Hafta letters: India-China discussion, Rahul Gandhi’s 'incompetence' , gangs in Punjab

Some quick points:

Professor Jacob's talk was interesting but his solution to the problem, that is, a punitive response to China, shows the disconnect between academia and policy formulation. China has been forced to deploy its conscripts in high altitude terrain, imposing costs on them like psychological trauma, cold-related injuries, faster rotation of troops etc. These have been documented in various articles and op-eds. Punitive response has its own dynamics, such as escalation.

Jayashree alluded to the capital punishment for Mr Yasin Malik and then said that capital punishment is barbaric. Somehow this viewpoint always surfaces when talking about Kashmiri separatists. Yasin Malik's organisation was decimated by the Pakistanis in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the very same country which is now protesting his ill-treatment at the hand of Indians. He has been a useful idiot for a number of actors and now that his utility has ended, he is being discarded. These are the brute facts.

A

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Dear NL team,

Two points:

1) If people complain that their strange names have been mispronounced, please ask them to give their Aadhar card, their "unique" ID (much easier to pronounce). Ultimately, that's what our worth is. For all intents and purposes – a number. Ideally they should be complaining to their parents, not you guys. #MainAkela800CroreMein

2) I was wondering if you store your reports and data on servers outside India. As we slowly move towards 1933, there might be a time when dissenting data on Indian servers might get purged, like the big book burning by the Nazis in 1933. I hope you've some backup, so that your words are never removed from the records. It's a bit alarmist, but you never know (sadly) with our sarkar.

Best wishes from the European Union.

#IDreamOfNuclearFusion

Som

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Hi NL team, long-time (five-plus years) subscriber here. I am pretty disappointed that NL did not discuss the killings of Hindus in the valley, targeting them for changing the demography.

My question to the panel is: How do you see Hindu-Muslim unity happen, when Hindus can see people being killed in a region where Muslims are majority? Personally, I do not see any reconciliation till some very fundamental questions about how the communities and the religion view each other are answered and the liberal discourse, in my opinion, only adds more fuel to the fire.

Also, I am pretty appalled by Jayashree's statement that "a Nandi pointing to a place does not mean a temple exists". I did find that fact-free analysis taking away from what I value the NL Hafta forum for and then the backtracking with “Buddhist stupas are destroyed”, when countered by Manisha. I would understand if the criticism is that we should not reclaim spaces, but to deny and then obfuscate, in my opinion, also adds to today's warped discourse.

Ankur Sen

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I believe an alternative is important in elections. Trump is dumb, but Hillary or Biden are still okay alternatives. Rahul Gandhi is totally an incompetent man. Say whatever about Modi and BJP, they are still seasoned politicians/parties. Modi knows how to preserve/remodel his image. Rahul Gandhi doesn't even try to remodel himself. And, the state of the Congress party is for everyone to see. That's why people don't trust him or the Congress party.

I also believe you don't win elections just on the big issues like secularism. Small things also matter. The media keeps discussing the rise of hate in India, but as soon as BJP wins an election, all media then focuses on how BJP consolidated marginalised votes and/or about welfare schemes which helped the BJP win. Don't these factors also matter in the lives of people? So, when you give the benefit of the doubt to goras, even when they can still vote for Trump, next time, we saala ganda badbudar brown people should also be given the same due.

Regards,

AK

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Hi folks,

It's my follow-up letter regarding my feedback on the China-related episode. Due to the word limit, I had to adjust the content and that made my letter lose several contexts.

My accusation wasn't around everything, but only in Chinese and Indian context. Like how the conflict started and which individuals were at fault for all those lives lost. I felt that you all were so biased against China, without having any authentic data, which can't be an excuse to start considering WA forwards. You tried to omit controversial things, which can get you in bigger trouble. And, please don't quote BBC or any western media as truth when it comes to China.

Raman Sir, no, I wasn't talking about only the Muslim community, but the system as a whole. There are lakhs of people lodged in jails who have served their time and are just there because of not finding anyone for their bail bond. How do I know? I have worked around the welfare of jail inmates for years with a few NGOs long back. Thanks.

Rajeev

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Hello NL team, heard the discussion on the gangs in Punjab. I think just because Punjabis are vocal and conscious when something goes wrong, and sometimes, are even quick to repair the mistakes, they are perceived differently by the rest of the country. For example, gun/gang violence is much higher in other states. Please see the Print's opinion piece by Nikhil Rampal which presents some data as well.

Navjot Kaur

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I love Hafta. I like the different viewpoints and energies that each panellist brings and the “thought experiments”. I have bought the Kashmir graphic novel!

Ideas to grow/improve NL:

1) Subscriber census to understand the demographic. (age/gender/religion/number of listeners etc.)

2) Pitch to overseas embassies that may like to pay for your expertise on some of their social/aid/training projects. Could be a briefing/training course for their staff on specific topics.

3) Announcing guests the week before and inviting subscribers to submit their questions in advance. Could boost shares?

4) Library of resources on different topics. (history/religion etc.)

5) Encouraging panellists to use visual cues to avoid interjections and multiple people speaking at once.

6) Perhaps not in NL’s remit, but a “how to” series on changing somebody’s mind. For example, asking where they got the information from, how much they believe it, lines to call out inappropriate forwards etc.

Thanks and keep up the good work!

AM

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Hello NL,

Here is an interesting discussion on abortion politics in the US. I suggest you guys check it out if you are going to do a deep dive into abortion.

I also have other resources to share on the topic. Please reach out to me if that is needed.

Thanks,

Mahendra

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After hearing some letters from the previous episode, I am just writing to say that the guest on episode 382 is the best expert on China I've come across in the Indian podcasts I follow (I live in Chinese territory and have native Chinese fluency). I've heard some commentators on China peddling Chinese official narratives (not sure knowingly or unknowingly). But most people are so clueless about China in general, they don't realise that.

Anonymous

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Hello everyone,

Abhinandan after hearing your voice my wife says, “Aap ke saray boring newswaalo me iski awaz bearable hai”. Ab biwi ko kya samjhao?

Anyways, once again I request you guys, with folded hands, to call on your podcast Mr Adnan Rashid of UK-Pakistani origin (historian, Islamic and comparative religion scholar and well versed with global politics).

When we speak about our mother Aisha(ra), we don’t box her down to only one identity, that is, the wife of the Prophet (pbuh) and which, by the way, was the most significant identity to her, as evident from her own testimonies. Ma Aisha(ra) lived for more than 40 years after the death of the Prophet (pbuh). Throughout her life, she fondly spoke about her marriage. Muslims, worldwide drive the most part of jurisprudence through the massive scholarly work of Ma Aisha(ra). Nowadays, no one is entitled to speak for Ma Aisha(ra), when Ma Aisha(ra) has spoken sufficiently about herself. Read about Islam and then point fingers at Islam.

Saquib Shaikh

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Hafta 383: Good episode. I am from the south, so no exposure to Punjabi culture. A deep dive interview on Punjab caste dynamics, with some experts would be awesome.

Anonymous