This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Rinchen Norbu are joined by technology policy expert Manasa Venkataraman, Arunachal Times senior editor Tongam Rina and Kargil-based lawyer Mustafa Haji.

The panel opens with a discussion of the provisions of the Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 and the Digital Personal Data Protection Rules, 2025, and their potential implications for press freedom, investigative journalism and a citizen’s right to information.

Manisha points to the practical consequences for newsrooms. “For newsrooms, it'll be practically impossible to get obtained data, and then once you have it, do we have the legal wherewithal to fight it out?” She adds that the burden could be particularly difficult for smaller organisations, which may end up spending “more time in court than you do reporting.”

Rinchen draws attention to the language used in the petition filed by the Digital News Publishers Association, which describes certain provisions as “nakedly unguided”. He argues that the law needs to define public interest clearly.

Manasa, who has been part of consultations on the legislation, cautions against treating the law as a finished exercise. “The onus is on the regulation today to be relevant 10 years later,” she says, adding that the DPDP Act still has “a long way to go” to prove that it can remain sustainable as technology evolves. She also warns against “lazy, ad hoc bureaucratic fixes” and says the law must retain “the individual at the centre”.

The discussion then moves to Arunachal Pradesh, where protests against the proposed 11,200-MW Siang Upper Multipurpose Project (SUMP) on the Siang River have intensified. Tongam Rina joins the podcast to discuss this.

Explaining the long history of resistance, Tongam says, “The indigenous protest is more than four decades [old].” She questions the deployment of armed forces against communities opposing the projects. “Why do you arm and come against people who are saying, ‘We don’t want hydropower’?” she asks. Her position is clear: “If you want to protect your rivers and your resources, you're not a terrorist.” She also points to the risks of building large dams in a seismically fragile region, saying the consequences could extend beyond Arunachal to Assam and Bangladesh.

The discussion turns to Ladakh’s demand for greater political autonomy. Mustafa Haji says assurances made during discussions with the Centre have since been diluted, with the government now proposing a territorial council instead of a legislative body. “Until and unless Ladakhi people do not have the power to make laws for themselves, then all these deliberations that we have had for the last six years are meaningless,” he says.

Rinchen connects the two regions through what he calls “a classic centre-periphery situation”. “Unless shit really blows up, nobody cares,” he says, pointing to the lack of sustained national attention on border regions. He also draws attention to the police response in both places, while Manisha asks why communities that play a crucial role in border security are not being met with respect and meaningful dialogue.

All this and more.