We The People

On We The People we look at the new Surrogacy Bill cleared by the Cabinet that bans commercial surrogacy and allows only altruistic surrogacy, that too by close relatives. The draft bill bars gays, single persons and live in couples from opting for surrogacy. On the show, we ask: is the government playing nanny with a regressive bill? Is the bill protecting the rights of women, as government claims, or denies them freedom of choice? And isn't altruistic surrogacy another form of pressure on women?

On this special show, we get you in-depth ground reports from Kashmir which has been under curfew and has seen a prolonged period of violence. From different parts of the Valley, we bring you all sides of the complex Kashmir crisis to present a complete picture.

On We The People, we debate the new provisions of Bihar liquor ban. Has Nitish Kumar gone too far with his draconian measures to enforce prohibition law? Gujarat under BJP watch and Kerala under Congress watch have also imposed prohibition. Is prohibition really the answer to alcoholism? Doesn't it generate underground mafia of bootleggers? Is prohibition in the name of women really the answer to domestic violence? And hasn't the state overreached in much the same way as beef ban?

On We The People, we look at the 7th Pay Commission recommendations which puts police and forest service at par with IAS, leaving military out in the cold. How seriously should government pay attention to the disquiet within the military over pay disparities? Can it damage and rupture the larger military-civilian relationship? We also speak to chairman of the commission Justice AK Mathur.

On We The People, we debate: should trustees and board members of NGOs be asked to make assets public or is this a new clash between government and NGOs? Is the Lokpal being diluted by keeping the heat on NGOs instead of bureaucrats and politicians?

This week we saw shameful images of young Dalit men tied to the back of a car and beaten for skinning dead cows - a job that is not of their choosing. We also saw images of Dalit protesters who, in a statement of Dalit assertion, left the carcasses of dead cows outside government offices. Then there was politics with netas making a beeline for Una where the incident took place. If this was happening in Gujarat, in Uttar Pradesh an abusive neta was expelled from the BJP after he used derogatory language against Mayawati. BSP workers too resorted to abusive language with the wife of expelled BJP politician saying even her daughter was not spared. On We The People, we look at cow vigilantism and the rights of Dalits. Has beef politics emboldened the so-called cow vigilantes? Is PM Narendra Modi's silence emboldening them? And will Dalits rising be a gamechanger in upcoming UP elections?

On We The People, we discuss the selfie mania, how it has changed politics and culture, and what does it tell us about ourselves. Is it harmless fun or hazardous fad? Is the quest for perfect selfie pushing youngsters to go under the knife? And with shockers like Rajasthan Commission for Women member clicking selfie with a rape survivor, has the selfie craze taken insensitivity to a new level?

On The Kashmir Diaries, stories from north, south and across the breadth of the Kashmir Valley. From the volatile debate on the return of Kashmiri Pandits to the political storm over Sainik colonies. From the challenges of new militancy with educated youth picking up guns to the phenomenon of IAS toppers. We bring you special reports on what's happening on the ground in the Valley.

As two Cabinet colleagues - Maneka Gandhi and Prakash Javadekar - lock horns over animal culling, on We The People we ask: is mass killing of animals the answer to man-animal conflict? Are animals paying the price for encroachment by humans into their habitat? On the show, meet the man who literally has the license to kill - a Hyderabad-based shooter and his family who is asked by various state governments to shoot down animals.

On We The People, meet India's youngest single man to adopt a child. Aditya Tiwari is just 28 and has adopted a child with Down Syndrome. On the show, we look at the changing face of the great Indian family. Has the law kept pace with it? What are the struggles and challenges that single parents face? And how is technology changing the traditional family set up?