Meghna Bali
@meghnabali
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South Asia Bureau Chief and Correspondent, @abcnews. Indian Australian. [email protected]
New Delhi, India
Joined March 2009
The ABC has obtained and verified a video showing a BJP worker named Bhuvnesh Kumar Varshney plotting to bribe police and polling officials in UP's Sambhal constituency before the May 7 poll. Watch the full video below with captions.
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Read @bhattburhan02 and my story below about voter suppression tactics and the pressure on non-BJP candidates to withdraw their nominations.
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Jai Wright’s father is calling for an independent inquiry - away from the police - into the death of his 16-year-old son. He says as a parent, he’s unsure what to believe around how Jai was killed. @triplejHack
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The ABC has obtained and independently verified a video showing a worker from India’s ruling BJP plotting to disrupt the voting process in UP’s Sambhal constituency. The man suggests bribing poling and polling officials who would accuse the area’s mostly Muslim electors of.
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@bhattburhan02 We have also confirmed Mr Varshney was preventively arrested days before the poll under s151 of crpc. Many described the action as “not harsh enough”.
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In Oct, our Background Briefing investigation revealed aerial firefighting orgs were waiting to hear about a business case sitting with the fed govt for 2 years. They were asking for an annual increase of $11 million to fight worsening fire seasons. Today 👇🏽.
#BREAKING: Aerial firefighting efforts will get another $11m boost from the Federal Government today, to help combat these terrible #bushfires. This is on top of the $15 million already provided each year.
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YouTube has blocked @AvaniDias powerful reporting about Sikh separatism in Punjab after a demand from the Indian government. It comes two weeks after the blocking of CBC's Fifth Estate program that featured footage of a Sikh seperatist's killing, and a year after a BBC.
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@sambhalpolice The ABC has independently verified the authenticity of this video. We spoke to victims and eyewitnesses who describe what happened across villages in Sambhal on May 7. The details are near identical in both instances. We have confirmed Mr Varshney was booked under s151 crpc.
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This month Scott Morrison and Anthony Albanese were seen wearing saffron scarves featuring a symbol with a dark and violent history. As Australia's relationship with India grows closer, is a deeper understanding of the region needed?
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1. Hey everyone. For the last three months @ginamckeon and I have been investigating what happened to Mara Ellis in one of Australia’s largest men’s prisons for @BackgroundBrief. I want to share what we’ve learned. [THREAD].
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I started my ABC career at the same time as Nour. Have seen her grow into the tough, principled and professional journalist she is today. What a devastating loss for the public broadcaster. Big respect to her decision. Onwards and upwards 🧿.
Exclusive: ABC federal politics reporter @NourHaydar resigns over Gaza coverage
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Friends and family in India pretty shaken by this. They can’t leave their homes for fear of dying and now they can’t come home without facing jail time.
So just to be clear, in a post-midnight press release, the government is threatening to send Australian citizens to jail for five years if they try to get home from India - to protect Australian citizens. What an utter statement of failure of our quarantine arrangements.
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In #Bowraville today. “What do we want, justice. What do we have? Fuck all.” Hundreds of people have gathered here today, vowing to take their fight to the High Court. @abcnews
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Thinking of the Bowraville families today. Many speak of fears that if the murders remain unsolved, a ‘legacy of sadness’ would be passed on from generation to generation. A fight that should not be necessary is now being taken on by children as young as this. #Bowraville
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Noelene Skinner, Colleen Walker’s cousin says “if it had been three kids from the north shore, the case would’ve been solved years ago”. @abcnews #Bowraville
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The @triplejHack team thought a lot about how to approach this story. We decided it was important to cover because we know men who reflect on their past experiences with genuine remorse and accountability can help other men recognise sexual violence.
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A mate sent me this screenshot from a Sydney Uber and rideshare drivers Facebook page. It’s the racism for me 🙃 @UberEats
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For those interested, this is how NAFC funding sources have changed since 2003.
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New from me. The harshest restrictions may have been lifted in Western Sydney, but it’s not an experience the area’s diverse community is going to forget any time soon.
