Delhi’s protest crackdown, a bird on the brink, and a fatal crash

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In today's episode, we look at efforts to revive the
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critically endangered Great Indian Bustard after two captive bred birds
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were released into the wild in Rajasthan for the first time.
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We also take a look at Kerala where a high-speed
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crash near Kochi airport killed three young people and raised
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questions about drunk driving, underage access to alcohol, and repeated
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speeding violations. But we begin today with the capital, where
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in response to the protests demanding the resignation of Chief
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Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, police and central forces launched a
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sweeping crackdown, leading to the detention of over 7,000 people. Hi,
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I'm Itchha Sharma, and you're listening to Three Things, the
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Indian Express News Show.
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It was on the.
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Saturday, the 10th of October, that the Cockroach Janta Party,
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or CJP, had called for a protest march and demonstration
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at Jantar Mantar, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner
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Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the special intensive revision
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of of electoral rolls and the handling of Form 6,
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which is used to enrol new voters. But despite thousands
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of people gathering in the capital, including many who had
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travelled from other cities, the protesters never actually reached Jantar
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Mantar that day. The Delhi police denied permission for the protest,
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citing security concerns and inadequate notice. Central Delhi was then
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locked down with barricades, traffic restrictions and a heavy police
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deployment while several metro stations.
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Were also shut down.
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And so the crackdown began even before the protest could
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take shape. In fact, CJP founder Abhijit Dipke, along with
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Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, key members of the pressure group,
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were detained aboard the aircraft they had taken to Delhi.
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You can see where the nation is heading.
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They are here to arrest us directly from the flight.
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This is something not even Indira Gandhi had done. This
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is dictatorship where Delhi police has entered in the flight
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and trying to arrest us.
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Now with Jantar Manta sealed off, the protest changed form.
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Small groups began appearing at different places. Delhi Heart, Connaught Place,
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Gol Market, Sansur Marg, Shankar Road and Rajghat. All landmark
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junctions around Central Delhi. And by 7pm on Saturday, around 7,000
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people had been detained across Delhi and no protesters had
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been allowed to read Jantar Mantar.
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Following the crackdown, the matter also.
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Reached the Supreme Court.
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In a special sitting on Sunday, the court told the
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centre that restrictions on public assembly and movement must comply
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with Article 19, subsection 2 of the Constitution. It directed
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that Delhi Metro and rail services continue to function normally
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unless restrictions are necessary to maintain public order, that barricades
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be reviewed, that people be allowed to move freely subject
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to traffic regulations, and that internet services remain undisturbed. The
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court also said that no one should be detained except
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in accordance with the procedure established by law, particularly in
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the case of peaceful unarmed assemblies outside areas where Section
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163 of the BNSS is in force. So to understand
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why did the Delhi Palace move so aggressively to prevent
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people from reaching Jantar Mantar, What does this mean for
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the right to protest and public movement in the capital?
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We're joined by the Indian Express's Pragnesh, who has been reporting.
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On the ground for the newspaper.
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Pragnesh, could you remind our listeners a bit about what
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exactly happened in Delhi on Saturday? Because I think the
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first thing that distinguishes Saturday's events from the earlier demonstrations
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is the scale of.
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The police operation.
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So how did a planned protest at Jantar Mantar.
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Turn into a citywide security operation?
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So it all starts with the fact that the last
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time when the CJP called for a protest in July,
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Delhi police had made the mistake of assuming that 5,000
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to 6,000 people will turn up when actually 50,000 people
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came to the protest. So now this time they made
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sure that their numbers are matching to whatever the worst
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case scenario could be in terms of, you know, the
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number of protesters. So more than 30-35,000 personnel, including the
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paramilitary forces. were deployed across Delhi, just specifically catering to
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controlling any kind of protest that sparks around the New
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Delhi area. So they already had about 100 to 110
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companies of paramilitary forces.
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They had requested another 111 companies.
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Now, each company comes with 70 to 75 on-ground troops.
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So you can just imagine the number of security personnel
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which were visible around the New Delhi area. Add to
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that the 5,000 to 10,000 people that Delhi police had
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of their own staff. I mean, I saw it at
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places where even the office staff of Delhi Police, you know,
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people like who are PAs and SOs to senior cops,
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IPS officers, even they were there, you know, with their
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lattes and shields and all that.
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So it was that kind of operation.
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Delhi Police had also made sure that everything that they do,
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because last time there were allegations of violence being instigated
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by cops and all that.
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So they had.
