In a special episode for Press Freedom Day, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Jayashree Arunachalam, are joined by historian and author Ramachandra Guha.

The panel begins with a discussion on the history of press freedom in India. Ram reflects on the similarities and differences between 1975’s Emergency and today. “The Modi regime has gone farther than Indira’s regime by weaponising agencies in a much more systematic and planned way.” Commenting on the ‘downfall’ of mainstream media, Manisha adds, “The sheer anti-people quality of the media, painting minorities as threats, is relentless and unprecedented.”

The panel discusses the history of violence in Kashmir and the attacks on Kashmiris across India after the Pahalgam terror attack. “One word from Modi and it would have stopped,” says Ram. Jayashree notes, “People are very happy to believe the worst qualities about Muslims and Kashmiris right now, and the media is feeding into it.”

This and a lot more. Tune in!

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Timecodes

00:00:00 – Introductions

00:02:08 - Special Press Freedom Week offer

00:03:43 – Headlines

00:10:16 - Press freedom in India

00:49:04 – Understanding the Kashmir conflict

01:14:37 – Ramachandra Guha’s recommendations

01:16:51 – Letters

01:29:16 – Recommendations

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters

Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Ashish Anand.

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This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, and Anand Vardhan are joined by diplomatic and foreign affairs expert Manoj Joshi.

The Pahalgam terror attack was at the centre of the discussion, with the panel exploring various aspects of the incident, including security lapses, recent developments, India’s immediate diplomatic response, its potential long-term impact, and possible future measures India might take to handle the situation.

Highlighting the severity of the attack, Manoj says, “This is happening for the first time in the past 20 years, where defenceless tourists have been attacked like this.” Remembering the Chittisinghpura Sikh massacre in Kashmir, Raman says, “The buildup of terror attacks has significantly changed over the past 24 years.”

In light of Pakistan Army Chief Asim Munir’s statements about the attack, Manoj comments, “There is an obvious split in the Pakistan Army after Munir’s appointment. The Pakistan Army has a tradition: whoever the chief is, everyone listens to him. But now, the situation is different. So, it’s a move to survive in one’s position.”

Referring to JD Vance’s presence in India during the attack, Anand points out, “Security should have been much stronger when foreign dignitaries were visiting India.”

The panel agrees that Kashmiri people are unanimously protesting against this terror attack. Manisha remarks, “An average Kashmiri today doesn’t see their future with Pakistan.”

Focusing on how world leaders are viewing this attack and what their standpoints might be in the evolving diplomatic relationship between India and Pakistan, Abhinandan says, “When two nuclear-armed states are on a standoff, it’s everybody’s business. It's the world's business.”

This and a lot more. Tune in!

We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here.

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Timecodes

00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements

00:02:35 – Headlines

00:07:57 – Chennai meet-up announcements

00:09:10 – Pahalgam terror attack

01:09:51 – Manoj Joshi’s recommendations

01:15:10 – Media coverage of Pahalgam attack

01:27:02 – Letters

01:43:22 – Recommendations

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters

Produced and recorded by Ashish Anand and Priyali Dhingra.

Production assistance by intern Pragya Chakroborty.

This episode is outside of the paywall for now. Before it goes behind the paywall, why not subscribe? Get brand-new episodes of all our podcasts every week, while also doing your bit to support independent media. Click here to subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by senior journalist Nirmalya Mukherjee and NewsX editorial director Priya Sahgal.

The panel first discusses communal unrest in West Bengal’s Murshidabad, where protests against the Waqf Amendment Act turned violent this week. Nirmalya says, “This is the first time that Bengal is going to face a situation where religion has become a very important issue.”

On the West Bengal CM’s response to the violence, he says, “Mamata first blamed the riots as a Congress conspiracy. Then, the blame shifted to the BSF, and now [it’s an] international relations conspiracy.”

“No riot can happen without the complicity of the state,” Jayashree notes.

The panel then talks about Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi being named in the Enforcement Directorate’s chargesheet in the National Herald case. Raman says, “If you dissect the case, it’s extremely vague right now. And misappropriation doesn’t carry a strong criminal connotation.” Priya mentions that it is important to take into consideration the timing of the ED chargesheet. “Most of the battles in India are perception,” she says.

This and a lot more. Tune in!

We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here.

Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media.

Download the Newslaundry app.

Contribute to our latest NL Sena here.

Timecodes

00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements

00:03:09 – Headlines

00:13:24 – Murshidabad violence

00:45:38 – National Herald case

01:18:53 – How are Trump and Modi similar?

01:25:58 – Letters

01:43:47 – Recommendations

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters

Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Ashish Anand.

Production assistance by intern Pragya Chakroborty.

This episode is outside of the paywall for now. Before it goes behind the paywall, why not subscribe? Get brand-new episodes of all our podcasts every week, while also doing your bit to support independent media. Click here to subscribe.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.