CanTHeeRava KG 

Dear NL Hafta

Political awareness, spine and morality don’t need sabotaging of classes in the name of campus politics, sloganeering or collusion of student groups with mala fide elements within the state and mala fide anti-state elements. Ambedkar and Marx can’t agree, as one of them thankfully did not have vengeful hatred against some groups (be it the judiciary or the executive). Prof Amit Ahuja had once said that the custodians of constitutional values in India are the most marginalised and they won’t yield to calls for violence [with rare exceptional exceptions], “because this is a group that knows [the ills of] sustained domination so viscerally that it…never leaves their lives and once you are on the receiving end of that...it shapes ideas and approaches. They understand what violence and domination do.....it will always check the violent impulse.” A bridge too far for those who have revolutionary impulses on the left and right. 

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Rambilas | AI summary

India has had political leaders without conventional formal education, such as Maulana Abul Kalam Azad. I am not suggesting that formal education is essential for leadership. Rather, I want to understand why leaders such as Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath and Himanta Biswa Sarma can use divisive rhetoric openly, and why voters continue to support them. What does this reveal about Indian voters and our political culture?

I do not necessarily support everything Congress does, but after watching Rahul Gandhi’s interviews and interactions with ordinary people, I find his personal conduct more appealing than Modi’s. How much weight should voters give a politician’s character and behaviour alongside policies and ideology?

I am also concerned about national television news, which often appears heavily focused on Muslims and minorities. When journalists face attacks, I oppose violence and believe in Gandhi’s principle of non-violence. But where should we draw the line between legitimate free speech and speech that deliberately promotes hatred against a community?

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Renu

I have been an NL subscriber from Pune for the last 4 years. I attended the session that you had in Bombay in 2024, I think.

It’s the worst of times and the best of times - this sentence is so true for NOW. Politics - Mamdani v/s Trump, Peter Magyar v/s Orban, CJP, AISA, SFI v/s Modi, Shah, RSS, etc. AI - the allure of what's possible v/s the death and doom predicted, etc. Medicine, Law, Economy - everything has these contrasting situations - the best possible and the worst that exists. 

Your parting comment in the latest Hafta got me thinking - a list of legislations that are clearly communal. I would love to work on a project like this. As I am not a trained journalist, I wouldn’t know how to start this. I have 28 years of professional experience at Tata, Mahindra, Reliance, and Experian. Quit all that in Dec 2023 and graduated in Law (LLB - the 3-year course) this year, July 2026. 

If you’re serious and want to put together a team for this, I am game. Count me in. 

Regards

Renu 

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Saikat

NYT’s greatest shows of the 2000s, not of all time. Hence, no Sopranos, Seinfeld, Columbo, Cracker, Prime Suspect, etc., which finished or mostly ran before 2000.

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