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Tried to at least show on paper that they have
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nothing to hide. So you had police officers who were
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wearing body cameras, who were wearing meta glasses and who
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were just hovering around there recording everything. There were loudspeakers
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who were issuing warnings every like five to ten minutes,
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both to the protesters that this is an area where
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they should not come and to the media persons as well,
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that they should not engage with protesters or come in
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the way of any sort of police action. Inside the
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Parliament Street area, I don't think any road which leads
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to Parliament Street had more than two to three.
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Cars at one point.
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You could go out of Parliament Street, but you were
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definitely not coming in, especially as the day went by.
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And so what specific security threat justified deploying.
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Thousands of personnel? And also, how did the scale of
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deployment operate on the ground?
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So I reached there at around 6am or something.
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And when I came, it was pretty normal for me
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to get my entry. It was very similar to how
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I got inside last time around. I just went in.
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They didn't ask me any questions. I slipped past the
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barricade and went there. As the day passed by, even
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journalists with ID cards had trouble coming inside. Police officers
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had their own idea of who a journalist is. People
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with legacy media organizations, they were having, you know, their
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field idea. But people who are with websites or YouTube
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channels and all that, police were very specific that they
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are not going to recognize anyone with a mic and
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a camera as a journalist. That was confirmed to us
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when by 4 p.m. we got to know that many
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reporters from digital and independent media outlets have been detained
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as well. So this was the kind of operation they
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were running.
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There were, I think, at.
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Least 60 to 70 buses, including DTC cluster buses, which
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were just around the New Delhi area to detain people.
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So the strategy was less about cure and more about prevention.
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It was not like last time where you could just
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come in, you would protest. And if things got violent,
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then maybe cops will detain you and take you to
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Parliament Street police station.
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The point they see you.
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In a group of anything more than five, they're going
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to pick you up and they're not going to take
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you to Parliament Street. They're going to take you to
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such far flung areas of the remote corners of Delhi
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that coming back from there will take.
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A whole goddamn day.
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So it was the scale, the operation, the management, in
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terms of their assessment, they think it was pretty successful.
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They managed to control almost every kind of small agitation
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or protest that happened around CP where people in batches of.
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50 and 100 were gathering.
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Whatever action happened, happened outside the confines of the New
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Delhi district.
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Right, and Praneesh, one of the most striking decisions was
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the closure of 45 metro stations. So, Why was it
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necessary to restrict such a large part of Delhi's public
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transport system?
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It was not.
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Necessary, and I think the Supreme Court had taken the
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cognizance of the matter. Actually, there were initially 57 metro.
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Stations which were shut.
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But after the Supreme Court's directions, they were cut down
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to 45. Another direction by the Supreme Court was that
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you need to provide these guys with some place to protest.
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Even if it's not Jantar Mantar, we don't know how
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much the Delhi police is going to abide by that.
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But yes, metro stations and public transport curbs were a
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little bit.
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More on the extreme side. They were not... necessary. But
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in the eyes.
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Of police personnel, exposing these places to protesters swamping in
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the New Delhi district was more of a risk than
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to kind of wreak havoc on Delhi's transport system and
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public convenience. They would rather have people complaining on X
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about the traffic problems and the trouble they are having
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in getting from one place to another than have their
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senior officers and bureaucrats from Home Ministry ring them up
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about some law and order situation inside New Delhi. So
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they had to like kind of, they were in between
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the rock and the hard place and they went for
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the option they thought was the best.
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Given the scale of the operation, what was the impact
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of it on commuters, residents and also people trying to
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access hospitals or workplaces?
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I mean, of course, there was impact. It was a weekend.
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People were looking to travel.
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But because of so many advisories that Delhi police had given,
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people also avoided coming out. A lot of cancelled plans,
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I'm assuming. Traffic around the whole New Delhi area was like,
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it was... disturbed till even 7 p.m.
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And 8 p.m. If you came from any one of
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the roads in.
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New Delhi area, for example, the Minto Road or the
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Ashoka Road, there was not one direct way in which
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you could pass Kanaat Place or you could pass Janpath.
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If you are trying to reach, for example, from Parliament
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Street to Minto Road, which is like a three, four
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kilometre seven kilometer detour around the whole of CP through
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ITO and then finally reached to that point. There were
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a lot of kind of traffic snarls at Ashoka Road,
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at not Parliament Street exactly, but near Tolstoy Road, near ITO,
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near the New Delhi Railway Station and near the Janpath
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area of CP, the back end of Janpath area, near
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the inner circle.
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So yeah, it was kind of a mess.
