Truth Vs Hype

This week Truth vs Hype travels to India's grain bowl, where instead of bustle of harvest season there is concern over mounting debt, ruined crop, and even talk of suicides. The government says this is the right time to implement the findings of a controversial report which wants major changes in India's food distribution system. But others say that the report will only make food producers and consumers more vulnerable.

Three weeks ago, the Andhra Pradesh police gunned down 20 men, claiming they were part of a large violent mob who had cut down red sandalwood. But through exclusive interviews with key witnesses, and on ground, our investigation across two states, throws up deeply disturbing questions: Has one of India a newest states colluded with the sandalwood mafia to stage an execution? If true, it only underlines that once again it's those at the bottom of the ladder who are caught in the high stakes game of red sanders.

On January 6, Ramesh Khamankar, a cotton farmer in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district walked to his ruined fields and drank from a bottle of pesticide. He died a few hours later. The government found his death to be a genuine 'farmer suicide', meaning it was caused by rural distress and his family received a compensation of Rs 1 lakh. But as we found, to try and pin official responsibility for rural distress is a futile, Kafkaesque excercise. The Indian state falls back on a rehearsed litany: mounting debt, crop failure, erratic rainfall, rising input costs, climate change - reeling these factors off almost as if they are a cosmic malaise, and not the outcome of very specific policy decisions taken or not taken. In other words, no one killed Ramesh Khamankar.

26 years ago, on a tense, riot-hit afternoon in Meerut, a group of men were rounded up from Hashimpura mohalla, taken to the banks of a canal. 42 were shot dead, perhaps the single largest custodial killing in independent India. The disgrace was compounded when this week, a court in Delhi acquitted all the accused for lack of evidence. On Truth vs Hype, we investigate how justice was sabotaged in the Hashimpura massacre, and now investigating agencies and political regimes across the years were complicit.

In the course of a fortnight, two BJP-run states Maharashtra and Haryana toughened their anti-beef laws. This week, we take a hard look at the how these bans came into place, and the shifting goalposts used to justify them: one minute arguing that the slaughter of cattle will do serious damage to Indian agriculture, the next minute that even killing bullocks is offensive to Hindu sentiment, the third, that the ban will crack down on an illegal and thriving beef trade. Are these claims based on truth or hype?

The Modi government's Land Acquisition Bill is at a crucial juncture: its made it through the Lok Sabha, and now poised on a more challenging test in the Upper House. This week, we cut through the hyperbole that has marked the bill's political journey: were the amendments brought by the government to blunt criticism that the bill curtailed the rights of farmers substantial, or eyewash? How genuine were the consultations the ruling party with farmers groups? And more critically, will this bill end the crisis of land acquisition, and get the economy back on track, or was that claim exaggerated to begin with?

The Finance Minister leaves NREGA's budget untouched but the Prime Minister calls it a monument to the UPA's failure. With ground reportage and empirical research, we investigate what this ambiguity means for the flagship job guarantee scheme - is its future safe is it slowly being bled dry? And is the PM's characterisation of NREGA as a corrupt, inefficient, high spending project grounded in facts, or hyperbole?

This week, DG Vanzara, the Gujarat police officer who has spent eight years in jail for his alleged involvement in multiple encounters, walked out on bail. With Mr Vanzara's exit, virtually every one of Gujarat's police officers accused of a series of extrajudicial killings between 2004-2006, allegedly at the behest of their political master, will be outside the walls of prison. Some of them have even been promoted to senior positions in the police force. This has sparked accusations of quid pro quo, and has raised serious questions about what happens to the fight for justice when accused cops , not yet acquitted, are back in charge.

A record breaking victory by AAP, and a now a new AAP government. A remarkable turnaround from the wipeout in the Lok Sabha elections 8 months ago. This week on 'Truth vs Hype', we report on how Delhi was won and lost, and whether the new AAP 'sarkaar' will be able to keep the promises that some say powered it to victory.

