- 7 months ago
In this edition of India First, the focus is on escalating protests in Iran, where anti-government protests have reportedly led to significant casualties and the issuance of an execution order for Irfan Soltani amid a crackdown by the Ayatollah Khamenei regime.
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00:00Blood on streets in Iran, 2,000 plus dead.
00:18Crackdown on execution order issued.
00:25Trump to protesters, help on its way.
00:30Moscow rejects blackmailing bit.
00:36Iran warns, ready for any attack.
00:41Iran warns, US-Russia face-off escalates.
00:45That is a big focus on India first.
00:53Good evening.
00:54More than 2,000 people have been killed in the current Iran protests.
00:58US President Donald Trump has assured the protesters in Iran help is on its way.
01:05But in what form?
01:06Will it be airstrikes, will it be military strikes, missile strikes?
01:09Are Arab countries on board?
01:11Because Russia has already warned the US against the repeat of the 2025 scenario when Israel and the US together bombed Iran.
01:19Russia has said there will be massive consequences.
01:23But are attacks on Iran imminent?
01:27That's our top focus story.
01:29I'm Gaurav Savan.
01:30As always, let's get started with the headlines on India first.
01:34ED versus Didi courtroom drama.
01:42Now in Bengal, Calcutta High Court disposes of TMC plea after ED says it hasn't seized anything during IPAC raids.
01:49Now action shifts to the Supreme Court, SC to hear ED's plea against TMC tomorrow.
02:01It's raining freebies in Tamil Nadu on Pongal.
02:04Netas across party lines distribute freebies on the occasion of Pongal.
02:08Prime Minister Narendra Modi extends Pongal greetings to the people of Tamil Nadu hailing the culture and tradition of Tamil Nadu.
02:19Inia Pongal, Nalwa Aakadakto Kala, Valga Tamil, Valga Bhartam.
02:34Justice Yashwant Verma remains defiant, opposes impeachment and his reply to the parliamentary panel says he cannot be blamed for the failure of the police and officials to secure the site where money was found.
02:51Separatist leader Dukhtarane Millat chief Asya Andharavi convicted under UAPA by a Delhi court.
03:04NIA had charged Andharavi with waging war against India through her hate speeches.
03:11Quantum and sentence to be declared on the 17th of January.
03:15Trump family's cryptocurrency venture enters into an agreement with Pakistan.
03:27Trump family-owned WLF will work with Pakistan's central bank to integrate the stablecoin into regulated digital payment system.
03:37Is the United States now getting up to bomb Iran?
03:51U.S. President Donald Trump assured patriots in Iran, as he put it, that help was on its way.
03:57He's warned the regime there will be consequences.
04:00Iran has hit back saying the United States is trying to destabilize Iran.
04:05There are reports saying that Iran has also warned countries hosting U.S. bases they could once again be in the line of fire should the U.S. attack.
04:14And Qatar that was bombed last time is already calling for de-escalation and dialogue for stability.
04:19Russia too has warned against any regime change.
04:23The images that you see, the graphic that you see on your television screen, it's the U.S. bases in West Asia.
04:30And Iran is indicating U.S. troops and U.S. assets at all these bases would be fair game if the U.S. were to bomb Iran.
04:44Iran is burning.
04:58Streets are on fire.
05:03Protests escalating across Iran against the Ayatollah Khamenei regime.
05:11The Iranian government admits 2,000 people have been killed since violent protests began last week.
05:18Human rights bodies claim the toll is much higher.
05:24The crackdown is intensifying.
05:26An execution order has been issued amid demonstrations.
05:3226-year-old protester Irfan Soltani is sentenced to death after being arrested on January 8th.
05:39No trial was held. Soltani was not allowed any legal representation.
05:46This is the first execution order linked to the latest wave of protests.
05:50Over 12,000 innocent lives were killed by the regime.
06:00I have some unconfirmed reform and estimate that the number is around 24,000 people.
06:07This is a massacre. This is a genocide.
06:11U.S. President Donald Trump has openly supported the protesters, assuring them health.
06:20To all Iranian patriots, keep protesting. Take over your institutions if possible.
06:28And save the name of the killers and the abusers that are abusing you.
06:32I say, make Iran great again. You know, it's a great country until these monsters came in and took it over.
06:38Trump has issued a stern warning to the communist regime and demanded the release of all political prisoners.
06:49The U.S. State Department warns against global silence.
06:52Says the execution could set a dangerous precedent.
06:57Reports now claim that White House envoy Steve Witkoff secretly met exiled Iranian crown prince Reza Pahlavi over the weekend.
07:06Pahlavi on his part has appealed to Iran military to revolt.
07:10The U.S. State Department said that they are at the highest level of readiness and are ready for any attack.
07:35Adding that Iran's missile stipules has increased since June.
07:39Meanwhile, Russia has slammed U.S. actions warning against American interference in Iran's internal political matters.
