This week, Hafta teams up with South Central for a crossover episode with a special guest for a special episode on freedom of speech.

In this episode, stand-up comedian Kunal Kamra is joined by Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri and Manisha Pande and The News Minute’s Dhanya Rajendran and Pooja Prasanna to talk about free speech and how it plays out differently for artistes and journalists across India.

The panel first discusses the role of comedians in pushing boundaries and whether it is their responsibility to challenge societal norms. Kunal says that for a comedian, if something is funny and honest, that's the first boundary. “Comedy does cross that line. But in the Indian context, just quitting your job and doing comedy is crossing that line. Doing full-time comedy is already a very huge risk,” he says.

The discussion then moves to whether comedians and journalists in southern states feel safer than those in the north. Dhanya notes, “I don't see any repercussions because for many years people have been watching [satirical TV programmes], it’s been in their staple diet… There is definitely a sense of safety here... We can still debate with ministers and have conversations,” she says. 

Pooja adds that political culture can vary significantly between states, noting that Karnataka has a more tolerant approach. “Even if politicians are criticised, they take it in stride... unlike what we see in some northern states,” she says. 

The discussion then moves to the impact of social media on comedy and journalism. Kunal emphasises the absurdity of self-censorship when censorship is already prevalent. 

“There is institutional censorship... why do you want to self-censor yourself when there is already so much of it?”

Manisha highlights the performative nature of outrage. “Outrage per se is not bad... The problem is when the outrage is not productive, when it’s just noise without insight.”

This and a lot more. Tune in!