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And Pragnesh, earlier you spoke of how extensively people have
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been detained. And one of the most unusual incidents was
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when CJP founder Abhijit Dipke, along with Saurav Das and
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Ashutosh Ranka, were detained inside an aircraft.
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So how do we read that? And how has the
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police justified it?
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Delhi Police justifies it by simply saying that we went
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inside the aircraft to talk to them about cancelling this
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protest because it would be an unlawful protest considering that
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Section 163 of the BNSS is applied in New Delhi area.
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Once the leaders decline their offer, according to police, they
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are already agreeing that they are doing something unlawful and
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they are about to do something unlawful. In which case,
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it gives the police the right to detain them.
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That's their version.
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I think it was a bit extreme to just go
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inside the plane and detain them. What we had initially
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predicted was that they would come out, they would be
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at the airport. And the max thing that would happen
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is that they would be detained from outside the airport's
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gate or somewhere midway when they try to reach Jantar Mantar.
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But going inside the plane and nabbing them, that was
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Delhi police's idea of, you know, nipping the situation in
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the bud kind of thing.
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So, yeah. Right.
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And we also saw YouTuber Dhruv Rathee reportedly being detained
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from his residence in Gurugram.
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So could you give us an account of that?
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Yeah, the same thing.
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The same reasons are being cited by the cops in
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that also. He was planning, according to them, a large-scale
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protest in an area where, as per the current situation,
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a gathering of no more than five people is allowed,
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in which case it makes him... Someone who is doing
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to do something unlawful. So Dhruv Rathee was here in
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Delhi yesterday. He posted a reel from near India Gate.
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Police was very conscious of not detaining him then because
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they thought it could give ideas to CJP leaders. that,
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you know, if we are going to be detained so fast,
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we might as well travel in three different planes and
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come from three different directions.
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So they let him be.
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In the morning, they went to Gurgaon and the house
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detained him at his own place in sector 56. Then
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they followed the same kind of thing with the three
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main leaders of the CJP.
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And Ranish, this has also become a political flashpoint with
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several former CMs being detained. You have Mamta Banerjee, Arvind Kejriwal,
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Pinarai Vijayan and several other opposition leaders who have been detained.
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So how has the opposition responded and where can we
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place them in these demonstrations?
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Most of the.
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Opposition, they tried to get behind the CJP bandwagon as
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they could.
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In their eyes, it was a political.
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Brownie points to get attached to a movement which they
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think is kind of voices the opinion of Gen Z. So,
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you know, can be a bridge to connect to them. However,
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the so-called biggest fish in the opposition waters Congress, it
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refrained from engaging itself with a protest. People in Congress
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still view CJP as a largely Aam Aadmi Party phenomenon
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and attaching itself with CJP in their eyes is only
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going to give the.
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Than get anything more for the Congress.
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Congress finally is having a moment where they have this
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face in Rahul Gandhi who is kind of, you know,
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becoming a talking point every other day, who's kind of
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taking to the streets and doing that, you know, the dirty, murkier,
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street-level politics that he has always been criticized of not doing.
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So they don't want to meddle with that image.
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By attaching him to some other youth leader or some
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other kind of youth icon. But apart from the Congress,
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the opposition stance was clear that the problem of election
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commission and their assumption that CEC Gyanesh Kumar has been
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actively involved in tampering with election results is kind of
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something which hits, you know, very close to their belly.
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So they have to take any chance, any shot at
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voicing their concerns about election commission and getting Gyanesh Kumar
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out of the way as soon as they can. So
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for them, for the larger cause, they thought that it
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was well enough to even play second fiddle to.
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A new organization.
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And Prajnesh, these demonstrations have been going on for more
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than a week now. So why Could you remind us
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what were the demands here, apart from, of course, Ganesh
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Kumar's resignation?
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I think apart from Gyanesh Kumar's resignation, the main demand
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is the scrapping of SIR and the revision of all
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the voter lists that have been made after doing SIR
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in various parts of the country. So the core issue
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here is, of course, Gyanesh Kumar has become the symbol
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of the perceived election commission kind of corruption.
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But the main.
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Issue here is scraping of SIR, which CJP claims they
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believe is very favorable towards the BJP.
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Right.
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And circling back to the protests, you highlight how when
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it became clear that nobody was going to be allowed
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to read Jantar Mantar, the protests kind of started reorganizing themselves,
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which you term as flash protests. So could you talk
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a bit about what they were and how did this
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spread across the capital?
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So it started with Issa taking a call for doing
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the protest near Delhi Hutt.
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Neha Bora posted after being kind of AWOL for the
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whole day. Her phone was unreachable. It was switched off, everything.
