In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Meghnad S and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Betwa Sharma, Politics Editor at HuffPost India.

They begin with a discussion on the nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Talking about the timing of the protests, Betwa says, “If you had actually built that momentum, maybe the bill wasn’t gonna get passed in the first place.” Meghnad echoes her view.

On the violent police crackdown in Jamia Millia Islamia University and elsewhere, Mehraj points out, “Police are doing this because they know they are not going to be held accountable. In fact, some of them might get rewards and promotions.” He also wonders why anybody in a democracy should need the police’s permission to stage a protest.

Raman, discussing the media’s reporting of popular movements, points out, “As reporters, we need to go back to the field and do a deep dive and that’s what we have been doing.” 

As he narrates how Newslaundry reporter Veena Nair ended up on a bus filled with protesters detained by the police, Betwa expresses her dilemma about the extent to which a journalist should be involved in a story. 

Meghnad says, referring to Veena, “I think her first-person account of how she did this is also important where she is the story but she is also doing the story.”

Speaking about the Data Protection Bill, Abhinandan says, “Complete privacy I don’t think is possible in today’s age.” The question, however, is to what extent personal data of citizens should be available to governments or corporations.

The panel also discuss a Pakistani court’s sentencing of former military ruler Pervez Musharraf to death for treason.

Tune in!

Hafta Letters: On social media and gender-neutral washrooms

References

Under Narendra Modi, India Descends Into Chaos

The Idea Of India: We, The People Fight Religious Bigotry

Peacocks Don’t Have Sex’ Rajasthan Judge’s Remark Stumps Twitter

Hang Pervez Musharraf’s body at Islamabad chowk for 3 days if he dies before execution: Pakistan court

First person: I was detained and given a joyride by Delhi police

Fact Check: BJP Shared Doctored Video to Paint AMU Students as Anti-Hindu

Jamia University student reveals how he lost an eye in police action in the campus library

A Decade Apart, Eerie Similarities Emerge Between Two Encounter Killings in Telangana

‘Night of terror’: What exactly led to the brutal police crackdown in Jamia Millia Islamia?

Finance Bill, 2017: You’ve Just Been Punked

Modi Government Is Nervous And Being Excessive In Kashmir, Says Rahul Pandita

The Awful and Awesome

Stalling Amaravati, cancelling projects, curbing media: Jaganmohan Reddy is on a ‘revenge’ mission

How K Chandrasekhar Rao is crushing Telangana’s ‘anti-establishment’ media

Corbyn unfairly demonised by the media – BBC

Explainer: What exactly does the Citizenship Bill aim to achieve?

Citizenship Amendment Act is simply a Muslim filter

Cut The Clutter – Shekhar Gupta

Recommendations

Betwa

Rahul Gandhi Cannot Lead Democracy’s Fight Against Modi or the Sangh Parivar

What Climate Change Tells Us about Being Human

World War II in Colour

Mehraj

What if India’s media believed the disempowered as much as it does those in power?

The Banality of Evil

Meghnad

Permanent Record

Will NRC only target Muslims? A government clarification directly contradicts Amit Shah

Raman

Beaten, bruised, pelted with stun grenades: Aligarh students recall a night of horror

‘Night of terror’: What exactly led to the brutal police crackdown in Jamia Millia Islamia?

Abhinandan

How Economics Excludes Black Women

When Reagan Broke the Unions

A lost sense of proportion

Produced by Ivneet Kaur, recorded by Anil Kumar and edited by Satish Kumar.

You can also listen to all our podcasts on the Newslaundry App and get updates about all our podcasts via Twitter and Facebook.