For large numbers of Indians, Indira Gandhi remains a progressive and idealistic figure. But for others, she remains a master political manipulator who drifted from her promise of democratic socialism to blatant dynasticism and suppression of dissent. In a gripping one-hour documentary, we look at the personal and political fate of the leader of the world's largest democracy: a woman who, despite her early reluctance to join politics, eventually presided over a huge, complex, religiously riven, and male-dominated country to play a dominant role in the history of the twentieth century, and who, when it ended, was voted Woman of the Millennium by the BBC. ‘Maids Enslaved' follows human rights activist Rakesh Senger on a mission to save young girls caught in domestic servitude. The film reveals multiple fronts leading to maid exploitation and culminates in the rescue of a trafficked underage girl from an upmarket household in New Delhi. Her past holds an unexplained mystery. Tainted with lies, deception and a serious crime. Jyothi Svahn was adopted by a Swedish family in 1994. But the circumstances leading to her adoption remain obscure. Jyothi, now 27, still recalls the traumatic separation from her biological mother, and is determined to search for her in India. Nearly 90% of the estimated 143 million children in orphanages worldwide are not orphans at all. They are systematically bought, coerced, and stolen away from their birth families. The adoption industry is a huge market driven by money where orphans are ‘manufactured’. With the help of human rights defender and investigator, Arun Dohle, Jyothi follows the criminal trail to India to unmask the deception behind her adoption story. The search is important to connect not just with her roots, but also with herself to be able to define who she is. And to expose the crime that tears countless babies apart from their birth families. The fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban 20 years after their ouster by the US troops, had sparked fears among ordinary Afghans about the return of the regime’s brutal rule. As a result, many of them fled Afghanistan to neighbouring India to escape a regime known for its adherence to a strict interpretation of the Sharia law. Today, there’s a little Kabul in South East Delhi. It’s a tiny neighbourhood filled with shops, restaurants and supermarkets, most of them owned and run by Afghan refugees who fled persecution from the Taliban. But what many thought would be a short, temporary escape has turned into a long-lasting exile. Although they’re now compelled to rebuild their lives in a foreign land, there’s still many of these Afghan refugees in India who yearn to return home. But can they? The COVID-19 pandemic has left millions of Indians jobless, families destitute and many children without parents. It is a perfect hunting ground for human traffickers to exploit. But activist groups are working to track down the people-smuggling networks, raiding workplaces and rescuing young lives from bonded labour. 101 East investigates the new wave of child trafficking in India and the efforts to safeguard vulnerable children.
Sumithra P.
Singapore
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About Sumithra
https://www.linkedin.com/in/sumithraprasanna/
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India's Broken Generation
- Non-Fiction Film Director
In India, one child goes missing every eight minutes. Millions end up as bonded labourers or sex slaves. Child trafficking and other forms of abuse and exploitation worsened due to the impact of COVID-19. The pandemic has pushed millions to a state of utter destitution - a perfect hunting ground for human traffickers who could ensnare the poor with enticements of money. India’s Broken Generation follows activists as they crack down on child traffickers and goes inside the lives of children who have been adversely impacted during the second wave – children who lost their parents to COVID or were pushed into hard labour or girls who had to drop out of school or become child brides. How will India safeguard its children affected by COVID-19?
Stateless in India
- Non-Fiction Film Director
A major humanitarian crisis is unfolding in India after more than 1.9 million people living in India's north-eastern state of Assam were left out of the National Register of Citizens (NRC). Has the Narendra Modi government gone too far with its new citizenship law? What will be the future of those rendered stateless in India?
Kashmir, A War of Stones
- Non-Fiction Film Director
A confronting one-hour documentary special that goes inside the minds of Kashmiri youth fighting a bitter struggle for independence. The film investigates why militancy is intensifying amongst the youth and why young rebel recruits are now more alienated than ever.The disputed territory is a place where rebel ambushes of the 700,000 Indian troops are a regular occurrence and where youth confront troops often with nothing more than stones as a weapon. The Indian armed forces are determined to defend their territory against the insurgents but it’s coming at a huge cost in human lives. The reality of life under Indian occupation in the Kashmir Valley is told through a number of key characters. Expert historians, human rights activists, and Government officials place the historical and geo-political context of the struggle as we come to understand the brutal experience that is life in the Kashmiri Valley, and why, despite the dangers, youth militancy is on the rise.
Ryan, The Smiling Serial Killer
- Non-Fiction Film Director
The film showcases a landmark case in Indonesia where the discovery of one murder leads to a string of ten others committed over a period of one year. Very Idham Henryansyah, known to Indonesians as Ryan, cruelly bludgeoned 10 of his victims to death before burying them in the backyard of his parents’ house in Jombang, East Java Province of Indonesia. He mutilated the body of his 11th and last victim and disposed of the remains on the roads of a quiet little neighbourhood called Ragunan, South Jakarta.
India's Stolen Youth
- Non-Fiction Film Director
The COVID-19 pandemic has left millions of Indians jobless, families destitute and many children without parents. It is a perfect hunting ground for human traffickers to exploit. But activist groups are working to track down the people-smuggling networks, raiding workplaces and rescuing young lives from bonded labour. 101 East investigates the new wave of child trafficking in India and the efforts to safeguard vulnerable children.
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