Hi, 

Sorry I was thinking you will be reading comments on Hafta section but realized you only look at email sent to you and not comments . Also I have an inquiry, whether you read only emails from subscribers / or Bengali’s, or  if its funny  as I am none of those, ( Pun Intended ) . I am writing  from Bahrain, as I think this geography hasn’t been represented at all till now, so I hope my email is  read.

Also  even if you are not reading the email , it will be good if the Newslaundry team can have someone respond to the emails  which  are  good enough as I understand not  everything could be  read on the  podcast.

I wont get into  what I think about  all the panelists as Abhinandan reading that on each podcast has gotten to the point that its boring to hear although I am sure it amuses you all. I  think you need to read more about specifics in email or new point of  views which are highlighted by readers and not  considered by any panelists.

I would like  to talk very briefly about two issues:

1. Sandeep Sex Scandal: Its all  good to be  liberal , educated , moralistic by saying that it doesnt mean a thing for anyone what two people do  in their  bed  room . And I read Manisha’s piece on that as well. (Btw wanna ask Manisha for the link to  the whole video as I  cant find it online. Wish you had put that link too ;). But one has to understand its a political  party, and it has to cater to its voter. And we  all know that 90 percent  of these voters don’t think like you and me. Sex outside marriage is still taboo in common Indian household and being a political  leader you are representative of the people who chose you  in a democracy. So its good to have a moral highground because you are catering to the listeners or readers who are well educated, who are liberals and who are in touch with other cultures but if you think a political leader can do  that, its far fetched idea. Kejriwal is  just representing the majoritarian view  of his voters. And I see nothing wrong in that although I disagree with it personally. I think Abhinandan wanted to touch upon this point (Clinton even got impeached for having consensual  sex with Monica Lewinsky, so it happens everywhere)

2. Juliane Assange: I think there is a  lack of knowledge and depth  about American politics in your discussions (Abhinandan will say, why should I give a fuck about  America, but dude, then why keep bringing America and Trump when you don’t give a fuck). I feel most of you have a soft  corner for Democrats and Hillary Clinton. And Suddenly you find Assange a dick. I am sorry, Assange has done more for the world alone than any other fucking journalist (sorry for cuss, but its the bad influence of listening to Abhinandan). Without Wikileaks you would have not known anything about the dirty games US has played for so long. He has sacrificed his  freedom and probably his life for that, you just cant call him a dick. I really take offence to that. Whatever Snowden says now, Wikileaks helped Snowden escape to Russia. 

And Madhu nowhere it’s confirmed that the DNC leaks is a hack job by Russia. A DNC employee died in mysterious circumstances and Assange has promised 20 Grands for anyone with any information about his  death. Most probably he was the source. I am sorry you all are getting played by the propaganda machine of Hillary supporters. Talking about her, I think she is much more dangerous for the world than Trump. Trump is just a buffoon, he will never do the things he says he will do. Hillary is more of conniving power hungry person who is much more hard line  than Trump, just she is playing to the Gallery. Both the candidates suck and I think you people need to look at the other side as well. You can refer to Clinton Cash, a documentary which exposes how Clinton works.

Overall I love listening to NL Hafta, I  am gonna subscribe now as I know you wont read this email unless I do. 🙂 But yeah guys keep doing good work.

Thanks
Raghu Sharma

Asslamualaikum to the Newslaundry team.
(relax… I am not as religious as the greeting must have sounded).
I am Tabish Imtiaz and i am doing masters in electrical engineering from Zakir Hussain College of Engg. and Tech., AMU. I would like to start with a sher, as it is a tradition of our instutution…

“Jin ko sooraj meri chaukhat se mila karta tha…
Ab wo khairaat mein dete hain ujale mujhko..“

I know it doesnt make sense to quote a sher in the starting as neither it has got to do with anything in the letter nor it is in resonance with my mood. But its a tradition here and I dont know why but people take traditions seriously at AMU.

Its a commendable job you people are doing. Looking at the current scenario of commercial media in our country, which has become more of an extension of entertainment industry, I believe that in a few years Newslaundry will be the only viable and credible option left. Though I have not subscribed yet but I will, once I get my scholarship.

Just like “…angrez apna lagaan aur newslaundry apna hafta kabhi nhi chhorte…” Vaise hi main kabhi NL-hafta sunna nahi chhorta. This podcast is informative as well as entertaining. The panel is quite good and always presents a balanced set of opinions.

