This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by senior journalist Nirmalya Mukherjee and NewsX editorial director Priya Sahgal. 

The panel first discusses communal unrest in West Bengal’s Murshidabad, where protests against the Waqf Amendment Act turned violent this week. Nirmalya says, “This is the first time that Bengal is going to face a situation where religion has become a very important issue.” On West Bengal CM’s response to the violence, he says, “Mamata first blamed the riots as a Congress conspiracy. Then, the blame shifted to the BSF, and now [it’s an] international relations conspiracy.”

“No riot can happen without the complicity of the state,” Jayashee notes.

The panel then talks about Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi being named in the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet in the National Herald case. Raman says, “If you dissect the case, it’s extremely vague right now. And misappropriation doesn’t carry a strong criminal connotation.” Priya mentions that it is important to take into consideration the timing of the ED chargesheet. “Most of the battles in India are perception,” she says. 

This and a lot more. Tune in!

Hafta letters: Journalism models, state of Indian startups, historical accuracy in films

We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here.

Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. 

Download the Newslaundry app. 

Contribute to our latest NL Sena here.

Song: Jakde ho kya

Timecodes

00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements

00:03:09 – Headlines 

00:13:24 – Murshidabad violence

00:45:38 – National Herald case

01:18:53 – How are Trump and Modi similar?

01:25:58  – Letters

01:43:47 – Recommendations

References 

NL Sena - The impunity of India’s police

Subscribe to NL-TNM

The change in Indore: ‘More and more Muslim kids targeted’

The Contenders

Dos & Don'ts in India

Recommendations

Jayashree

The Methods of Moral Panic Journalism

The Worst Magazine In America

Raman 

Trump Administration’s Letter to Harvard

Harvard’s response to Trump Administration’s letter 

The boy who stood his ground: How Kedar Nath’s acts of defiance shaped sedition law

3 reasons why Congress can’t rediscover itself

Shardool

Delhi’s crematorium controversy is proof that caste still divides India even in death

Blackfish

Nirmalya

The Present History of West Bengal: Essays in Political Criticism

Priya

Half Lion: How P.V. Narasimha Rao Transformed India

BACKSTAGE: The Story behind India’s High Growth Years

Georgette Heyer

Abhinandan

MAGA’s remaking of universities could have dire consequences

Why Trump Could Lose His Trade War With China | The Ezra Klein Show

The great fall of China?

The great fall of China

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters 

Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Ashish Anand.
Production assistance by intern Pragya Chakroborty.

This episode is outside of the paywall for now. Before it goes behind the paywall, why not subscribe? Get brand-new episodes of all our podcasts every week, while also doing your bit to support independent media. Click here to subscribe.