07:51With Trump backing the protests and Putin backing Tehran, Iran risks becoming a U.S.-Russia flashpoint.
08:03For now, as Iran burns, the world is watching.
08:06With Pranayopad and Geeta Bhatt, Bureau Report, India Today.
08:09So the world is watching what's happening in Iran and there are analysts who argue that it was easier for President Donald Trump
08:20to abduct the Venezuelan president to abduct the Venezuelan president, Nicolas Maduro, describing him as a dictator.
08:25He did rule but not through ideology.
08:28Iran under Ayatollah Ali Khamenei now and Ayatollah Khomeini earlier is a theocracy different from a dictatorship where an ideology, a religious ideology governs.
08:40Now, this religious leadership that's been in power since the 1979 revolution in Iran, the supreme leader, the Ayatollah, the Ayatollah holds ultimate political and religious authority.
08:54Theocratic states like Iran derive legitimacy from religion.
08:59Iran, for example, is a Shia Muslim country.
09:01It's invoked religion-based laws to suppress any kind of dissent in the past.
09:07In a dictatorship, the authority may or may not seek or command religious backing to remain in power.
09:15There's a strong leader, there's a clique around him, but religion plays a role in a theocracy.
09:21In Iran, there were attempts made in the past and several attempts were made in the past.
09:25For example, 1981-82, 2009-2017-18 protests, 2020 protests, 2022 protests, including that Mahasa Amini protests for a regime change.
09:37But invoking religion, a large number of people took to the streets in support of the regime against people who wanted a change of regime.
09:47Is 2026 any different?
09:50Remember, in Venezuela, an autocratic state, the power was locked with Nicolas Maduro.
09:57His rule was driven by force and fear.
10:01But in Iran, which is a theocracy, Ayatollah Khamenei's rule is justified in the name of religion.
10:08Faith and politics are completely fused, quite different from a dictatorship.
10:13In Iran, religious doctrine has become the state law and dissent is branded as going against religion.
10:22Let me now throw it open for a wider conversation on how easy or how difficult would Iran be for President Trump?
10:31Joining me on this special broadcast, Roxana Chagini is an Iranian cultural analyst and advocate for democratic transition.
10:39Joins us on this broadcast, welcome.
10:42Azita Shafazand is an Iranian analyst.
10:45Ambassador Anil Trigunayat is former ambassador to Jordan, Libya and Malta.
10:49Richard Painter is a professor at the University of Minnesota.
10:52Also with me for a wider analysis on the region and what's happening there is Dr.
10:57Vail Awad, a very senior political analyst and international affairs correspondent.
11:01Azita Shafazand, if I may, reports indicate protesters could now be executed.
11:08Iran is hitting back at the United States saying this is political interference by the US.
11:14Does the regime remain extremely strong when the exiled prince of Iran asks the army to revolt and join the protesters?
11:26How likely is that to happen?
11:29Good morning to everyone.
11:31I'm in Washington DC.
11:34You ask me many questions.
11:40First, when I want to address it actually you should show the footage of the Monday demonstration all over the country for Iran.
11:51So there is many millions of the people came to the street to support the Iranian government and security of the Iran and for the Iran, for the border of Iran to keep the border.
12:03As a matter of fact, I was listening to your news. You have separatists in your country, India, which is we have many separatists in Iran, which is they got involved in the past week, which is supported by Israeli and American.
12:25We have a Kurdish separatists, which is terrorist group, which is Komele, Pajak. They get very involved.
12:35And as far as I don't want to go more to detail, I can go more to detail. But as far as the Reza Pahlavi in many, if you look at it and search in many occasion, he said he doesn't want to go to Iran.
12:51He doesn't want to go. He he's live in America for 40 years. He has his friend, his family here before he was talking about the telecommunication, video communication to support the Iranian.
13:07And even after so-called, they are talking about regime change, government change. So he can just give the idea, which from the telecommunication.
13:22And that's a very interesting point.
13:23Recently, he said, give me a moment. Give me a moment. Let me bring in Roksana also joining me.
13:30You know, fellow Iranian, again, currently in exile. Roksana Chagini, more than 2000 Iranians are reported to have been killed.
13:40There are apprehensions that execution of protesters may start soon. What are you picking up about the current situation on ground?
13:46I hear that the situation is getting bigger and out of control. It's not the first time that they are killing thousands of people is that they are killing people for 70, 47 years.
14:03But now people didn't stop. People are not afraid anymore. People are not leaving the street and they are not going to stop until they get to the next level.
14:15Yes, the situation I hear from Iran, more than 30 cities, there are bigger demonstrations. People found a way to get connected together.
14:26Professor Penta, when President Trump writes, help is on its way. Help in your appreciation in the form of more sanctions or is the U.S. preparing to bomb Iran?
