This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by senior journalist Yashwant Deshmukh and Scroll’s assistant editor Arunabh Saikia. 

The conversation begins on a grim note as Manisha dwells on the engendered politics behind the viral video of two Kuki women being assaulted by a mob of Meitei men. Yashwant then underlines how women become the ground on which wars are fought. 

The panel moves on to discuss the role of police, or lack thereof, in the state. Should the ethnicity of the police institution be taken into account? And what role does the army play in this civil war? The discussion then shifts to the legacy media’s coverage of women, its decoding of Seema Haider’s intentions, or the gruesome violation of the Kuki women, accompanied by its TRP greed.

On the newly united opposition under the banner of INDIA, the panel dissects the purported influence of this alliance. “Is anti-Modism enough for this alliance to succeed?’’ asks Manisha. The panel divulges the inherent divergence in this unity and the power dynamics that are likely to come into play between Congress and the relatively stronger parties such as the Trinamool Congress and the AAP.

This and a lot more, tune in!

Hafta letters: Believers of God, influencers and supreme leader