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She suddenly appears on social media and claims that Delhi
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Hutt is the new Janter Mantar. And then the ISA
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kind of the bandwagon comes behind her and they start
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a march there from the Sabdarjeev flyover with Yogendra Yadav
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also joining her. Once footages of those scenes started coming,
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the CP area, which was mostly calm throughout the day,
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certain points there also started to flare up. So there
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were a couple of hundred SFI people who started a
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march from Gol Market and they had a scuffle with
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security forces and were eventually detained. There were SFI people who,
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near the PTI office, kind of overturned the barricades and tried.
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To run through the road. All of them were also detained.
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So this started a spiral which resulted in South Delhi's
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Delhi Hut area becoming the centre of protests for this time.
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Of course, the numbers were not that huge, but it
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had come to a point where they had kind of
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blocked the Safdar Singh flyover. They started doing a sit-in
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protest there. The police allowed it for a couple of
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10-15 minutes and after that, they picked them up and
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started pushing them inside buses and detaining them. It went
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up about for one or two hours, but by 7 p.m.
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once the news was in that Ms. Neha Bora was
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in Medangiri police station and will be released soon and
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that other detainees are also being released from various parts
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of Delhi, the protests kind of died down for the day.
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And Prajnesh, how has the government responded to these demonstrations?
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The government stance.
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Is clear that 163 BNSS, New Delhi, don't break it.
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We are good, you are good. That's about it. Don't
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be a nuisance in their terms.
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Don't create areas where you're blocking roads or doing chakka
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jams or assembling together in great numbers. If that happens,
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the instructions are clear. Pick up, detain, transport as far
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as you can from the mainland Delhi. Government has also
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told Delhi police not to move towards violence as the
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first act. Avoid violence, avoid lathi charges. The situation will
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only come to that point if you allow the protests
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to go on. If you detain them, then the chances
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of violence are minimal. So this is the same, you know,
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playbook that they are going to have tomorrow also, day
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after tomorrow also, till whenever this, you know, goes on for.
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Right.
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And as you mentioned that the CJP says it will
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continue protesting until Kumar resigns, while Sonam Vangchuk, who we
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remember was the face of the July protests, has raised
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the possibility of a fast or a padhyatra. So as
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someone who has been covering this on the ground, what
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is the next stage of this agitation?
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How do you see this evolving?
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See, the practical next stage would be that Delhi police
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has to give them some place to protest because the
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Supreme Court has directed it. They might do it today,
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they might do it tomorrow, day after tomorrow, but they
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have to give them a place. What has happened is
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that because of whatever they have managed to do today,
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and the kind of approach the police had, the footages
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of them being detained in buses and all that, it
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might create a little bit of sympathy for CJP when
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they get a place to do it. So there would
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be larger numbers than what we saw today. So yeah,
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I mean, if they get a place to protest in
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the coming days, they could certainly stretch it out.
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It all depends on what place they get.
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If it's something like Ramleela Maidan, which is still in
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the heart of Delhi, the protest would have a longer
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shelf life. If they give it in an area like Borari,
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then you don't know if people would be willing to
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come that far to protest against the CEC, which they
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know cannot be fired by the accord of government. He
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either has to resign or he needs.
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To get impeached.
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And next, we talk about the efforts that are being
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made to revive the population of a rare Indian bird.
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Earlier this month, a major milestone was achieved when, for
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the first time, two captive-bred male Great Indian Bustards were
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released into the wild at Rajasthan's Desert National Park near Jaisalmer. Now,
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the Great Indian Bustard is a large ground-dwelling bird found
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in India's savannas, grasslands and deserts and is one of
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the country's most critically endangered species. This pilot release marks
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the first step towards reintroducing the great Indian bastard into
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the wild. The effort is part of Project GIB, launched
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in 2013 by the Centre in collaboration with the Wildlife
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Institute of India and the.
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Governments of Rajasthan and Gujarat.
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In this segment, The Indian Express's Nikhil Khanekar joins my
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colleague Niharika Nanda to discuss what led to the great
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Indian bastard becoming critically endangered, what is being done to
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revive its population, and the challenges these efforts face.
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Nikhil, over the years, the great Indian mustard became a
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critically endangered species. Can you tell us what factors led
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to its population dwindling?
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So, you know, their population was somewhere in the range
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of 1200 to let's say 1500 in the late 60s
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to early 70s. But what happened is that before that,
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even before that, they were quite abundant across our country,
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right from the westernmost parts of the Thar landscape to
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southern India in parts of Andhra and Karnataka and in
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the east towards parts of the Deccan landscape. So what
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happened is that in the colonial times, there was a
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lot of hunting that was obviously seen.
