This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by The Wire editor Seema Chishti. 

The conversation begins on the Women’s Reservation Bill, as the panel sheds light on the stances held by prominent women politicians, from the BJP’s Uma Bharti to SAD’s Harsimrat Kaur Badal. Historically, the bill has faced real opposition only from OBC politicians, says Manisha.

On the caste and gender struggles in India, Seema says, “Gender was always used as an alternative sword in battle, in order to cut back on conversation about caste and social backwardness.” Abhinandan talks about Ajoy Bose’s book Behenji on Mayawati, which illustrates the effect of seeing someone like yourself in a position of power.

On the ongoing India-Canada row, Abhinandan says that the vanity of the two countries’ leaders is likely to snowball into something that could’ve been easily avoided. Seema says India’s Vishwaguru image will now be tested after Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau’s accusations against the Indian government in connection with the killing of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil.

Finally, the panel also discusses the divorce between the BJP and the AIADMK. Jayashree explains the rift between Annamalai, the face of the BJP in Tamil Nadu, and the AIADMK. “BJP started doing well in Tamil Nadu only after Jayalalithaa died…But the AIADMK has always had a problem with Annamalai, especially after he compared himself with Jayalalithaa.”

This and a lot more, tune in! 

Hafta letters: Geopolitics, burning Ravan effigies, and screening of While We Watched