In the last days of a close and bitterly fought election in India's capital, we see whether Arvind Kejriwal, as he keeps telling audiences, has changed. Has the anti-corruption crusader matured into an able politician or has his party become less rigid about its professed ideals? Has he evolved a more realistic vision for the city, or is it founded on reckless populism? Over the next 30 minutes, an inside look into the rebooted Kejriwal.

Kiran Bedi is the BJP's surprise weapon to neutralise the threat from Arvind Kejriwal. This week, we attempt to ask - whether the entry of the once celebrated police officer will re-energise the party, or will it intensify the turmoil in a faction-ridden Delhi BJP? Will her somewhat unpredictable personality come in the way of success, or will her Modi-style governance mantras strike a popular chord?

In Sri Lanka, unbelievably, the age of the Rajapaksas is over, bringing with it the promise of dramatic change. But the ghosts of the past still remain, as we uncover new details of the alleged attempt by Mahinda Rajapaksa to stage a midnight coup. But in exchange for a peaceful transition, did new President Maithripala Sirisena strike a secret deal with Rajapaska? How will Sirisena balance pressures from Sri Lanka's most powerful politicians who backed his victory, as well as ultranationalists from both sides? This week, exclusive interviews with the men who matter in the new Sri Lanka, which bring out the complex, exciting nature of the mandate.

There is an uneasy calm over insurgency-hit Manipur, which has completed a year - 2014 - with the lowest number of killings in clashes between security forces and militant groups. But the peace may be deceptive; it comes after a Supreme Court committee indicted armed forces for a series of fake encounters, leading the forces to disengage. But an informal ceasefire has not led to any movement towards justice for the victims of fake encounters. In fact, our investigation finds continuing attempts to bury the truth and obstruct justice at every level, often using the Armed Forces Special Powers Act. As long as there is no justice, peace in Manipur may be an illusion.

From groundbreaking reports from the war in Gaza, to the inner workings of the Modi campaign, to the myth of 'Love Jihad', we bring you the highlights of Truth vs Hype in an eventful year gone by.

In the week that it was decided to confer the Bharat Ratna on Atal Bihari Vajpayee, we take a closer look at one of India's most celebrated and fascinating political figures. Was Vajpayee, as some described him, a 'mask' to legitimise the excesses of his ideological parivaar or was he a moderating influence on Hindutva politics, earning the sobriquet of Nehru of the Right?

Political temperatures are on the rise, with Hindutva outfits announcing plan after plan to carry out religious conversions, or as they call it, 'homecoming'. This week, we ask - are these genuine 'conversions' of minorities wanting to join the Hindu fold, or staged attempts to garner publicity? Is this simply the handiwork of fringe groups, or does this have the backing of the BJP and the RSS? And are these 'conversion' events a valid reaction to claims of rampant conversions by minorities - especially Christian groups - or is the spectre of Hinduism under threat a dangerous red herring?

The rape of a young woman in a cab run by Uber has exposed the safety claims made by the new generation of taxi companies, raising the spectre of lack of safety for women in public transport. But while the government has been quick to ban Uber and taxi services like it, has it also failed to deliver on the promises made after December 16, of making Indian cities safe for women?

This week India is expected to tell a UN climate change conference in Peru the steps it has taken to ensure a greener future. But we investigate whether,in the guise of efficiency, the new government is systematically diluting environmental safeguards. And in doing so, is it perpetuating a process that had already begun in the last days of the UPA.

The proposed amendments to the Land Acquisition Act to make them less stringent have been justified citing shortage of land for industry. But a detailed investigation found that at least 45 % of land under the industrial development corporations of 5 major Indian states lies vacant. This week on Truth vs Hype- are the tensions around land acquisition the result of government's mismanagement of its resources?

The shadow of violence hung over West Bengal this week. In Burdwan, an hour north of Kolkata, an accidental explosion may have revealed the presence of Bangladesh-based Islamist militant groups, using Bengal to carry out strikes here or across the border. The shock revelation comes at the same time as a sharp escalation in clashes between the ruling Trinamool Congress and its newest political foe in the state in Birbhum. Both episodes are not unconnected, linked by deep misgivings about the Trinamool Congress' pandering to religious extremism and fostering a culture of political violence that poses not just a security risk, but also a risk to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee's political future.