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1. Hey everyone, I want to share what I learned over two weeks of talking to Mami Nyiramuruta, who found her son on Facebook 15 years after she thought he died.
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A crowd of thousands makes its way through the streets of Brisbane. (1/2) #MarriageEquality @ABCNewsBrisbane
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We won two @SND awards for a story I reported on last year about Mara Ellis’ prison experience. A hard, but important read. Thrilled to be highlighted! Congrats team @samuellukeart, @ginamckeon, @alexpalmerabc, @KatiaEirin, @lewgus and @alicitabrennan.
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1. Hey everyone. For my latest story, I wanted to cover the Julian Assange extradition hearing a little differently. So for this week’s @BackgroundBrief I revisited the event that made @wikileaks a household name. The Baghdad airstrike of 2007. [THREAD]
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White people love brown culture, just not brown bodies. Thank you @iranikanjari for your honest AF insight.
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Berivan was 24 and pregnant with her fourth child when ISIS militants came for the Yazidis four years ago today. She survived, but thousands still remain in captivity, including seven of her family members.
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Don't miss this one 🔥 @_angemccormack holds the PM to account on vaccine bungles, lack of access to pandemic disaster payments for people on youth allowance and our lacking climate change targets. Starts at 18.38 @triplejHack
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Prayers amongst tarp, gum boots and flood water. The Ahmaddiya community is cleaning houses in North Maclean today. #BIGWET @ABCNewsBrisbane
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10. Finally, it takes an army to investigate, produce and publish a story like this. Thank you, Mara Ellis, @ginamckeon, @alicitabrennan, @alexsmann, @bsveen, Leila Shunnar, Ingrid Wagner, Isabella Tropiano, @s_mitchell (cont.).
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This is offensive and a severe stretch. I think we should leave the investigating to police rather than finding "experts" to suit the stereotypical narrative we want to propagate. #PreethiReddy
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Alex Palmer, @jackffisher, @lewgus, Katia Shatoba, @doctorworkman, @sebasu101 and Samuel Luke. You’re a bunch of absolute guns.
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Hello, it’s been a while! I wanted to share the story of how Chantelle Baker got out of prison because of COVID19. [THREAD]
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3. So, for her own protection, Mara was placed in segregated cells in a part of Hakea that’s usually reserved for punishment. Mara says the conditions were akin to torture. You can read about her experience in her own words here.
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We’re kicking off our election coverage from the southern state of Tamil Nadu. It’s where PM Modi has made 10 trips since the start of the year.
Today marks the beginning of the world's largest democratic exercise as India's general elections begin. India's PM has set himself an ambitious goal, but to achieve it, he'll have to win over a dubious crowd. Analysis by @meghnabali .
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"We're being blamed for looking after ours, and then being told that we're not looking after ours." Residents in Sydney's south-west are confused and fearful. Volunteer translators are frustrated they're having to do what should be the NSW Govt's job.
New from me and the great @meghnabali for @triplejHack: Volunteers translating critical health messages say they're filling a gap left by the NSW government.
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While WA’s Justice dept. wouldnt respond directly to Mara’s allegations, the Corrective Services Commissioner has committed to implementing a trans, gender diverse and intersex inmate specific policy by Nov. Hear me question him about it in this week’s BB.
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Cool, calm and collected. Scott Donaldson is solo paddling to New Zealand today from Coffs Harbour. Hoping he’s third time lucky! @BreakfastNews @abcnews
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Afnan and Manoon from the Ahmadiyya community are helping clean homes in North Maclean today #BIGWET @ABCNewsBrisbane
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I talked to harm minimisation experts in NZ about why they legalised pill-testing. They told me they didn’t want what Australia had: “sniffer dogs, strip searches, dead kids”. You can read the story below or listen to it here @triplejHack.
NZ drug experts drag Australia's response to festival drug deaths:
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NEW FROM ME! The @triplejHack team spoke to four young people about what it was like being in their last year of high school and turning 18 in a pandemic. We also sent them disposable cameras to document what they’re up to now. Here’s the result 👇🏽
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And ICYMI - Political candidates are campaigning hard this election to court Indian-Australian voters. Are their strategies paying off?.
