Rushi 

Dear panel,

This is my first email ever to Hafta and I am writing to you because of two things.

1) To ask your views on Mehdi Hasan’s recent stint at Jubilee and the outrage over that. Another young YouTuber called Matt Bernstein has launched an online petition demanding that YouTube demonetise Jubilee over platforming right-wing extremism. 

I also firmly believe that it is better not to engage at all with these right-wing extremists, some of them are just too vicious. And it only benefits them if you decide to give them a platform and voice. Punch the Nazi if you see one.

2) Since there have been two recs on AI and Jayashree’s rec on the perils of AI, I also want to recommend Laura Bates’s latest book The New Age of Sexism (2025). The book highlights how easy it is to create deepfakes using AI and how enormously it negatively impacts women. She also writes about what happened to Rana Ayyub. 

Regards,

Rushi

***

Mohit

Hi NL team,

It’s becoming clear that having a genuine dialogue with right-wingers on your panels is increasingly difficult. In the recent Hafta 548, one panellist kept repeating “I have a different view” without engaging with what others were saying. We get that people disagree – but refusing to listen isn’t a conversation. Similarly, in NL Charcha, the army guest chose to blindly back the government on Operation Sindoor, dismissed Atul and the team, and walked out instead of hearing other perspectives. When the government controls the media, institutions, and narrative, how can anyone expect proof against it? These guests often conflate disagreement with disrespect. Please be more mindful of who you invite – disagreement is fine, but dialogue needs openness, not just slogans.

***

Manan 

Hi team,

In regards to the Bombay High Court overturning the conviction of the 12 convicts, if this is how India treats terrorist cases, how can any country believe us when we say Pakistan does terrorist attacks, without giving concrete evidence – as India did. The government sent so many MPs on a fully paid foreign tour that they needed to conduct an investigation, collect proper evidence and send an email with attachments. Btw, that’s what most country representatives who met our MPs said to their own national media, about the attacks. That Indian side claims this is Pakistan on the basis of the fact that Pakistan has done so in the past, no evidence was shown of Pak’s involvement. Not that I believe otherwise, I do know Pak did the attacks, but it’s still the govt's professional responsibility.

Best,

Manan

***

Arpan

I was wondering:

While it’s true that the mass media is biased or afraid or something like that, and there must exist something like yourself (factual reporting and not a 24/7 show). But, I think the targeted audience of your news (website) is elite, rich people among whom there’s a high chance they don’t really need this – because their thinking, awareness and curiosity are already developed. They won’t be affected that much. 

But the people who actually need this are the ones who have never even heard of your name. They won’t go to a specific website for news – especially not one they have to pay for.

Online, English, paid – the majority of them get news from TV (in local languages), newspapers (local) and WhatsApp (of course). So, has this thought ever crossed your mind? I know you have a Hindi version and a WhatsApp channel. But still, I think you got the idea of what I’m trying to say...

The people who need this the most may never get it – too many obstacles for them. (I know that for printing and TV, a huge amount of money is needed, and censorship will be there.)

***

Shantanu

Whenever I read stories about preventable natural disasters, women’s safety, corruption, farmers suicides, environment degradation, etc. from India, it is hard to not reach the conclusion that we really aren’t a serious nation that is committed to improve the lives of its citizens. This is why we are constantly talking up some mythical past whose greatness we don’t even know anything about.  And now we have taken to lecturing the world because of some highly misunderstood economic numbers.  

I am involved in the functioning of a city government in a small town in the US.  We grapple with the usual issues of accommodating competing demands within a small budget, but the level of commitment of this small, part time and poorly paid city council towards solving problems is something the vishwagurus of the world could learn from. And please spare me the tired narrative of colonial exploitation, etc. because to me that is simply an exercise in cognitive dissonance reduction.

***

Comd. Shepard

The G.O.A.T.ed one is back!

First, why can’t I simply upgrade from Rs 300 to Rs 500 joint subscription? I had to cancel and wait for my subscription to run out in order to re-sub to a joint subscription. And thank you for uploading full Hafta VOD to YouTube, now I can enjoy my Nazi background podcast for two hours!!!

Second, thank you Jayashree for calling all history nutters ‘uncles’ T^T Here are some pivotal WW1 & WW2 media/personalities to read up on:

1) Grave Of The Fireflies (best Studio Ghibli product, story of two siblings surviving WW2)

2) Sir Lawrence of Arabia (history’s ‘best’ con artist and the reason [seed] for the Palestinian plight)

3) The Night Witches (scary-ass Soviet vodka ladies who put the fear of god into the Nazis and were heavily discriminated against)

4) A Band of Brothers

I am below 150 words, sometimes I outdo myself!!!!

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