Hi NL Team,

 As Abhinandan was reading out one of the letters by a subscriber as to why she loved NewsLaundry, I too realised that every word resonated my feelings. I really want to thank you all for the wonderful work you are doing by keeping news and discussion sane in this insane world of media. The entire team bring a breath of fresh air which makes listening and reading news an educational experience. And not these sense of depression you feel when you hear some hate-mongering media outlets. I was kind of sad to hear Madhu leaving. I hope she continues to be a regular on Hafta Podcast as her calm and composed take on each agenda is unparallel.

 In the last couple of weeks as the country saw the Supreme Court deliver some important judgment on Babri Masjid and Sabrimala, I couldn’t stop feeling the hypocrisy behind the judgments. I dare say that despite there being no judgment on Sabrimala, just a referral to a bigger bench, it was indicative enough of how flawed and hypocritical the Supreme Court has become.  Personally, I have zero qualms with Ayodha Verdict but I take a strong objection to the manner it was reached. It was an issue of a land dispute between “parties”, no matter what the entire country and Modia like to call it. SC should have delivered the judgment with facts and evidence. I am still struggling to understand how detrimental this judgment can be for future religious disputes and how it can become a weapon of disharmony where “one’s religious belief will triumph fact and figure”. I just hope none of the Muslim bodies gets over-excited and ends up filing review petitions as it will only result in further politicization of the matter.

 I take a strong stance against why the Supreme Court or any law body intervening in a religious matter, as long as it’s not life-threating. The whole idea of religious belief can never be quantified in the realm of general law and science; its time we stop trying to bring them under one roof. I am not here to debate for any religion but rather trying to point that if anyone still believes that life after death and eternal happiness in heaven is still a fact, I wouldn’t waste my time helping him/her neither would I want government and law wasting their time on it.

To any sane person, most religious practices will be illogical but not the person observing those. A forced hand will never be successful in convincing them about the raw fact and figures but rather alienate them from the law. Shoving lawful judgment on those stand their religious ground will push them in a cocoon. The fear of losing their identity will do more harm to the social harmony and more importantly make them respect less of the country and its law.

 I will always be vocal about letting matters of religious belief evolve gradually though everyone’s conscious. Today many of us have stopped religious practices as we find it stupid or totally illogical. Someday when all will stop those practices, they will end naturally. It’s also a fact that some of them may never end and no matter how awful we might feel forcing an intervention of law will do more harm than good.

Regards,

Tariq

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Hi,

Congratulations Team Newslaundry for winning the Asia Podcasts Award for both your podcasts.

Now while you are in the process of fixing your tech, here are some suggestions.

1. All your podcasts should begin and end with a mention of the date of recording and the date of uploading. Many listeners may hear the podcast a few days after it has been uploaded during which many events may have taken place. Mentioning the date of recording upfront would help keep things in context. You did it for episode 249 of Hafta, but it could be made a rule for every podcast.

2. All podcasts should be uploaded as per a fixed schedule and the schedule should be available on d app and website. Once upon a time, Hafta used to be made available on Saturday morning. Now it is Saturday evening and I’m still waiting for Hafta 250.

3. While many listeners have told you what doesn’t work on the web/app, I must tell you what works. I log in onto the Newslaundry website through a browser, scroll to Hafta article and click the link to hear it on the SoundCloud app. Works seamlessly and allows the SoundCloud app to remember where I stopped listening. But the best listening experience remains on the Apple podcasts app. If you could get Hafta there, it would be great.

Hope you find these suggestions useful.

Best wishes,

Thanks,

S