This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Faizan Mustafa, legal scholar and VC of Chanakya National Law University, Patna, and Anuradha M Chenoy, former dean of JNU’s School of International Affairs. 

The episode opens with a discussion on the Constitution (130th Amendment) Bill, 2025, recently introduced in Parliament by the government. Abhinandan asks Faizan whether the BJP will be able to get the bill passed in Parliament. Faizan responds that since it’s a constitutional amendment requiring a two-thirds majority in Parliament, which the current government doesn’t have, the Bill is unlikely to be passed. 

Raman questions the intent behind the bill. He says, “The intent of the government is very clear that they have initiated several corruption cases against politicians whom they don’t like and who fall out of favour, but yet they’re not able to tame them. Since 2014, there have been 193 cases against politicians. Only two convictions have happened. So now the judiciary decides whether a corruption case is right or wrong,” he adds.

Manisha adds, “I think to me, it's very clear in the tradition of countries like China, Russia, Turkey, Egypt, where anti-corruption laws are used to crack down on rivals…And the BJP should worry about it because in these countries, which have no democracy, which have authoritarian leadership, once they're done with opposition, they use these laws to crack down on rivals within the party. So the BJP should also worry because this is not just about the opposition.”

The conversation then shifts to the recent Alaska Summit, where Russian and US presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump met to discuss the ongoing Russo-Ukrainian War. Abhinandan asks Anuradha about the significance of the meeting: “Are you at all optimistic about this, or do you think it’s just optics and everything will stay the same?”

Anuradha responds that the optimism comes from the fact that conversations and diplomacy are continuing. “In any war, especially in a situation where there has been a kind of cold war between Russia, Europe, and the US for years, this dialogue is significant. None of them had met over the last three years since Russia’s 2022 aggression on Ukraine, during which a proxy war had been underway.”

The optimism, she explains, lies in the fact that they are now meeting and negotiating. “There will, of course, be disagreements, but as long as they don’t return to the old system of not engaging at all, there’s room for hope,” she adds.

Shardool joins the discussion, pointing out that with China backing Russia, they don’t really have to worry about the United States. 

“Also, the European Union cannot go against the US because its entire security structure is heavily dependent on American support – from troops to military machinery,” Shardool remarks. 

Hafta letters: Stray dogs, RTIs, rude uncles