14:38But given what's happening all around in West Asia, how easy or difficult would it be for America to bomb Iran now?
14:46I have no idea what President Trump is thinking of doing in Iran. Iran is a horrible dictatorship, that's for sure.
14:55But the question is whether American intervention is going to help the situation or rather make it worse.
15:02Iran had an elected democracy in 1953 and CIA agent Kermit Roosevelt Jr., the grandson of President Teddy Roosevelt,
15:15has concocted a plan to overthrow a democratically elected government in 1953 in Iran to install the Shah of Iran,
15:23who was a dictator himself, a very, very horrific regime there that was then replaced in 1979 by the Islamic Republic,
15:34which has also been a horrific regime oppressing its own people and supporting terrorism around the world.
15:41But the point is, the reason why Iran is not a democracy today is in part due to Kermit Roosevelt's scheme back in 1953
15:50that he sold to the incoming Eisenhower administration.
15:54Over and over again, we've learned that United States intervention in other countries, regime change plans concocted by armchair theorists in Washington, D.C.,
16:03don't work and backfire.
16:06We've tried it in Latin America many, many times, going back to Teddy Roosevelt's administration,
16:12and most recently with the intervention in Venezuela by President Trump.
16:16This doesn't work, and it just generates a lot of animosity toward the United States around the world.
16:22So we all should support democracy.
16:24So is that why, perhaps, is he hesitating?
16:27Will he still go ahead is the question that we are trying to pursue here.
16:30Dr. Vail Awad, Iran has already warned countries hosting U.S. bases in the region that they could be in the line of fire like last time,
16:38like Qatar was last time, and Qatar is already seeking de-escalation and dialogue.
16:44Does that weaken the U.S. position in your view?
16:47Are Arab states and those who are hosting U.S. bases, are they not on the same page as the United States?
16:56Absolutely not.
16:57I think Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Oman have been trying diplomatically to ease the tension
17:03and urging the United States not to go for any military adventure in Iran,
17:08because this time the Iranian is very adamant that if any attack by the American,
17:12their military bases in the GCC will be a legitimate target for the Iranian government.
17:17So therefore, it will be shifting from Iran, United States,
17:21it will be attacking the regional security arrangement in the region,
17:26and that will be a wider regional war.
17:28So Israel and the United States definitely are on the verge of attacking Iran either tonight or tomorrow.
17:34But will the United States sending economical help or lifting the sanction on Iran to ease the pressure on the Iranian,
17:40or they are going to send guns and bombs that they have done in Gaza like the Israelis?
17:44So I don't think any Iranian having sensible thinking that he wanted to see the American bombing their own citizen,
17:51brother and sister in the country, and the United States does not bring democracy.
17:55They have already toppled democracy in Iran.
17:57They brought the Shah of Iran.
17:59Then the Islamic revolution has come.
18:02They've become an anti-American, anti-Israelis,
18:04with the American felt that this is an anti-Iranian regime, and they wanted to replace the regime.
18:10So now, vocally, Gaurav, the Americans publicly are open with the Israelis, saying that it's a regime change.
18:17They wanted to change the regime.
18:19It's nothing to do with the Iranian people.
18:21The Iranian people have the full right to demonstrate.
18:24It is the wider demonstration in the history of Iranian revolution ever since 2009, 2019, 2022.
18:31But they have already, because of the economic situation, can this economic uprising or revolt change into a political revolt?
18:40I doubt it about it.
18:42You don't think that will happen.
18:43And Ambassador Trigunyat, now that Russia has waded into this, you know, controversy,
18:50Russia has warned the U.S. of consequences if they were to bomb Iran like last time,
18:55how do you read the Russian statement?
18:58Is this just a regular statement that's been made?
19:01Or will Russia back Iran to the hilt and how?
19:06You see, in the region, after Russia's lost Syria,
19:10Iran is the only country with which they have very close relationship.
19:13And they have recently signed a mutual defense security agreement.
19:17In recent times also, they have been supplying various helicopters, attack helicopters, missiles.
19:23And even S-400 has been activated.
19:26So as far as the security of Iran is concerned, to the extent that the Russians can help, they will help.
19:32And it's not only Russia.
19:33It is Russia and China both together.
19:35Because this is the kind of a grouping that has evolved over time now.
19:40And frankly, I mean, how do you justify that if in a country there are legitimate protests
19:47on account of the bad economic condition that in a third country says that you can't handle your protests?
19:55But let them burn the place.
19:57But you cannot control them.
19:58I mean, what kind of a law it is.
20:01Just because you are the most powerful country doesn't mean that you are going to dictate to everyone in the world like this.
20:07That you pick up people and mid-rights.
20:09What can Russia and China do in case the U.S. were to bomb Iran like they did last time with Israel?
20:15What are their options?
20:17You see, it is forget about Russia.
20:19I mean, I must say that the most important thing, Iranians are not going anywhere.
