This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by historian S Irfan Habib.

In the context of Fabindia’s ad campaign “Jashn-e-Riwaz”, which the company withdrew after backlash, Irfan points out that Urdu is not a religious language. “This whole association of language with religion is a political agenda,” he says. He also explains how languages survive when they’re “linked with bread and butter”.

Abhinandan talks about the arrest of Aryan Khan, the Narcotics Control Bureau’s visit to Mannat, and the lack of support extended by big names in Bollywood. Jayashree comments on the “spineless” nature of big stars and how they’re more worried about “their image than the issue”.

The discussion also spans Amarinder Singh’s new plans and the controversy surrounding Gandhi and Savarkar.

Tune in!

Hafta letters: Issues with UPSC, inspirations in science, killings in Kashmir