The Reality of Government Schools in India VS What the Right To Education Law Promises
Have you ever actually read the Right to Education Act? From schools and classrooms to teachers, drinking water, separate toilets, barrier-free access and proper infrastructure, the RTE Act lays down clear responsibilities for governments and local authorities. So when children are forced to study in poorly maintained classrooms, when multiple classes are taught by a single teacher, when schools lack basic facilities, or when teacher vacancies remain unfilled, we need to ask: Is this just poor governance—or is the government failing to fulfil obligations already written into law?
When the Supreme Court Ordered Compensation for Injured Protesters
Do you need police permission to protest in India? Can you protest anywhere you want? Can the government restrict a protest to a designated site? And how much force can the police legally use to disperse a gathering? India's Constitution protects the right to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly under Article 19. But that right is not absolute. From the Himat Lal Shah judgment of 1972, to the Ramlila Maidan incident of 201, the 2018 Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan (MKSS) case concerning Jantar Mantar, and the Shaheen Bagh judgment 2020, the Supreme Court has repeatedly had to balance the right to dissent with public order and the rights of other citizens. This video explains what these judgments actually say—and where the constitutional limits lie.
How Chile’s Students Brought Education Reforms | What Can CJP Learn?
Cockroach Janta Party decided to remain a pressure group and not form a political party. But there is one student movement in the world which led to educational reforms in the country. What can India's student movements learn from Chile’s student protest of 2011? In 2011, thousands of students across Chile took to the streets demanding major reforms in the country's education system. What started as a student protest grew into a massive national movement, forcing education to become a central political issue.
Christian Faith, Tribal Identity & Arunachal's Anti-Conversion Law
In this documentary, Newsreel Asia producer Harshita Rathore travels to Arunachal Pradesh to understand the decades-long debate surrounding the Arunachal Pradesh Freedom of Religion Act (AFRA), 1978. Through conversations with leaders from the Christian community and the Donyi Polo movement, she explores why the law was introduced, why it remained dormant for 46 years, and why its revival has sparked fresh protests after the Gauhati High Court's 2024 directive. The documentary also examines the history of religious conversion in Arunachal Pradesh, the revival of indigenous faiths like Donyi Polo, and the larger question of whether faith can ever be regulated by law.
This Telegram Bot is Selling Your Data | 68 Crore Indians Affected
A Telegram bot called Hiteckgroop is reportedly selling sensitive personal data of Indians, including Aadhaar, PAN, and passport details, addresses, family records, and location information, for as little as ₹2.50 per search using just a mobile number. The piece traces the data to earlier breaches (BigBasket, Alien Text Base, 1Win, and others) and opens with a case in Bihar where a family used the bot to locate a missing relative. It quotes several users of the bot (for tenant verification, marketing, and curiosity) and cybersecurity expert Rupesh Mittal, who links the tool to institutional data breaches and raises concerns about law-enforcement use without oversight. The article closes by invoking Shoshana Zuboff's surveillance capitalism framework, framing the bot as an illicit, vernacular version of the same data-extraction logic.
Why do people protest?
In this episode of WEE The People, we examine the history and importance of protests—from one of the earliest recorded workers’ strikes in ancient Egypt to the French Revolution, the labour movement, the struggle for universal voting rights and India’s freedom movement. We also explain how protests create change. By bringing people together, they make ignored problems visible, attract public attention, demonstrate collective strength and give people without money or institutional influence the power to negotiate with those in authority.
Is the Shift to E20 Petrol in India a Trade-Off?
India wants to reduce its dependence on imported oil. One of the biggest tools in that plan is already reaching our fuel tanks: ethanol blended petrol. Supporters say it can save billions in oil imports, strengthen energy security, support farmers, and make India less vulnerable to global oil shocks. Critics ask a different question: What happens to engines, water resources, agriculture, and long-term costs? As conflict and uncertainty continue to affect global energy markets—including in West Asia—the debate around fuel is becoming bigger than just petrol prices. In this video, we unpack the economics, science, and trade-offs behind India’s ethanol push.
Why Are People Migrating from Arunachal’s Border Villages?
More than 500 villages along Arunachal’s border areas have seen depopulation, with families leaving behind their ancestral homes, ways of life and cultures. With even the most basic facilities missing, many people say they had no option but to move in search of a better future for the next generation. But this migration — not by choice, but because of circumstance — has left deep wounds of neglect.
What Forced These Parents to Join Cockroach Janta Party Protest?
Thousands of protesters gathered at New Delhi’s Jantar Mantar, holding flowers and wearing cockroach masks, demanding the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and accountability for continued misgovernance in the conduct of examinations. Protesters said repeated failures in the examination system have pushed young people’s futures into uncertainty. At the centre of their grievances was the recent NEET paper leak which has caused widespread distress among aspirants and contributed to several student suicides.
The protest was called by the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), a newly emerged youth-led satirical movement that began online on social media and has now moved to street demonstrations. The movement was founded by Abhijeet Dipke, a U.S.-based Indian student and strategist, after India’s Chief Justice reportedly referred to critics as “cockroaches” and “parasites” during a court hearing. Dipke and his supporters turned the insult into a symbol of survival, resilience and defiance, arguing that young people may be dismissed or dehumanised, but cannot be erased.
We spoke to participants at the protest site, which included not just the Gen Z but also millennials and older people, to know their motivations for joining this movement.
Inside Arunachal’s Systemic Corruption
From buying votes with lakhs of rupees during elections to contractors allegedly paying massive commissions to secure government projects, corruption runs deep across Arunachal Pradesh. Because Arunachal Pradesh shares an international border with China, the central government allocates huge funds for infrastructure and development. But where does that money really go?
This documentary explores how corruption in Arunachal is no longer limited to politicians or officials alone — many believe it has evolved into an entire system involving power, money, contractors, voters, and institutions meant to ensure accountability.
He Was a Naxal. Here's Why He Quit.
In this interview, Newsreel Asia's producer Gunjan Handa speaks to a former Naxal who once lived under multiple identities — Asan, Asin, Anil, Rajaram — names that were all part of his life inside the movement. As the Indian government claims major success in its mission to end Naxalism, this conversation goes beyond the headlines and statistics to explore the people behind the conflict. Why do individuals join such movements? What does life inside these groups actually look like? And what happens after surrender? From ideology and survival to state operations and rehabilitation, this interview offers a rare glimpse into one of India’s longest-running internal conflicts through the eyes of someone who experienced it from within.