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Even in the post-independence era.
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For that matter, hunting was something that was not explicitly
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prohibited for several years. And this was one of the
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earliest reasons why their numbers started dwindling. Second is that
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in the 60s and the 70s, after their population had
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already declined quite drastically, The other issues started creeping up.
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Number one, there was a lot of poaching of the
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birds also and their eggs. The birds in the wild
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themselves would be hunted by other predators. Then there were
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the issues of the habitat loss. And as a result,
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the grasslands or open areas, which is the prime habitat
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of the bustards, that were converted into croplands gradually over
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a period of time. So, these are some of the
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key factors that led to its decline. Following that, more
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recently in the past 20 years, wind farms, solar parks,
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they have mushroomed in this area and the bustard being
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this large ground bird when it flies, It has a
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very poor frontal vision. So when the power lines come
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in their flight path, it is unable to maneuver quickly
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away from them. And over the past decade and a half,
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these power lines have been like a major cause of death.
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So as a result of all these factors that we
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have talked about, their population eventually now is down to
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about between the range of 130 and 150 and overall,
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I would say.
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And what kind of steps have been taken by the
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government to counter the decline in their population?
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So the plummeting numbers of busters is not something that
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was talked about only in the last 10-15 years. Conservationists,
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ornithologists who are essentially bird experts and they have been
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talking about this since the mid 90s in fact. And
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they talked about how a dedicated program or a project
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is required so that this bird can be revived. And
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their efforts eventually bore fruit through these writings and through
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scientific articles and papers that they wrote in journals. They
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documented how if we do not start a project for
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their revival specifically, targeted at their revival, then we may
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see a situation where their presence is completely obliterated.
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They will go extinct. This was a wake-up call for
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the government and hence.
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That is how the project Gradient Busted began which is
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essentially a project that involves the long-term recovery of the
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bird and what does that mean exactly? That means that
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not only will it be revived in the wild which
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is obviously the main aim but to ensure that even
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if there is a situation where the birds are not
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able to sustain themselves despite efforts, a conservation breeding program
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was started to supplement the population in the wild. Other
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parts include that, number one, they have to maintain the
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habitat of this bird. Now, bustards like open land, flat lands, grasslands,
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and even if we raise a certain population of bustards
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in the conservation breeding centers, they have to still survive
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in the wild once these captive bred birds are released
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into the wild.
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So, for that, the habitat has to be intact.
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And third, you know, last but not least, the states
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outside of Rajasthan, whether it's the grasslands in Kach area,
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whether it's the grasslands in Solapur district and Amand Nagar
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Nasik district in Maharashtra or the, you know, Deccan areas
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of Andhra, Telangana and Madhya Pradesh and also up north
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in Madhya Pradesh. The grasslands in these areas have to
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be restored so that similar kind of captive breeding programs
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and rewilding programs can happen in these states which once
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had a fair share of wild busted population.
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And Nikhil, Project GIB has two major parts, right? Conservation
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breeding and rewilding. Can you tell us what is conservation
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breeding and how is the process carried out?
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So, at the most fundamental level, these species are bred
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in captivity so that if a case or if a
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situation arises where nearly all the functional breeding population is
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extinct in the wild, then the captive bred ones can
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be used for supporting the population. But in the case
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of Bustard, fortunately, we have not reached that stage yet.
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Despite that, the conservation breeding program has been started. It
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began initially in 2019. There were two centers that were
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established in Jaisalmer district in two places called Sam and Ramdevra. Now,
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what exactly happens is that scientists of the Wildlife Institute
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of India with the participation of the Rajasthan Forest Department,
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when the project of conservation breeding began, they started collecting
487
00:27:26.569 --> 00:27:29.369
the eggs that were laid by the Great Indian Bustards
488
00:27:29.730 --> 00:27:30.910
in the wild in their nests.
489
00:27:31.349 --> 00:27:34.599
And they would pick these eggs up from their nests.
