strangrindelhi

14.08 || friday || strangr sessions x antariksh records

with every pillar of democracy essentially un-alived these days, life in an India built on the backs of freedom fighters, led today by a leader who hasn't entertained a single press conference his entire tenure, often feels like a simulation of our constitution. the world over, an intense criminalisation of the media, under a tsunami of fascist, authoritarian governments often (like ours) thinly disguised as democracies, is the most worrying symptom of tyranny.

through the last decade we have watched as legacy media houses were felled by the long arm of the state, activists and journalists imprisoned, killed or purchased, data manipulated to hide deep corruption, the disenfranchising, harassment and suppression of minorities and a general systematic rot where news yelled into our living rooms night after night was either grotesquely manipulated or just simply hidden.

yet into this void, battling this propaganda a handful of warriors have emerged to whom we give homage this independence day.

soldiers who donned their battle fatigues over the month long protest for the education minister’s resignation stood in stark contrast to the 150 + mainstream media outlets that tried their best to discredit the youth movement, calling them everything from ineffectual children who should just go home and focus on their studies to terrorists being funded by america, china, russia… you get the gist.

as we came to depend only on their updates, while the heart of the capital was left without internet connection, we saw them being lathi charged, tear gassed and even gunned down with rubber bullets alongside peaceful student protestors, and the importance of a free press we hope has never felt more essential.

and so this independence day we give a small SO to those voices we follow and trust.

& on the eve of independence day, our barsati hosts a curation by @antarikshrecords with @naveen_koomar navigating the poetics and politics of sound through hip-hop, rap, and spoken word and @antarikshdaddy & @rewind_selecta playing songs of resistance.