India
Hitting the Boundary
As professional women’s cricket becomes popular in India, the absence of girls and women in the game’s more casual spaces raises the question of who it really belongs to. In the popular imagination, cricket is still a man’s game.
Rape Culture Decoded
As protests against the ghastly rape and murder of a doctor in Kolkata continue, they are helping to reveal the larger epidemic of rape in India that thrives on a culture that objectifies women’s bodies, laughs at rape jokes and normalizes rape threats on social media.
India’s Abortion Laws Offer Pregnant Women an Illusion of Choice
After the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, India’s top court moved to further protect access to safe and legal abortion. But recent court cases have revealed the legal and bureaucratic hurdles that limit the right to choose.
Hindu Nationalism Has Found New Allies in Bollywood
Hard-line Hindu nationalists have found allies in the Hindi film industry, where vilifying Muslims and Islam, as well as antagonizing Pakistan, is the norm. Meanwhile, the small group of filmmakers who dare to criticize the Modi regime operates in a culture of self-censorship.
Extrajudicial Killings May Be Frequent in India’s Most Populous State
New Lines investigated 10 cases of police shootouts — including some that resulted in deaths — in Uttar Pradesh, India, examining more than 2,000 documents obtained under the Right to Information (RTI) law, which revealed discrepancies between the police versions and forensic and scientific evidence, raising troubling questions about whether the killings were extrajudicial.
AI and Deepfakes Played a Big Role in India’s Elections
Indian politicians made use of AI during the recent elections in various ways. While it opened new doors for reaching out to voters, it also raised concerns about misinformation and the misuse of deepfake technology.
Indian Films Are Showing the Realities of Life for the Country’s Housewives
A number of Bollywood movies in the last decade have exposed the daily grind of Indian housewives and compelled viewers to understand the patriarchal structure of the country's households, which burdens women, ignores their needs and undermines their work.