20:23They are flush with missiles and all.
20:25And all these missiles will start going around all over.
20:28And so your Middle East will be in flames if that happens.
20:31And that has been the biggest problem for everyone, including India.
20:34The energy security will be in danger.
20:37Your people, 9.5 million people, will be in danger once it starts happening.
20:41And nobody can control that.
20:42So why did it happen last year?
20:44Why would it happen this year?
20:46Because last year what happened was a managed affair.
20:49Because when they, just to avert the Israeli intervention,
20:53the Americans, just to please them, brought in their aircrafts and just hit some,
20:57and allowed the Qataris, the Iranians to hit their base in Qatar after vacating it.
21:03It was a managed affair, like the previously an exchange between the Iran and Israel also,
21:08of volleys and this.
21:09So it happened.
21:10But this time it's different.
21:11But this time there is an internal dissent, which has been created and being perpetrated by that.
21:16Of course, the regime is responsible.
21:19Shafazan once again, because the UN has warned Iran against executing demonstrators and protesters.
21:25US had earlier said it will intervene if a single demonstrator was harmed or worked to that effect.
21:30Now more than 2,000 have been killed.
21:34Why do you think the US is not intervening?
21:37Is it, are you of the opinion that Iran, as the ambassador was saying,
21:41has a large number of missiles and those missiles will start flying all over West Asia this time?
21:47That's part of it.
21:48I think if, as we saw in the past many years, if US wants to hop, they have to remove the sanction.
21:59And they are tightening the sanction.
22:02As a matter of fact, the aim of the sanction to bring unrest because of the economy situation in Iran.
22:08So the people come to the street, which happened.
22:12But after a few days, after a peaceful uprising, I mean, demonstration in Iran,
22:19then we know, as Mr. Pompost said, as the Jerusalem Post said, as Hared said,
22:28that Mossad agent inside Iran.
22:32And this is the continuation of the June war, which happened between Iran, US, and Israel.
22:42So since then, actually, if you notice, Netanyahu keeps saying, we are going, we want missiles.
22:49We want Iran not have any missiles.
22:53And their agenda is to separating Iran in five pieces, five small countries.
23:00And that's the agenda.
23:02I mean, they are dismantling all these democracies they brought with the bomb.
23:07You cannot bring democracy with a bombing country.
23:11What happened to Iraq?
23:12What happened to Afghanistan?
23:14What happened to Libya?
23:15But that's a big point you're making.
23:16You say that the wider US strategy is to split Iran into five different countries.
23:21Roxana Chagheny, Donald Trump is assuring the protesters, as the patriots of Iran, as he puts it,
23:26that help is on its way.
23:27But so far, it seems only sanctions have been imposed.
23:31Will sanctions deter the regime, in your view?
23:34Because apparently, there will be some execution of protesters starting later, either tonight or tomorrow.
23:43Any action, it helps people.
23:46Every action is a positive action.
23:49President Trump, we know him.
23:51He plays poker.
23:55He deals with people.
23:57He makes it difficult.
23:59And he wants to get the best deal.
24:01And I don't think it's easy for him to make a military action or send people so easy,
24:06because so many countries are involved.
24:08For example, Saudi Arabia, European countries, Emirates, India, China, Russia.
24:17There are so many countries that they are not happy if sudden change happens.
24:23But, you know, it's going to happen.
24:25Iran has warned countries in the Gulf region, those who are hosting U.S. bases, that they will be a legitimate target if Iran is attacked.
24:40Now, amidst this escalating tension, Iran has warned its neighbors, it will target U.S. bases if American forces target Iran.
24:49Now, reports from Tehran say Iran has warned its neighbors.
24:53It's warned Qatar.
24:54It's cautioned other neighbors, including some reports seem to indicate they've cautioned Saudi Arabia.
25:00They've cautioned Kuwait and also Iraq.
25:05They've said neighbors hosting U.S. troops, American bases will be a legitimate target.
25:11The reports cite U.S. officials who claim some personnel at these bases, and especially those at the Al-Udeh base in Qatar,
25:18they've been advised to leave the U.S. air base, Al-Udeh in Qatar, as Iran had targeted last time.
25:25Many had argued that time that there was a planned attack.
25:28This time, what we are being told is there will be a massive retaliation.
25:32At least that is what Iran claims.
25:34Qatar has issued a statement.
25:36Now, they've issued a formal statement after the meeting with Iran.
25:39And they say measures must be undertaken to respond to the current regional tension.
25:45They want a wider discussion.
25:47Qatar has reaffirmed they will continue to implement measures to safeguard the safety and security of their citizens,
25:54including actions related to protection of critical military facilities.
25:58But they've also sought dialogue.
26:00And I want to bring in Professor Painter on this.
26:05Sir, do you think there will be a massive escalation?
26:09Should there be strikes?
26:10Is dialogue still a way forward from this point?
