This week to celebrate 400 episodes of NL Hafta, it’s an all-Newslaundry panel featuring Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Mehraj D Lone, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan. To mark the occasion, this episode is not behind the paywall.

The discussion begins with the “imposition” of Hindi in India, Amit Shah’s comments at Hindi Diwas on the promotion of Hindi, and whether India needs a “link language” to tie people together.

Jayashree thinks English is a suitable link language, if India needs one, but Manisha disagrees. Anand says non-Hindi speakers should continue taking up Hindi naturally without any immediate imposition by the government, which he deems unconstitutional.

The panel also talks about the drama surrounding the Congress president election, and where Sachin Pilot fits into the political setup of Rajasthan. On the government banning PFI for five years, Abhinandan and Jayashree point out how the ban should be based on substantial evidence of its link to terrorist activities and outfits, not its Muslim identity or support to protests.

This and a lot more, only on NL Hafta. Tune in!