We The People

18 days away from the first day of voting in this General Election, the million-dollar question is what is the key issue that the voter cares about? What will be the foremost issue on the mind of the voter as they step into the polling booth on D-Day. Will it be unemployment, the farm crisis, women's safety or nationalism? Which party has its pulse on the real political narrative in this election?

In today's episode of We The People, we pay tribute to the soldiers who laid down their lives in Pulwama. We talk to their families who and ask do we really respect our soldiers, respect those who have fought for our security and laid down their lives, because once the attention shifts, will there be stories of families not getting pensions on time, widows fighting for what's due to them will our security forces get the kind of critical equipment that they need?

The World Cancer Day earlier this week helped create awareness of the disease and remove any hesitation or taboos around it. The number of cancer cases in India is increasing every year. Though it's a dreaded disease, the country is getting better at tackling it. Early detection is key, which is why awareness levels need to increase. On We the People, we discuss what the challenges are, what needs to be done and how we all can help.

This week, the women of Karnataka took out a 400 km march from Raichur to Bangalore demanding a ban on liquor. Goa saw a new law that bans drinking on the beach. Gujarat, Nagaland, Lakshwadeep and Kerala are states that have a complete ban on liquor as of today. States like Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Tamil Nadu, Mizoram and Manipur are states who have experimented with partial or complete liquor ban, but the ban was removed due to various reasons such as change in government, negative feedback from public, widespread of smuggling and sale of illicit liquor. On this episode of We The People, we ask whether India should have a liquor ban. What would be the effect of such a ban? But does prohibition work? Does it bring down crime, especially crimes against women and domestic violence? Does it lead to a healthier society, especially among the poorer class? Or is it a sham with reports of liquor being easily accessible in prohibition states courtesy a booming liquor mafia? Does it lead to a corruption and crime nexus between smugglers, police, politicians and officials? Is it also short-term-vote-bank politics with prohibition being very popular among women voters?

Yoga teacher Baba Ramdev expressed concern over the rising population, and suggested that people who have more than two children should have their voting rights taken away and not be eligible for any government benefits. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu also appealed to the people in his state to have more children, citing the declining birth to death ratio over the last decade, and even talking about countries like China and Japan that have aging populations. The "two-child policy" has recently brought out a lot of question and discussions. We The People discusses - will this help solve the problems of food and water shortage in the coming decades, or will it lead to the slowing down of the economy similar to what China saw, as a result of their one-child policy?

This past week saw a landmark quota bill getting passed in the parliament amid controversy and heated debates on the timing of such a move which many are saying is the ruling government's populist push ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The introduction of a 10 per cent quota for economically weaker sections of the upper caste has generated a lot of debate on the emotive issue of reservation especially in jobs and education. As anticipated, the new legislation will now face legal scrutiny after a group challenged it in court. But the politics is just one aspect of this debate. There is also the issue of jobs on today's episode. We take a look at the new legislation, who it will benefit and how and the larger issue of whether economic backwardness and social backwardness can be solved using the same policies considering the factors that lead to both are very different. We also explore when will India get to a position where reservations can be done away with completely.

Protests refuse to die down in Kerala after two women enter the Sabarimala shrine. In September, the Supreme Court in its verdict had said that "social exclusion of women, based on menstrual status, is a form of untouchability" and that "notions of purity and pollution, have no place in constitutional order". Despite these stern words from the Supreme Court, the temple was shut down and a "cleansing ritual" was undertaken by the chief priest. In this episode of We The People, we debate whether such "purification" rituals are just another way of propagating untouchability and whether this move is like contempt of the top court's order.

We look at the year that was: The people, the stories and the issues that made headlines in 2018.

This past week, India has seen a landmark judgement, upholding the conviction of Sajjan Kumar, in the 1984 anti-Sikh riots. The Delhi High Court has slammed the culture of mass killing. Also, over the past few days we have seen yet another sabotage of a literature festival event, this time at the Ajmer Lit fest as a response to Naseeruddin Shah's statement condemning the apparent impunity of mob violence. We discuss, how to build bridges and find solutions in these times of hate and why even after seven decades of independence, violence continues to enjoy social sanction. And how we can break the cycle?

The Uttarakhand High Court recently ordered the centre to ban over 800 porn sites, which has sparked a debate. Is banning pornographic content a solution to end crimes against women? Is it even possible to ban porn on the internet? On this week's episode of We The People, we discuss if the ban on porn is tantamount to intervening into private lives of citizens or it could really help in ending violence against women.