We The People

A book has now questioned what medication are people giving their children. Do they work? What's in them? Will it do more them harm than good? This is an issue that affects everyone - there is nobody in this country who has not at one point of time in their lives had to take or will need to take medication. The findings of a book, a New York Times bestseller, Bottle of Lies, has thrown up these questions. Was Ranbaxy a one-off, a bad apple, or is this a industry specific problem? Is the problem of a lack of quality controls more systemic, ingrained?

Earlier this week, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote to the district magistrate (DM) of south-east Delhi asking for an investigation into a complaint they received of children being "misled" at Shaheen Bagh about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by their elders and, as a result, may be suffering from 'mental trauma'. The top government child rights' body has now told the DM to send a child protection officer and a child welfare police officer to "identify these children and arrange counselling sessions for them and their parents, if deemed fit". They have 10 days to file a report. Meanwhile, three Congress-ruled states have made the Preamble to the Constitution part of school curriculum. The BJP has described the decision as a political one. They say it will backfire on Congress. We are asking tonight? Are India's children being made into pawns for politics? Should children be made aware of the politics of the day, given that they are going to inherit the world we leave them? Or should children be shielded from politics and be allowed to have a childhood?

Earlier this week, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) wrote to the district magistrate (DM) of south-east Delhi asking for an investigation into a complaint they received of children being "misled" at Shaheen Bagh about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) by their elders and, as a result, may be suffering from 'mental trauma'. The top government child rights' body has now told the DM to send a child protection officer and a child welfare police officer to "identify these children and arrange counselling sessions for them and their parents, if deemed fit". They have 10 days to file a report. Meanwhile, three Congress-ruled states have made the Preamble to the Constitution part of school curriculum. The BJP has described the decision as a political one. They say it will backfire on Congress. We are asking tonight? Are India's children being made into pawns for politics? Should children be made aware of the politics of the day, given that they are going to inherit the world we leave them? Or should children be shielded from politics and be allowed to have a childhood?

February 1 - that's the day the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case are to be hanged to death, instead of January 22, the date first set by a trial court. The four men found guilty of the rape and brutal murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in the national capital seven years ago are to be executed by the state at 6 am on February 1 in fresh warrants that were issued hours after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected a mercy plea filed by one of them, Mukesh Singh. The new death warrants or black warrants are dated February 1 because according to the law there has to be a gap of 14 days after a mercy plea is turned down, so those on death row can exhaust all legal options before one can be executed by the State. The three other convicts have yet to file their respective petitions, which they may do at any time prior to their execution. However, remember that each time a petition is filed and rejected that 14-day period must be observed, thereby prolonging the execution. That's not all, on Monday, the Supreme court is to hear a petition by another one of the four convicts - Pawan, who claims he was a juvenile on the date of the crime and should be punished according to juvenile laws. These developments in the Nirbhaya case have now revived the debate on whether death penalty should be retained as a punishment for murder under the Indian Penal Code? And we are asking tonight on We The People whether the death penalty is a deterrent for rapists?

February 1 - that's the day the four convicts in the Nirbhaya gang-rape and murder case are to be hanged to death, instead of January 22, the date first set by a trial court. The four men found guilty of the rape and brutal murder of a 23-year-old paramedical student in the national capital seven years ago are to be executed by the state at 6 am on February 1 in fresh warrants that were issued hours after President Ram Nath Kovind rejected a mercy plea filed by one of them, Mukesh Singh. The new death warrants or black warrants are dated February 1 because according to the law there has to be a gap of 14 days after a mercy plea is turned down, so those on death row can exhaust all legal options before one can be executed by the State. The three other convicts have yet to file their respective petitions, which they may do at any time prior to their execution. However, remember that each time a petition is filed and rejected that 14-day period must be observed, thereby prolonging the execution. That's not all, on Monday, the Supreme court is to hear a petition by another one of the four convicts - Pawan, who claims he was a juvenile on the date of the crime and should be punished according to juvenile laws. These developments in the Nirbhaya case have now revived the debate on whether death penalty should be retained as a punishment for murder under the Indian Penal Code? And we are asking tonight on We The People whether the death penalty is a deterrent for rapists?

Today we are talking about the youth of the country, the millennials or gen Z who are often dismised by the older generation as self-involved, interested in gadgets, the good life and films, entertainment - who have actually taken the country by storm, showing us they will not be dismissed, they will voice their concerns, they will make demands and they will dissent. Over the last couple of weeks, from the end of 2019 into this year, the youth have enthralled us. They quote the Constitution, the Preamble, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar with ease. It began with campus protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the brutal police crackdown in Jamia University on December 15, which sparked anger and protests across campuses in the country. Then the January 5 attack by masked men in JNU, which again saw a strong reaction among the youth with more angry demonstrations, even in St Stephens, in IITs and even the scientists in IISC in Bengaluru were chanting azaadi slogans. Today, on the show we're discussing India's youth and dissent - we have representatives from student unions who may one day become big leaders in their own right.

Today we are talking about the youth of the country, the millennials or gen Z who are often dismised by the older generation as self-involved, interested in gadgets, the good life and films, entertainment - who have actually taken the country by storm, showing us they will not be dismissed, they will voice their concerns, they will make demands and they will dissent. Over the last couple of weeks, from the end of 2019 into this year, the youth have enthralled us. They quote the Constitution, the Preamble, Mahatma Gandhi and Dr BR Ambedkar with ease. It began with campus protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and the brutal police crackdown in Jamia University on December 15, which sparked anger and protests across campuses in the country. Then the January 5 attack by masked men in JNU, which again saw a strong reaction among the youth with more angry demonstrations, even in St Stephens, in IITs and even the scientists in IISC in Bengaluru were chanting azaadi slogans. Today, on the show we're discussing India's youth and dissent - we have representatives from student unions who may one day become big leaders in their own right.

The poetry of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, especially "Hum Dekhenge", has become a chant of students who are protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. After students of IIT Kanpur chanted it during a protest on December 17, a police complaint was filed, claiming the poem was anti-Hindu. A panel was set up by IIT Kanpur to look into the protests and the complaint. This move has sparked off fierce debates on social media whether Faiz's poem was communal and anti-Hindu. The poem was written in 1979 during General Zia-ul-Haq's oppressive martial law regime in Pakistan, and it used Islamic religious imagery to attack Zia's dictatorship and push for democracy. It became a song after Iqbal Bano sang it to a packed audience in 1986 despite a ban on Faiz's poetry. And now it has sparked a controversy in India.

The poetry of Faiz Ahmad Faiz, especially "Hum Dekhenge", has become a chant of students who are protesting against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act. After students of IIT Kanpur chanted it during a protest on December 17, a police complaint was filed, claiming the poem was anti-Hindu. A panel was set up by IIT Kanpur to look into the protests and the complaint. This move has sparked off fierce debates on social media whether Faiz's poem was communal and anti-Hindu. The poem was written in 1979 during General Zia-ul-Haq's oppressive martial law regime in Pakistan, and it used Islamic religious imagery to attack Zia's dictatorship and push for democracy. It became a song after Iqbal Bano sang it to a packed audience in 1986 despite a ban on Faiz's poetry. And now it has sparked a controversy in India.

We look at the year that was: The people, the stories and the issues that made headlines in 2019.