490
00:27:34.759 --> 00:27:37.099
They would take it back to this conservation breeding center,
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00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:40.740
which have temperature controlled areas. They would incubate these eggs
492
00:27:40.859 --> 00:27:44.900
artificially to basically mimic the process of a female bustard,
493
00:27:44.940 --> 00:27:48.900
you know, hatching these eggs. And after these chicks emerged
494
00:27:48.960 --> 00:27:52.529
from these eggs, they would hand rear these bustards. So,
495
00:27:52.789 --> 00:27:56.849
you know, using this process, first founder population was established
496
00:27:56.890 --> 00:28:01.009
in these conservation breeding centers. Once these hand-reared chicks attained
497
00:28:01.029 --> 00:28:04.809
a certain level of maturity to reproduce themselves, the males
498
00:28:04.869 --> 00:28:08.569
and females of these captive bred busters, they were made
499
00:28:08.589 --> 00:28:12.049
to mate and they reproduced a second generation of birds
500
00:28:12.089 --> 00:28:15.920
that were born in captivity. Now, these birds have been
501
00:28:16.079 --> 00:28:19.980
used to now rewild and supplement the population that is
502
00:28:20.099 --> 00:28:21.680
surviving in the Thar landscape.
503
00:28:22.410 --> 00:28:25.549
And Nikhil, how many such birds have been raised through
504
00:28:25.589 --> 00:28:27.029
conservation breeding so far?
505
00:28:27.769 --> 00:28:29.549
And what happens to them right after?
506
00:28:30.329 --> 00:28:33.710
So we have 98 such birds that have been raised
507
00:28:33.789 --> 00:28:36.470
at these two centers in Sam and Ramdev Ram. Now
508
00:28:36.509 --> 00:28:40.700
rewilding is the logical next step of the captive breeding
509
00:28:40.740 --> 00:28:43.259
of these birds which means that fine you have raised
510
00:28:43.279 --> 00:28:45.759
these birds in captivity but the eventual aim is that
511
00:28:45.799 --> 00:28:49.359
the birds thrive in the wild that the second generation
512
00:28:49.440 --> 00:28:51.960
that has been raised due to the mating of the
513
00:28:52.180 --> 00:28:55.750
artificially incubated birds they will be put in the wild.
514
00:28:56.269 --> 00:28:59.549
And the bird will be released in the parts of
515
00:28:59.589 --> 00:29:03.789
the Desert National Park, parts of Gujarat, perhaps, and other
516
00:29:03.809 --> 00:29:07.869
states in due course, if the situation is suitable for
517
00:29:07.910 --> 00:29:10.819
their release. And like the birds which are already in
518
00:29:10.839 --> 00:29:14.140
the wild, these captive bred birds will now try to
519
00:29:14.180 --> 00:29:16.500
survive in the wild. They will try to adapt without
520
00:29:16.579 --> 00:29:17.859
any kind of human interference.
521
00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:20.019
So in short, that is what rewilding means.
522
00:29:20.700 --> 00:29:20.920
Right.
523
00:29:21.079 --> 00:29:23.519
And could you talk about the challenges that are faced
524
00:29:23.619 --> 00:29:27.910
in this process? And have similar efforts been carried out elsewhere?
525
00:29:28.750 --> 00:29:31.559
So, this is actually the first time that a rewilding
526
00:29:31.559 --> 00:29:34.210
exercise or a project has been taken up and this
527
00:29:34.210 --> 00:29:37.009
is in fact the pilot of the rewilding of the bustards.
528
00:29:37.329 --> 00:29:41.019
But insofar as conservation breeding is concerned, conservation breeding obviously
529
00:29:41.230 --> 00:29:42.420
has happened in India.
530
00:29:42.700 --> 00:29:45.839
It has happened in the case of certain other species.
531
00:29:46.119 --> 00:29:48.140
But as far as the bustards.
532
00:29:47.779 --> 00:29:50.380
Are concerned, the threats are obviously the same kind of
533
00:29:50.420 --> 00:29:52.559
threats that those bustards that are in the wild already
534
00:29:53.039 --> 00:29:56.319
face on a daily basis. Which is that if their
535
00:29:56.380 --> 00:29:59.759
habitat is not safe, if there are disturbances, if there
536
00:29:59.859 --> 00:30:02.609
are threats of predators, if there is not enough food
537
00:30:02.809 --> 00:30:05.730
for them, then obviously they will not survive. And one
538
00:30:05.789 --> 00:30:08.150
interesting thing that we would like to inform our readers
539
00:30:08.170 --> 00:30:11.630
is that the bustard has a slightly slow reproduction cycle
540
00:30:11.670 --> 00:30:14.829
where the female lays its eggs first. only once in
541
00:30:15.150 --> 00:30:18.079
a one and a half two year period. So if
542
00:30:18.130 --> 00:30:20.779
there is let's say poaching of the eggs either by
543
00:30:20.839 --> 00:30:23.920
humans or by wild animals which are to name a
544
00:30:23.960 --> 00:30:26.900
few desert fox, birds of prey such as eagles, you
545
00:30:26.920 --> 00:30:29.400
know raptors. If they prey on the eggs in an
546
00:30:29.500 --> 00:30:32.769
already slow reproduction cycle then obviously that will be detrimental
547
00:30:32.849 --> 00:30:36.890
to their long-term survival. There are obviously cases where there
548
00:30:36.910 --> 00:30:39.430
are stray dogs, the wild feral dogs which are also
549
00:30:39.650 --> 00:30:43.670
detrimental to the long-term sustenance of bustards. So these are
550
00:30:43.710 --> 00:30:46.589
some of the threats like all animals face in the wild.