26:13And is it more difficult?
26:15Why is Iran more difficult than Venezuela, in your view?
26:18A dictatorship versus a theocracy, sir?
26:20Well, the United States getting itself involved militarily in Iran, I think, almost certainly will lead to disaster.
26:30It will lead to a lot of the Iranian people to support the government in Iran, which is a dictatorship, a horrible dictatorship.
26:38But for the United States to intervene militarily in violation of international law, for the president of the United States to do that,
26:45without the consent of the United States Congress, also in violation of the United States law,
26:50is going to create a situation where the mullahs are running around.
26:54The dictators are then going to become the heroes in standing up against American aggression.
26:59This is not the way we ought to pursue this.
27:01This is the same mistake, as I said, we made over and over again throughout the world,
27:06going back to Kermit Roosevelt's 1953 coup, orchestrated coup to install the Shah of Iran,
27:12which led to great deal bitterness against the United States.
27:15We really can't play into this great Satan rhetoric of the Iranian government by going and bombing Iran.
27:25That's an interesting point to make, Professor.
27:27In case the U.S. were to bomb Iran, the Ayatollah would become even stronger because they're standing up to the Americans.
27:35Dr. Vail Awad, is that also your reading?
27:38Iran is a theocracy.
27:39Is the regime more rooted in power in the entire system compared to, for example, Maduro in Venezuela?
27:48Will Iran be far more difficult for America than abducting just Maduro from Venezuela?
27:53Gaurav, the Americans are not doing the American interest in the region.
27:58It is on behalf of the Israeli government which wanted to disintegrate the whole region into small countries
28:04that can have the hegemony and create a greater Israel.
28:07Remember this, when he went to Netanyahu, went to President Trump, he told him,
28:11when we start bombing Iran, we will immediately get the regime changed.
28:15And they did it for 12 days, and they realized they were begging for the ceasefire.
28:19Now this is happening as a continuation of the American and Israeli attack on the Iranians in a different way.
28:25And any kind of adventure taken by the American or the Israelis,
28:29definitely they will have this time a very ferocious kind of reply from the Iranians.
28:35Iranians do not like any foreign intervention.
28:38I am for an Iranian resolution.
28:40I am for the Iranians, for the Iranians to solve their problem, not a foreign intervention.
28:45The United States had a covert operation all over the world,
28:48and Richard mentioned very strongly about the Mossadegh when he was doubled by MI6 and the CIA and the Mossad,
28:56and they brought the Shah of Iran.
28:57The Shah of Iran have no background and no support inside Iran, by the way, no popularity.
29:03So any military action as a pretext to destroy Iran is a clear indication that the United States is not after the Iranian regime,
29:13it's more after the Indian technology, the ballistic missile technology, and their nuclear, and their scientists.
29:20Okay.
29:21Ambassador Trigunayat, when you see the reaction of the Arab world, when you see Russia's reaction,
29:27what is your reading?
29:28What's the U.S. planning to do?
29:30Will they go ahead and bomb now that President Trump has said they are locked and loaded?
29:34Or do they realize if they go in, there is no quick in, quick out?
29:39This could be like another Russia-Ukraine war that's on for four years,
29:42and there are lives that are going to be lost across the region.
29:46See, Gaurav, if I was advising President Trump, I'll tell him to let it be.
29:51Because the Iranian people are also quite fed up.
29:54They are also suffering a great deal.
29:56And if the Iranian regime makes a mistake of hanging these protesters, they will be writing their death wish.
30:03This will not stop there.
30:04We have seen what happened in the Arab Spring.
30:06It will happen again here.
30:08But the moment there is a foreign interference, you see the countries, Iranians are civilizational people.
30:15For them, the country, the identity is first, and the difference is later.
30:18There might be certain people living outside Iran who might be feeling comforted by this.
30:23But you never know.
30:25I mean, tomorrow when it comes to a country, we have seen they all come together.
30:28So I think that that will be the biggest mistake he will make now for whatever reason,
30:32whether it is on behalf of Israel.
30:35Israel definitely will be unhappy if President Trump doesn't take any action.
30:39Okay.
30:39Azita Shafazand, in your appreciation, why have past movements not succeeded against the regime?
30:47Is this one any different?
30:50Or is the regime very well entrenched because it's a theocratic state?
30:54Well, I believe because I'm traveling to Iran more often, actually, right now.
31:02And it's not as there are the propaganda outside is actually some of the reporter was in Iran six
31:10months ago, and they realize there is very high technology there.
31:15There is a people, you know, although we are under the sanction, but there is so many goods
31:21available in Iran.
31:23They can get it easy.
31:24As a matter of fact, because of the the economical sanction is putting very hardship for the
31:34people.
31:35So I am against any military action because this is satisfied Nestor Netanyahu and Israel.
31:44This is following agenda of Israel in the region, in the West Asia.
