Has anyone seen what's going on on India?

[twinkletits99]

I've just seen some of the footage and am reduced to tears. People bring beaten in the streets. Migrants being forced to bathe in disinfectant spray. People breaking down because they fear they are going to starve to death before coronavirus has a chance to take them. I'm quarter Indian and whilst I have no real connection to India other than that, I couldn't help but feel utterly hopeless for them.

It’s not being hidden in the news.

On channel 4 right now

I have seen some reports on this.

I completely agree with the posters who have said the BBC news is very poor and childlike. I have decided not to watch it any more after feeling so annoyed with it the other day.

I also agree with people here who have said they prefer Al Jazeera; I like them a lot too.

ITV News also seems better than the BBC if you want more in-depth coverage of the UK.

The BBC news is childish, anecdotal, biased, censored and narrow.

I agree about BBC, they really let themselves down with biaised Brexit reporting and as far as Question Time... pah!

However, I do find ITV news a bit sensationalisti (is there such a word?!)

I agree on Al Jazeera and occasionally Sky if I'm in the mood

We're not 'lucky we live in a country where this doesn't happen (much)

Yep. You absolutely are lucky. By an accident of birth or because of a deliberate immigration decision, you are living in a Western liberal democracy. Most of the planet doesn't look like Europe.

Did you deliberately edit out the next sentence I wrote that added context to that statement?

The bit where I said we were lucky to live in a country where those rights had been fought for us prior? My point being that our current political state is not an accident, it was a fight and one we are lucky to benefit from.

I have seen some bits on the BBC but it was days after it was first reported and trust me, still not the full picture

I don’t watch the news anymore. I find the format cloying.

I do listen to R4 pretty much all day (except for dramas).

The police asking what someone is doing is not 'a minor transgression.' It is what most countries with a functioning police force regard as normal policing.

And the bit where I explained I wasn't passing comment on what was or wasn't a minor transgression but arguing the principle of fighting the smaller stuff so we (hopefully) never have to fight the bigger stuff again?

"We're not 'lucky we live in a country where this doesn't happen (much)' - we're lucky we live in a country where the people that went before us were prepared/able to stand up against state and police injustices."

...

"When I talked about 'minor transgressions' I meant calling the police out when they are going beyond their power. My own personal view of what I want the police to do is not the issue. What the law says they can do is the important bit. If the police go beyond the law they must be brought back within it.

If I think the law itself is wrong, I must petition my governement to change the law.

The checks and balances of our justice system are important and stand on pillars of people holding every institution to account."

twinkletits99

I've just been using the BBC news app. I haven't seen anything like this reported. I may have missed it however”

I was dozing in and out, but there was a piece last night either on News at Ten or Newsnight.

Do recall that the population was given just 4 hour’s notice.

It is on the news almost every day, where I live. I agree with you, it’s heartbreaking.

Yes it is horrific but it has been given coverage by the media

The British people stranded on that cruise ship calling their plight a 'humanitarian crisis' had me like 🤔

Chinese footage is the worst I’ve seen.

Yep. You absolutely are lucky. By an accident of birth or because of a deliberate immigration decision, you are living in a Western liberal democracy. Most of the planet doesn't look like Europe.

I agree with this. And I would say the USA isn't included in this. Their record of police brutality and a crap criminal justice system is appalling.

"When I talked about 'minor transgressions' I meant calling the police out when they are going beyond their power

You described the police 'asking someone what they were doing' as a 'transgression.' This kind of absurd rhetoric is indicative of a serious disconnect from external reality.

This is absolutely awful. It’s made me sick to the stomach.

You described the police 'asking someone what they were doing' as a 'transgression

No I absolutely did not as my follow up post explained. I described the police not staying within the law as a transgression.

I deliberately made no comment on whether or not I think the police asking someone where they are going is a transgression or not because - as I explicitly stated - my opinion was not the important thing.

• Yep. You absolutely are lucky. By an accident of birth or because of a deliberate immigration decision, you are living in a Western liberal democracy. Most of the planet doesn't look like Europe.

I agree with this.*

Me too but I can see why Fleas annoyed at having their sentence cut in half and therefore the meaning altered. They appear to have been acknowledging their luck but saying it didn't just come about but that people had to fight for it.

Which is why what's happening in India is covered by the bbc, but not, say, Mali. The news channels cover what is of most interest to its viewers.

Agreed but what I've seen of France 24 it was more world orientated even before the Covid epidemic. It covered the routine political and economic news of France's former colonies in a way that the British news channels didn't. Coverage of elections, music and arts - not just disasters and wars.

If this map is to be believed Britain probably colonised more of Africa than France - and certainly more of the easily habitable bits.

The British news media's coverage of Africa is very sparce.

people here bleat police brutality if they are drone filmed or asked what they are doing?

In response to the above quote, you replied

But that's the point. Being able to and prepared to speak up over the minor transgressions are what keep the major ones at bay

You know what I find very tiresome? The penchant for hyperbole. From some of the luckiest people on Planet Earth. Denouncing the police for 'asking people what they are doing?' Most rational people know that is an integral part of the cops' job. This virus is making explicit the relationship between state and citizen. It is highlighting the acute differences between liberal and totalitarian regimes. Most of the planet's citizens do not have the luxury of living in a European liberal democracy.

Who has said that was police brutality?

Having said that the actions of my area police force have been very questionable over a range of issues, before all this. It's never a good idea to take your eye of the ball with this stuff.

You know what I find tiresome? Being told I meant something I did not by someone who does not know me and does not know my life experiences.

I was responding to a post that I interpreted as saying it is not worth speaking up over small things because other places have it worse.

My point was that IF you think those small things are wrong then you must speak up. Because I believe that speaking up over the small is what keeps the big at bay. A look after the pennies approach.

Now you might disagree with that. You might think you should not worry about the small at all. By all means say so. But don't insult me or tell me I mean something I don't.

My own personal view? I couldn't care less if the police ask someone where they are going or not. I don't think it is a transgression.