This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by The Hindu’s diplomatic affairs editor Suhasini Haider, The News Minute’s Pooja Prasanna, and filmmaker Hansal Mehta.

On the recent missile attacks between Israel and Iran, Suhasini notes, “Iran, continuously does want to also project that it is being reasonable, whereas Israel, on the other hand, is essentially saying, this is a preemptive strike. They would've killed us if we had not killed them.” 

Abhinandan inquires India’s position on the conflict. “You cannot aspire to be a global power without taking some position… and India’s position is unable to criticise Israel,” she adds.

The panel then dives into the issue of film censorship, triggered by the ban on Kamal Haasan’s Thug Life in Karnataka and Supreme Court’s statement that “mobs cannot dictate film screenings.” Hansal adds, “Social media has given a voice to mobs… The Supreme Court can say what it does, but how can it ensure safety for theaters or filmmakers?” Raman adds, “This mob has got political blessings. Politicians remain silent, which is how they give it legitimacy.”

Pooja adds, “Kamal is not the victim he’s making himself out to be… He knew the emotional weight of the language issue but chose to escalate.”

This and a lot more. Tune in!

Hafta letters: Meghalaya murder, Air India crash and Andrew Huberman