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This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone, and Raman Kirpal are joined by Nisha Susan, journalist, author and founder of The Ladies Finger.

The conversation begins with the Hathras rape. Manisha details the suffering of the victim’s family at the hands of the authorities, especially the police’s forced cremation of the body. The panel agrees that this would not have happened so unceremoniously had the victim belonged to an upper caste. Abhinandan and Nisha compare this with the story of Bhagat Singh, where the authorities had been scared to return his body to his family for fear of backlash.

Raman points out that the victim had been shifted in and out of three hospitals while in critical condition, which might have caused her health to deteriorate. The panel analyses alarming statistics on how four or five Dalit women are raped every day.

On the Supreme Court’s acquittal of all the accused in the Babri Masjid demolition, Raman says he’s unsurprised. “Any case that has dragged on for 28 years is anyway dead,” he says. He adds that he had been present at the site in 1992, and that the demolition was a “conspiracy”. Mehraj emphasises the lack of political accountability in India since 1947, noting that evidence collected by the Liberhan Commission was not taken into consideration in the verdict.

Moving on to the US presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden, and the former’s critical comments on India, Abhinandan points out that Trump is not India’s ally. He’s also shocked over Trump’s refusal to condemn white supremacists. Mehraj says the American public does not vote according to leaders’ stances on key social issues and debates, as evidenced from the last election.

All this and more, only on NL Hafta.

Song: Sabarmati Ke Sant Tune Kar diya Kamaal

Hafta letters: India's education system, frustrations of a PG medical student, NL's piece on Gavaskar

Timecodes

1:19:03 - Headlines and introduction

7:45:13 - Hathras rape case

32:41:16 - Babri Masjid demolition verdict

38:27:21 - Subscriber letters

48:42:02 - Nisha’s recommendations

50:22:12 - Babri Masjid demolition verdict

1:08:31:24 - Subscriber letters

1:43:01:20 - US presidential elections debate

1:46:07:10 - Recommendations

References

बाबरी विध्वंस के 25 साल

19-year-old raped in Hathras fights for life, Dalit family says used to staying quiet

Explained: What are the Farm Bills and how will they affect farmers?

Ibis Trilogy by Amitav Ghosh

Recommendations

Nisha

The Gypsy Goddess

Morality TV and The Loving Jehad

The Women Who Forgot to Invent Facebook and Other Stories

Raman

‘Our fault is that she was Dalit’: In Hathras, a forced cremation, a media circus, and a life of humiliation

‘Help us get justice, please’: Dalit girl assaulted in UP’s Hathras succumbs

My crippled testimony

Mehraj

The Disruption Con

The Discreet Charms of the Savarnas

‘Help us get justice, please’: Dalit girl assaulted in UP’s Hathras succumbs

Manisha

बाबरी विध्वंस के 25 साल

Meticulously planned, Uma Bharti took onus: Justice Liberhan on Babri Masjid demolition

A Dalit Goes to Court

Abhinandan

‘Our fault is that she was Dalit’: In Hathras, a forced cremation, a media circus, and a life of humiliation

‘Help us get justice, please’: Dalit girl assaulted in UP’s Hathras succumbs

Produced by Aditya Varier and Lipi Vats, recorded by Anil Kumar, edited by Harshula Sharma.

Transcription assistance by Riya Agarwal.

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