551
00:30:46.609 --> 00:30:49.339
It will face threats. It will have to adapt even
552
00:30:49.380 --> 00:30:51.640
though they have been raised in captivity.
553
00:30:51.720 --> 00:30:53.480
They will have to adapt to these threats.
554
00:30:54.220 --> 00:30:58.279
And Nikhil, we understand that the Supreme Court demarcated priority
555
00:30:58.359 --> 00:31:02.019
areas for the bird and gave certain directions to improve
556
00:31:02.059 --> 00:31:02.680
its habitat.
557
00:31:03.299 --> 00:31:04.220
Can you tell us about that?
558
00:31:05.089 --> 00:31:07.789
So, as far as the Supreme Court's decisions are concerned,
559
00:31:08.549 --> 00:31:11.029
they were a result of this petition that was filed
560
00:31:11.089 --> 00:31:15.329
by former bureaucrat M.K. Ranjit Singh, who was instrumental in
561
00:31:15.630 --> 00:31:19.059
drafting of India's first wildlife law, the Wildlife Protection Act.
562
00:31:19.299 --> 00:31:21.539
He had gone to the Supreme Court with the case
563
00:31:21.599 --> 00:31:26.619
that the bastards need protection from the mushrooming of renewable
564
00:31:26.660 --> 00:31:29.700
energy projects, from the mining issues in the Thar landscape
565
00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:33.980
and also the general issue of habitat loss. And in conclusion,
566
00:31:34.029 --> 00:31:38.990
the Supreme Court, after a long winding hearing, it had
567
00:31:39.450 --> 00:31:43.289
given its directions that around 14,000 square kilometers of area
568
00:31:43.390 --> 00:31:47.329
has to be demarcated as a priority area. Demarcated in
569
00:31:47.349 --> 00:31:49.750
the sense that it will not get the status of
570
00:31:49.869 --> 00:31:52.390
a national park or a sanctuary which requires a specific
571
00:31:52.470 --> 00:31:53.289
legal notification.
572
00:31:53.630 --> 00:31:55.750
There is a desert national park in that area, but.
573
00:31:56.210 --> 00:31:59.430
This is a much more larger area which has been identified.
574
00:31:59.519 --> 00:32:02.220
It's also known as a GIB arc due to its
575
00:32:02.480 --> 00:32:06.500
slightly bent shape. And in this area, what the authorities
576
00:32:06.539 --> 00:32:08.720
have been directed to do is that, number one, they
577
00:32:08.759 --> 00:32:11.619
have been ordered, along with the renewable energy companies, they
578
00:32:11.660 --> 00:32:14.779
have been ordered to bury underground power lines, which are
579
00:32:14.819 --> 00:32:17.849
currently crisscrossing the landscape which has been used by the
580
00:32:18.140 --> 00:32:19.069
Great Indian Bustards.
581
00:32:19.329 --> 00:32:21.549
In order to prevent their fidelities.
582
00:32:21.730 --> 00:32:24.190
That is one of the most important directions that was
583
00:32:24.309 --> 00:32:27.109
written down in its order by the Supreme Court. Secondly,
584
00:32:27.170 --> 00:32:30.750
it has asked the authorities to also utilize this one
585
00:32:30.829 --> 00:32:34.819
method known as the jumpstart method, wherein the eggs which
586
00:32:35.059 --> 00:32:38.180
are in wild in Rajasthan or eggs which have been
587
00:32:38.480 --> 00:32:41.220
laid by the bastards in captivity, they have been taken
588
00:32:41.299 --> 00:32:45.119
to Gujarat and placed in the nests of JIBs which
589
00:32:45.180 --> 00:32:47.880
are found in Kach, the few handful JIBs which are
590
00:32:47.900 --> 00:32:51.220
found in Kach. replacing eggs which may have been infertile.