31:49And I hope will Arab states stand up for Iran or will the Persian-Arab rivalry, you know,
31:58prevent any of the Arab states from supporting Iran now?
32:02It doesn't matter they are supporting or not.
32:05We know they are under influence of United States and Israel.
32:09But at the same time, we have to understand Iran is very strong in military.
32:16Iran is not Syria or Libya.
32:19Iran is not Iraq or Afghanistan.
32:22I don't want a World War Three starting.
32:25That's why I'm against any military action.
32:28Remove the sanction.
32:30If you want to help the Iranian people.
32:32Rukhsana Chagini in the last one minute I have on this part of the show.
32:36Rukhsana, Qatar is seeking de-escalation.
32:39Arab countries didn't support Iran last time either.
32:42They don't appear to be backing the US-backed military action, it seems, this time.
32:47Or are there more layers to this?
32:50I think nobody can guess what happens if something happens.
33:01We cannot guess.
33:02There is no guarantee.
33:03There is no security.
33:06They ask Reza Pahlavi, what is your plan?
33:09What happened?
33:10I think now the situation is out of control for the government.
33:15And also the world doesn't know how to act now.
33:18I think President Trump should take an action.
33:23Regardless of what we know.
33:25And then everything is going to be falling on their place.
33:30Whatever happens, Iran is not going to get in war with everybody or just cancel all the contracts.
33:36We'll be tracking developments on that story very closely.
33:39Massive protests in London.
33:41The Sikh community.
33:43They came out on the streets over a horrifying grooming gang case involving a minor Sikh girl.
33:51So what we're told was, is that a 15-year-old girl, she was allegedly abducted, held captive in a suburban flat.
33:58And apparently, repeatedly gang raped over several days by a group that has been described as a grooming gang.
34:06Now, the girl has since been rescued after between 200 and 300 Sikh men.
34:13They came out of their homes as one community, as one people.
34:17And they surrounded this house.
34:19They called in the police.
34:20But they surrounded the house.
34:22Watch those images.
34:24Watch those images.
34:25They had loud hailers.
34:27They alleged police inaction.
34:29When their complaints were ignored.
34:30Claims that crimes against Sikh girls was going unchecked for years.
34:36Sikh boys and girls were being groomed by this grooming gang.
34:40The Sikh community is demanding justice and stricter action against grooming gangs.
34:45Khalistani groups, incidentally, for some reason, are silent.
34:49Why are they so dependent on the Pakistani ecosystem that they dare not speak, even if their own children are involved here?
34:58We get you more on this report.
35:00Outrage erupts in West London.
35:15A horrifying crime.
35:17A community on the streets demanding justice.
35:21A 15-year-old Sikh girl allegedly snatched from the streets.
35:27Imprisoned in a suburban flat.
35:30And subjected to repeated gang rape over days.
35:33Up to six accused.
35:35Described as a grooming gang.
35:37Using deception and coercion.
35:40To exploit the minor.
35:41Two hundred to three hundred members of the Sikh community gathered outside the accused's residence.
35:51The girl was eventually rescued.
35:54But the anger remains.
35:57Protesters are making serious allegations.
36:00They say police turned a blind eye.
36:02Every single member that's been living here in this block of flats.
36:09And there's probably about 20 families here.
36:12Every single family has reported this to the police.
36:15The police have been having numerous calls regarding this for a very, very long time now.
36:21Nothing's been done about this.
36:22Four or five neighbours in there.
36:24He's been going on for nine years.
36:26He's been bringing young children.
36:29Not just for this, the first one.
36:31He's been going on for nine years.
36:33Young girls.
36:34No more.
36:34Young boys.
36:35Going in and out of that flat.
36:38He's been raised for drugs.
36:40We can't let this carry on.
36:42Not in our communities.
36:43Not in any community.
36:44We stand together united.
36:46A child rescued.
36:49A community shaken.
36:51But the question on who will check the horror of grooming gang remains unanswered.
36:56We go for it!
36:58We go for it!
37:00Bureau Report, India Today.
37:01Go lay sonia!
37:05Sonia!
37:10Joining me now for more on this big story is Harmeet Shah Singh from London.
37:15Anisha Mathur is my colleague who covers legal issues.
37:18She joins me in our studio.
37:21Harmeet, 200 plus young Sikhs took to the streets of London.
37:26Can you give us details?
37:28Why did they have to take to the streets?
37:31This happened, Goro, because this was the last straw on the back of the Sikhs.
37:38This is not an isolated incident at all.
37:42It's part of a project called Turning Cores into Khans.
37:48And this has been happening for the past two and a half decades or so.
37:54And there are allegations of police in action.
37:57Because it's also seen as, you know, in the realm of the law, it's seen as something which may provoke a racist accusation.
38:07But that's not the case.
38:09So far as the Sikh girls are concerned, there are grooming gangs.