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New from me. Victoria has refused to allow a stranded young woman to travel home under an "emergency relocation" exemption, despite supporting documents from her psychotherapist stating her mental health was declining rapidly.
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7. It’s estimated there are up to 400 trans and gender diverse people in prison cells around Australia. They are often assessed and housed inappropriately, and placed in areas they’re not safe in. Like trans women in men’s prisons.
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8. Policies around the management of trans, gender diverse and intersex prisoners vary. Some jurisdictions have explicit self-identification policy, while others make decisions based on medical intervention. You can read more about it here.
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6. After spending two weeks in mainstream, she’s granted bail. She doesn’t go back to prison and ends up serving community orders for the assault charges. Unfortunately, Mara’s story isn’t unique.
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4. A few months later, despite the prison’s own assessment that Mara was not to share a cell, she was shifted to the mainstream part of Hakea. There she was surrounded by around 30 men for 7 hours a day and shared a cell with a man. She told me she was sexually assaulted.
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2. Mara is a 24-year-old transgender woman who spent more than four months remanded in WA’s notorious Hakea Prison in 2018. She was charged with assaulting her partner and two police officers.
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Camo @stevecav1 and I are all smiles after this #MudArmy helped us out of a ~sticky~ situation. #BIGWET @ABCNewsBrisbane
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3. The prison knew she was transgender, so when she was processed, they decided she couldn’t share a cell for her own safety. Evidence shows if you’re trans and locked up, you’re more likely to be physically, sexually and verbally assaulted by other inmates and staff.
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Great insight into the journeys of three ABC trailblazers. Grateful for people like @hornseyj who not only taught me how to shoot video and find my way around the scene of a story, but looked out for and mentored an unconfident baby journo with imposter syndrome ♥️🙏🏽.
'We tried a girl; it didn't go well': The women shooting news who proved otherwise
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Latest from me - why there’s so much attention on Indian-Australians this election, and why some in the community are skeptical 👇🏽👇🏽
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One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts says he’ll miss parts of federal politics but is excited to run for Ipswich seat. @abcnews @ABCNewsBrisbane
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"Our rise from Third World to “emerging” superpower economy has been a trick of words. the past 30 years have allowed an escape from generations of poverty, into a precarious but dreaming middle class. These dreams are coming undone." By @rkarnad
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I’ve talked to so many people desperate to either get to their sick parents in India or come back home to Australia. Neither allowed. Apparently we’ve got a world class COVID response. At what cost?.
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For this week’s #4corners @mahmoodicus @amosroberts and I travelled to Hungary and Slovenia to investigate claims by a secret informant that he was being exploited by Australian and American intelligence authorities. Here’s what we found 👇🏽 via @YouTube.
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"When one in seven voters support far right candidates, there’s something more sinister than ordinary electioneering going on.".
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I’m at Coffs Harbour courthouse where a video link has been set up for families and supporters who can’t make it to Sydney. Big day. #Bowraville @abcnews.
At 9:30am today in the Banco Court in Sydney, the Court of Criminal Appeal will deliver its judgment in relation to an application for retrial after acquittal in matter concerning murder of 3 children from Bowraville in the early 1990’s.
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"You expect promotional mascots like this to look kind of gimicky. so I think people assume any artist who puts in the effort has to have some other ulterior motive; but no, it's just because I understood the assignment." - @SailorFailures
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Protestors have reached the shade of Musgrave Park. Cultural activities are planned for the afternoon. @abcbrisbane
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1. Kidaan fam! In my last @BackgroundBrief investigation for the year, I went inside a cryptocurrency Ponzi scheme that swindled hundreds of Indian-Australians out of a whopping $20 million. Here’s what I learned: [THREAD]
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16 yo's family is happy son has been found. Eric is showing some signs of dehydration and exposure, but generally healthy @ABCNewsBrisbane.
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Incredible reporting here. Podcast even better. A terrifying insight into how a global white supremacist terror group dedicated to inciting a race war recruited young Australian guys.
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♥️.
