet can you even bear their cuteness? |
| 0:40.4 | Southeast Asia seems to obsess over otters as pets and all that social media love might |
| 0:45.6 | actually threaten their survival. |
| 0:47.8 | Thing is though, they're not even great pets. |
| 0:55.8 | But first... |
| 1:02.8 | Today in India it's Republic Day, parades and flyovers and dancing in the capital, Delhi, |
| 1:17.1 | a spectacle broadcast across the country. |
| 1:20.2 | The Prime Minister, Shreenar Inaramobi, walking towards where the spectators greet him eagerly. |
| 1:28.8 | Republic Day celebrates the date in 1950 that India's brand new constitution came into force, |
| 1:35.1 | the foundations of the world's largest democracy. |
| 1:38.4 | A later amendment enshrined the idea that the government was to be secular, but in today's |
| 1:43.5 | India it's hard to separate religion from politics. |
| 1:50.5 | Last month a mob of Hindu nationalists stormed a school run by the Catholic Church in the |
| 1:55.4 | central state of Madhya Pradesh. |
| 1:57.9 | They believed that the communion service held nearby for Christian children had in fact |
| 2:02.1 | been a secret conversion ceremony. |
... |
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