This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by author and writer Amandeep Sandhu.

On Punjab, Canada and the hysteria created by the media over Khalistan, Abhinandan asks if the media and the government are responsible for making a non-issue an issue, and what is the reality on the ground. “In Punjab, so much has happened since the militancy movement, there are so many other tragedies to deal with,” says Amandeep. He adds that the meaning of the term ‘Khalistani’ has changed significantly to support certain narratives. Manisha says the recent incidents can potentially be used as a dog whistle against Sikh immigrants in Canada.

The conversation then moves on to spotlight the recent disturbing incidents, including Ramesh Bidhuri’s communal hate-speech in the Parliament and the Ujjain rape case. “What does it really say about our society?” asks Abhinandan. India is a “horrendously savage” nation, says Jayashree. “We are at core very violent and so deeply driven by caste and religion…this is expressly exacerbated by political parties.” Raman says society isn’t a monolithic institution and “there are many Indias within India”.

This and a lot more, tune in! 

Hafta letters: Canada, Kashmir and internal biases