38:13And the members of these gangs are from Islamic background.
38:17And that's the harsh reality.
38:19And most of them come from Pakistan.
38:22That's again another harsh reality.
38:24Or Afghanistan.
38:26So, this incident...
38:26Stay with me for a moment.
38:28Stay with me for a moment.
38:29This is very disturbing.
38:31Picking up girls as young as 11, 12 and 13.
38:34And giving them drugs.
38:36And then raping them.
38:37Repeatedly raping and peddling them subsequently.
38:40Anisha, you've been looking at reports in the UK.
38:44How grave is the situation of these grooming gangs?
38:47What more can you tell us?
38:48Well, Gaurav, there are official reports, official numbers that have been looking at these kind of child sexual exploitation group, sexual assault of children.
39:00And the last and the most important one right now for us is the report by Baroness Casey, which was tabled in the UK Parliament.
39:07This is an official report which looked at the hundreds of cases across several years where convictions have actually happened.
39:19And what they've said is that there is a disproportionate number of men of Asian ethnic backgrounds.
39:25Disproportionate number of men also belonging to Pakistani backgrounds.
39:30What is also interesting, Gaurav, is this debate that happened in the UK Parliament in December.
39:35Just a few days ago, in fact.
39:37Where the Home Secretary announced that there will be a national inquiry into the ethnic background of the perpetrators of this child sexual abuse crime.
39:47Because the UK has recognized over decades that there have been such grooming gangs that have been operating.
39:54There have been multiple reports since 2009 in the UK, Gaurav.
39:58Where such cases have happened where young girls are pulled into what is shown initially as a romantic relationship.
40:09Then they are given drugs, they are often beaten, they are horrifically exploited.
40:15Several of these cases also showing that they've been sent off to different people to be exploited, to be raped again and again.
40:24And it is a horrifying situation that has happened over decades in the UK.
40:30And finally, since last year, we see that this has also come in for a reckoning as the UK government is talking about changing laws.
40:40They are talking about looking into ethnic backgrounds.
40:43And as Harmeet was saying, for a very long time, this has become a political hot potato because people were not willing to look into the ethnicities of the perpetrators for fear of racial profiling.
40:58And this is something we've been looking at, Gaurav, the reports that I'm looking at for the last several years, whether it is in the parliament or in the news, the politics over racial profiling, the politics over fears that there are a particular religion or a particular ethnic background may be profiled.
41:20And that we've seen reports coming in where victims have come out in the open to say that their case was being ignored or they were being called prostitutes because the authorities did not want to make it look like they are ethnically profiling the perpetrators.
41:37This is something that is very, very serious, Gaurav.
41:39How?
41:40It just defies logic.
41:42You know, Harmeet, you were mentioning this K2K project, Kaur to Khan.
41:49This almost sounds like, you know, what is described often in India and legally as love jihad.
41:56What is this Kaur to Khan project?
42:00Well, this Kaur to Khan project, as it is called here, there is a very well-heeled kind of a modus here in which, you know, the young girls are approached.
42:12By people of Islamic background, in this case, there is, the man comes from, allegedly comes from Afghanistan, but in most cases, there are Pakistani people because they speak Punjabi.
42:26They would socialize with sick girls wearing a kada.
42:30So that's something which will, you know, strike a chord.
42:33For example, if someone's original name is Salim, he'll say that his name is Satindar.
42:40So that will strike the conversation and that goes on and on.
42:44And then, the next part of this modus is that these girls are groomed for various activities.
42:52One of them being to serve as, these are, of course, you know, there are written complaints about it, that to serve as second or third wife of these men back in Pakistan.
43:04Or to act as the, you know, I mean, to go there for sex holidays in Dubai.
43:11No, but explain this to me.
43:12And also...
43:13The Sikh community in Hounslow, and I'm so glad they came together as a community to protect one daughter.
43:20And perhaps, you know, if the system fails them, people have to come together to protect your family, to protect your loved ones.
43:28That's very clear.
43:29But tell me about Sikhs in India.
43:31You know, a large Sikh community lives in India.
43:35Have they raised this issue?
43:37Is this issue being raised?
43:38Is this a one-off?
43:39Or is this like a much, much wider problem?
43:45Definitely, it's not a one-off issue, as I mentioned earlier.
43:48So, this issue dates back to a couple of decades.
43:53The unfortunate part in our country, in India, is that, you know, there are certain vocal voices.
44:00There are people who are very vocal, who now, you know, dominate social media.
44:04They somehow act as proponents of this imagined bonhomie between the two Punjabs, the Indian Punjab and the Pakistani Punjab.
44:13And they actually brush aside anything which involves the perpetrators from Pakistani Punjab or, you know, from Islamic background.
44:26But that's very unfortunate.
44:28This shows the kind of double register that does exist in our society.
44:35Because the Pakistanis are very clear.