Best Current Affairs Podcast supported by @SpotifyAU.Our winners are:.Gold: @BackgroundBrief.Silver: Full Story from @guardianaus.Bronze: @7ampodcast.#auspodawards
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. @SimkinEmma and I starting our #NSWelection coverage from the seat of Gosford 💪🏽💪🏽 #NSWVotes #CentralCoastVotes
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#ABCstargazing in Boambee, near Coffs Harbour 💫 A stunning view through a handmade telescope 🌒 @abcnews @ABCMidNorthNSW
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This week's @BackgroundBrief investigates Christian missionaries in the Kimberley promoting the idea that traditional Aboriginal culture is a kind of witchcraft, and how their followers are destroying sacred artifacts in an attempt to drive away the devil.
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Surely we can see why linking a community specific practice like arranged marriage to this horrific murder with no evidence to back it up is problematic?.
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Where is the relevant angle in this article? The headline and lede have references to arranged marriage yet there is "no research linking violence to the marriage process". Why include it? Click bait. Surprised there isn't a reference to Bollywood.
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Can confirm, a v great thing to apply for 🙌🏽.
Do you have ambitions to be a journalist and want to join our @abcnews team? Apply here: ABC News Cadetships 2020
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Heading to Brisbane next year for the ABC news cadetship 🙏🏽🙏🏽.
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Nic vapes will be illegal w/o a prescription from Oct 1. But young vapers don’t really care, sellers aren’t scared and distributors have started to leave nicotine warning labels off their products before they ship to Aus. Will the laws work? @triplejHack.
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"Chawla said when women “of South Asian origin” are murdered in Australia, the media often downplays the inherent misogyny present in Australian society, and instead acts as though the responsibility lies with other cultures.".
Sometimes you do an interview and you wish you could use every quote and this was the case with each of these three incredibly strong people whose loved ones were murdered by men and who generously shared their insights into what journalists can do better.
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Don't be surprised if y'all see these bad boys dropping off your online shopping around Brisbane. @ABCNewsBrisbane
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ICYMI: Flynt finished high school broke and burnt out, Unice became TikTok famous, William explored his identity and Bianca was diagnosed with a chronic illness. @triplejHack spoke to them about their transition after high school amid a pandemic
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Me in India: Yo nothing can save this place from itself. Me everywhere else: I come from a land of mystics, martyrs and maharajas. The Taj Mahal is the most exquisite building you will ever lay eyes upon. Our people may not have great fortunes, but wear the widest smiles
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“We are placed under more scrutiny by lobby groups and vexatious politicians and commentators whose blood pressures soar at the word “diversity” and view our very existence as politically loaded.” @jennineak I feel seen, thank you for writing this
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Premier @AnnastaciaMP has announced a whole of government drone strategy to facilitate a multi-million dollar industry. @ABCNewsBrisbane
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Anyway there's heaps more. Listen to it!! Special thanks to the dream team @alicitabrennan, @alexsmann, @bsveen, Leila Shunnar, Ingrid Wagner and Tim Jenkins.
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What a legend! Listen back to Ahmed's excellent report on the harassment and surveillance of Chinese and Hong Kong students across Australian universities here -
It's Somali independence day 🇸🇴🇸🇴🇸🇴. And happy to say *I think* I might be the first Somali reporter on @triplejHack with my first story this arvo. Tune in from 5.30pm!.
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STOP 👏🏽 SAYING 👏🏽 CHAI 👏🏽 TEA.
On a whim, this hippie founder packed her bags for India. Now, she's made $35 million selling chai tea.
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An ode to Shiv Kumar Batalvi on his birthday. This cover of Akh Kashni is bamb AF 💯
#TeamSandlas .Kashni belongs to you now !.-Jasmine Sandlas.
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New, from me. Peter has been keeping his HIV diagnosis a secret for three decades. He was running a gay guesthouse in the 80s when a doctor first refused him treatment. Now aged 67, alive and relatively well, Peter's fighting another battle — old age.
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Podcast success is measured by download numbers but also the talent fostered through its creation - @LindaBrack1 #OzPod2016.
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🎄🎄🎄
Good morning and Merry Christmas from @abcbrisbane @meghnabali .Watch out for storms ⛈ later. Stay safe and have fun!
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