Hafta 357: Munawar Faruqui quits comedy, Mamata Banerjee’s politics, Sidhu Moose Wala joins Congress

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Meghnad S are joined by multimedia artist Anurag Verma.

While discussing Munawar Faruqui’s decision to quit his stand-up comedy career, Anurag says, “The real question is of the majority’s expectations, it wasn’t about Munawar’s identity. But the real anger was because of the expectations they have from the identity.” The panel also talks about the cancellation of comedian Kunal Kamra’s shows and the backlash that Vir Das received after his ‘Two Indias’ monologue at Washington DC.

The discussion shifts to Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, her recent meetings with business personalities and Bollywood celebrities, and her “no UPA” comment. Speaking about Mamata’s leadership, Abhinandan says, “The only thing which keeps her from becoming Modi is the number of seats.”

The conversation also spans across the winter session of Parliament, as Meghnad discusses Sidhu Moose Wala joining the Congress.

Tune in!

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Song: Same Beef

Timecodes:

02:56 - Headlines

08:18 - Munawar, Kamra and Vir Das

33:38 - Mamta Banerjee’s politics

1:01:24 - Parliamentary sessions

1:07:46 - Siddhu Moose wala

1:14:03 - Subscriber mails

1:36:24 - Recommendations

References:

NL Interview: Suraj Yengde on his book ‘Caste Matters’, Dalit representation, and caste deniers

​​Hafta 287: Dalit identity and Indian politics, New Education Policy, and more

Sansad Watch Ep 10: What is the Modi government doing about climate change?

एनएल चर्चा 193: क्रिप्टोकरेंसी पर संसद में बिल और मोहन भागवत से साथ टीवी पत्रकारों की बैठक

The India that Vir Das and liberals want – and the one they won’t talk about

‘This is a fight to finish’: Journalists take to streets against curbs on parliament entry

Recommendations

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Meghnad

Looking at Central Vista through a different lens: How world class is ‘world class’?

Infomocracy: Book One of the Centenal Cycle

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The Dawn of Everything.

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Check out previous Hafta recommendations.

Produced and recorded by Lipi Vats and Tehreem Roshan, edited by Dipanshu Bisht and Saif Ali Ekram.