My favourite is Abhinandan, maybe because i am also an aaptard (hail kejru) and Abhinandan PLEASE DO NOT STOP SWEARING on hafta. It adds a flavour to it. I also love your impersonation that you do of the stereotypical maulana and where you say…”miyaaan…gardanein kat jayengi…” That always cracks me up.

I also like Ranga uncle. His arguments are often quite logical. Usually I agree with his rationale on almost every issue but I find myself on a different page whenever the Kashmir issue is discussed. I also like the way he is critical of AAP. I think that’s good as it creates an internal system of checks and balances with Abhinandan on one side and Ranga uncle on the other.

I greatly admire the commitment and passion that Madhu ma’am has for journalism. The ‘Can you take it?’ series of interviews are really good. Its quite unfortunate that jounalists like her are on the verge of extinction. By the way her new hairstyle is really cool (I am not stalking her I saw her on clothesline). It is because of the hairstyle that I learnt for the very first time the direct relationship that age shares with hair length.

I am in love with Deepanjana’s accent. The fact that its natural makes me love it even more. But more importantly I am quite impressed by the quality of her views on various subjects. She always brings a ‘fresh air’ to the discussion.

The unique thing that I find about Manisha is that her views are quite indigenous to her. Her views always smell of originality. Her documentry with ScoopWhoop about superstitions was too good. I want to request her to indulge in more work of this sort.

Though I have not subscribed yet but I will once I get my scholarship. Also I would like to provide some non-monetary contribution to Newslaundry. If you people ever need any information about AMU I will be highly obliged to provide you with that. My family is very closely associated with the university so it would not be much of a problem for me. My father was a professor here in Physics dept. (now he is retired). My mother is a professor in mathematics departtment. Her brother (my mamu) is a general surgeon at the unversity’s medical college (Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College) and also an Executive Council member of the university and his wife is a gynaecologist in the same college. My nana was a professor in the commerce dept. (retired). And I have been studying here for the past 6 years. So as you can see I can easily provide you with the latest happenings.

Many people have a lot of misconceptions about AMU. They think of it as an institution which is biased against the non-Muslim students. Just because the university’s name has “MUSLIM” in it, many people assume that it is exclusively for Muslims. Though I am a resident of Aligarh but last year I spent in Delhi and whenever people got to know where I was from the very first question that bubbled out of them was “vahan hindu students ko asani se admission mil jata hai kya?“. I had to tell this to so many people that there is a good majority of non-Muslim students there. I am friends with many of them. There is no discrimination there on the grounds of religion or any other kind of discrimination for that matter. Its like any other university in India.

I would like if Abhinandan comes here and takes a tour of the university. I’ll love to show him around. I am sure you will be surprised to see the culture here. Also I would like to point out that certain political parties will try to benefit their cause by communalising AMU in the upcoming UP elections. So it will be good to have first hand knowledge of the actual scenario here.

Keep the good work going guys!!

Also I would like to finish with a sher…

“…har sazaa qubool ki sar jhuka ke humne….
Bas qusoor ye tha…ke be-qusoor they hum…“

I know it doesn’t make sense… but yeah…you know why it is important.

Tabiz Imtiaz

Hi,

I have written before, and a subcsriber, yada yada yada…

As a regular listener and a Twitter follower of all of you, I was glad to notice that the issue of Shourie – Ambedkar was mentioned in this podcast. Anand, who is usually always about facts and stats and data, dismissing that Shourie’s book on Ambedkar and just cheering ‘Bhim the great’, was quite a surprise. As you guys mentioned that you guys should look discuss in length about the facts in Shourie’s book, I request you (as a subscriber 😉 ) to do have that discussion, as a podcast or as an article. That would really be true non-lazy journalism, because too many have dismissed Shourie without getting into facts. Assign him all the motives that you want, but please move on from that and focus on the facts. I recall Sekhri saying the same thing about Shourie and Ambedkar a few times before, but somehow in all these years, he hasnt produced a single piece to back it up. Maybe I missed it, probably he did write such a piece before NL, I followed him only after NL.

Also would like to know what Trehan thinks about this, is Shourie’s book purely agenda driven? Or does she think there is a chance, based on the facts of the book, that Ambedkar was a great yet flawed human, who did exhibit some characteristics of a petty, opportunistic leader. As experienced journalists, I am sure its not that hard to believe, that great leaders can be petty and not as Anand says ‘Alone, afar, above’. No matter how impressed we are by Ambedkar or Gandhi or whoever, we should never put them on so high a pedestal and forget they are human. We need to understand their mistakes too, because we can learn from that as well, not just their achievements.

Prakash Iyer