‘War rukwa di papa’ goes global as John Oliver throws a lead for Modi govt’s fact-check unit

A month after JioCinema reportedly took down a 2020 episode of Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, the show’s fresh episode has now criticised PM Narendra Modi and what his tenure has meant for democratic freedoms in India.

The episode, titled Indian Elections, Trump & Red Lobster, is yet to be aired by HBO’s official streaming partner JioCinema in India. It is expected to be available on Indian YouTube on Thursday. “I don’t know if this episode is definitely not going to end up airing in India, depending on what they do with the laws around YouTube. If you have friends and family living in India who would like to see it, just encourage them to visit these sites,” Oliver said in a clip from the show circulated on social media.

After quoting examples such as the central agencies’ action against NDTV, and the temporary ban on MediaOne soon after the Delhi riots, Oliver said, “That crackdown creates a chilling effect where media outlets may well be intimidated for criticising Modi. That can actually explain why Hotstar, the platform that we were on in 2020, mysteriously chose to block our episode criticising Modi.”

The English-American comedian was referring to Hotstar’s decision in 2020 to block another episode on Modi that had referred to the Delhi riots and then US president Donald Trump’s India visit.

Oliver had called out Modi for being divisive, described demonetisation as a “mess”, said Modi and the BJP are “actively trying to erase whole sections of Indian history”, that he’s offered only “tepid apologies” after being at the centre of the 2002 riots in Gujarat. Oliver also described the new citizenship law as a “diabolically clever” move to “strip millions of Muslims of citizenship”.

Meanwhile, in the fresh episode which aired on Sunday, Oliver’s opening remarks were about Trump’s conviction. “A New York businessman got into some legal trouble, which was undeniably fun to watch unfold live.” 

As he moved on the subject of press freedom in India, Oliver referred to prominent television journalists shifting to the digital space, but noted that even this sector was being controlled.

The screen referred to a Newslaundry report on a DIGIPUB event, which discussed legislation such as the Telecommunications Bill of 2023, the draft Broadcasting Services (Regulation) Bill of 2023, and the Digital Personal Data Protection Act of 2023. 

“I have a lead for the fact-check unit. Check out the batshit line that Modi stopped the war in Ukraine,” he said, as the screen referred to another article whose headline referred to the Supreme Court’s decision to stay the fact-check unit.

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