44:38And Anisha, you've been looking at these reports.
44:40Have these reports seem to, do they seem to indicate majority of the perpetrators?
44:44And I'm not talking about the accused.
44:46The convicts are all Pakistanis, either second generation or first generation Pakistanis?
44:52Well, Gaurav, let me take you through some of these reports.
44:55The Rotherham incident, where almost 1,200 victims are, there is allegation that there were about 1,200 victims.
45:05What the report says is majority of the perpetrators are from Pakistani background.
45:13We see the 2015 Birmingham report, 75 grooming suspects were analyzed.
45:1962% of those are Pakistani, 12% are white.
45:22500 victims in this Birmingham report.
45:26We've seen these reports coming in also.
45:30Between 1989 to 1995, what we're seeing is also, sorry, 2010, 11 men convicted in Derbyshire.
45:4210 were Pakistani out of these 11 convicted.
45:4426 victims.
45:462011, we see a detailed expose by the Times in UK, by Andrew Norfolk, highlighting the number of prosecutions with Pakistani ethnicity.
46:00The persons, perpetrators of Pakistani ethnicity.
46:03We'll be tracking that story, I will come back to you for more.
46:05This is really, really disturbing.
46:07But so happy, so happy to see the community come together and protect one of their own.
46:13Perhaps a lot more is needed and a lot more of the state intervening and not trying to be so proper.
46:20It's more important to protect these girls, to protect and ensure law is upheld instead of what Pakistanis may think or may appear to do.
46:30But we'll be tracking that story closely.
46:31I want to bring in more disturbing news about Pakistan state-sponsored radical Islamist terror and this time in India.
46:37So our Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist, Abu Musa Kashmiri, has openly issued a genocidal threat against Hindus in India.
46:45He was speaking in Park Occupy, Jammu and Kashmir and this Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorist declared and I quote,
46:50So this concept of Ghazwai Hind that these chaps believe in and they've believed in it for God alone knows how long,
47:04they continue to peddle that irrespective of some sense trying to be drilled into them.
47:10Now this comes after the major setback that these terrorist groups suffered following Operation Sindur.
47:15Under pressure, terrorists are now dropping all pretense
47:17and they're revealing the true intent of Ghazwai Hind.
47:21Musa claimed he told the Pakistani leadership that Jihad for Kashmir, take Kashmir by force.
47:28This rhetoric actually mirrors the thinking, whether it's this illiterate terrorist or Pakistan's army chief,
47:34Aasim Munir, exactly the same hate against Hindus,
47:39something that we really need to understand, appreciate and then act against.
47:47Listen in.
47:48I was told.
47:49And when I were told, I'd be able to curse this Pomfai Hind,
47:50this is a good time.
47:51I'm sorry.
47:54Yes!
47:55The
47:58I've been told, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
48:03But I'm not sure.
48:05But I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
48:09But I'm sorry.
48:10Well, I'm sorry.
48:11Because I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
48:13The
48:16I want to bring in Arvind Oja, my colleague, for more on the story.
48:27I want to bring in Arvind Oja, my colleague, for more on the story.
48:57I want to bring in Arvind Oja, my colleague, for more on the story.
49:27I want to bring in Arvind Oja, my colleague, for more on the story.
49:57And SV Kaundin, it's finally arrived at Port Sultan Khabus in Muscat after completing its maiden voyage from Pormandar, Gujarat to Muscat.
50:08Now, built using rare 5th century stitched ship technique, the vessel actually retraces historic sea routes that once connected India and Oman, India and West Asia.
50:21A major trade route, major. Remember, Gujarat was a very powerful trading port, as Somnath history has indicated.
50:30Now, the vessel was welcomed by the Indian diaspora, the voyage.
50:34It highlights India's civilizational seafaring strength, indigenous shipbuilding expertise and maritime diplomacy.
50:41For the Indian Navy, this is not just a voyage.
50:44It's a very powerful statement of India's cultural depth, technological confidence and enduring leadership in the Indian Ocean region.
50:52I want to leave you with these images and the message from INSV Kaundinia's crew and a member of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Economic Advisory Council, Sanjeev Sanyal, who called this voyage a dream.
51:08So, let me say that a lot of people have made this happen.
51:31There is obviously the encouragement of the Honourable Prime Minister, without which this wouldn't even have started.
51:37Support from the Ministry of Culture, that financed this project, to put it together.
51:43The Indian Navy, which obviously both supervised the building of it and then crewed it for this voyage.
51:51There were others, the Ministry of External Affairs, Ministry of Shipping.
51:56So, a lot of people who made it come together.
52:00And of course, we brought in board traditional shipwright, Babu Sankaran and his team.
52:05And of course, the amazing crew that sailed it, led by Commander Vikas Chiron and the Expedition Chief Hemant,
52:16who incidentally was also involved in the designing of the ship as well.
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