591
00:32:51.559 --> 00:32:54.329
The Supreme Court had also heard the issue of mining
592
00:32:54.509 --> 00:32:56.990
that was raised by Mr. Ranjit Singh, but there was
593
00:32:57.029 --> 00:33:01.109
no order that was specifically passed to block mining projects. However,
594
00:33:01.130 --> 00:33:04.109
they have to take care that in this priority area
595
00:33:04.150 --> 00:33:06.930
that we talked about, the mining proposals are not allowed
596
00:33:07.650 --> 00:33:09.829
in an effort to protect their habitat.
597
00:33:15.069 --> 00:33:17.750
And in the end, we talk about a fatal crash
598
00:33:17.829 --> 00:33:23.089
near Kochi airport, where three 21-year-olds riding a scooter were
599
00:33:23.150 --> 00:33:24.650
killed after being hit.
600
00:33:24.509 --> 00:33:26.569
From behind by a Mini Cooper.
601
00:33:26.589 --> 00:33:31.420
Allegedly driven at high speed by a 19-year-old college student,
602
00:33:31.819 --> 00:33:35.279
who police say was under the influence of alcohol. The
603
00:33:35.299 --> 00:33:40.269
three victims, Iyas from Karnataka, Devika from Wayanad and Gopika
604
00:33:40.460 --> 00:33:44.589
from Palakkad, were students who also worked part-time.
605
00:33:44.309 --> 00:33:47.390
As salespersons at a showroom near the airport.
606
00:33:47.789 --> 00:33:50.250
They had stepped out for tea and were returning to
607
00:33:50.309 --> 00:33:53.980
work when the crash occurred early Sunday. As reported by
608
00:33:54.019 --> 00:33:57.700
the Indian Express's Saju Philip, police have arrested the driver
609
00:33:57.720 --> 00:34:01.970
and Suhail Sanjeev and booked him for culpable homicide, not
610
00:34:02.029 --> 00:34:06.799
amounting to murder, a non-bailable offence under the Bhartiya Nyai Sanata. Now,
611
00:34:06.839 --> 00:34:11.079
what has intensified public anger is what police say happened
612
00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:16.019
immediately before and after the crash. According to investigators, Sanjeev
613
00:34:16.079 --> 00:34:20.849
was allegedly driving around 125 kilometres per hour when his
614
00:34:20.929 --> 00:34:24.159
car struck the scooter. Police also say he had a
615
00:34:24.360 --> 00:34:28.130
previous history of overspeeding, including an incident where he was
616
00:34:28.210 --> 00:34:33.119
recorded driving at 280 km per hour. Local rescuers have
617
00:34:33.159 --> 00:34:36.820
told police that after the collision, Sanjeev questioned what was
618
00:34:36.880 --> 00:34:39.909
wrong with speeding on an airport road and allegedly said,
619
00:34:40.369 --> 00:34:43.510
My Bappa will handle the case. The Mini Cooper itself
620
00:34:43.610 --> 00:34:46.349
had reportedly been gifted to him by his mother for
621
00:34:46.389 --> 00:34:49.519
his birthday and a social media post announcing the gift
622
00:34:49.579 --> 00:34:53.500
went viral after the crash. Pillis later confirmed that Sanjeev
623
00:34:53.579 --> 00:34:56.519
had consumed alcohol and the investigation has.
624
00:34:56.420 --> 00:34:57.989
Now widened beyond the driver.
625
00:34:58.429 --> 00:35:01.710
Sanjeev allegedly told Pillis that he had consumed alcohol at
626
00:35:01.789 --> 00:35:06.280
three bars the previous night. Kerala's excise minister has consequently
627
00:35:06.400 --> 00:35:10.429
ordered cases against those establishments because the legal minimum age
628
00:35:10.469 --> 00:35:11.840
for purchasing.
629
00:35:11.349 --> 00:35:20.809
Alcohol in the state is 23. You were listening to
630
00:35:20.829 --> 00:35:22.489
Three Things by The Indian Express.
631
00:35:22.809 --> 00:35:25.900
Today's show was edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar and
632
00:35:25.940 --> 00:35:29.139
produced by Niharika Nanda and me, Ichha Sharma. If you
633
00:35:29.199 --> 00:35:31.679
like the show, do subscribe to us wherever you get
634
00:35:31.719 --> 00:35:34.340
your podcast. You can also recommend it to someone you
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00:35:34.360 --> 00:35:37.010
think may like it, with a friend or in your family.
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00:35:37.369 --> 00:35:39.070
This is the best way for people to get to
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00:35:39.110 --> 00:35:41.849
know about us. You can also tweet us at Express
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Podcast or write to us at podcast at indianexpress.com.