Dear NL Team,

I am a recent addict, followed you’ll free for one year. However, my conscience was constantly being challenged by Abhinandan’s ramblings about “pay to keep news free “. Hence I did the right thing and subscribed this month. Better late than never.

This mail is regarding Hafta 118, and specifically about the suggestion to watch Hassan Minhaj’s roast at the White House correspondents’ dinner. I thought it was mediocre. The reason I chose this topic is because I felt Trump Made a big statement by not attending this gathering of millionaire corporate “journalists” and actors having a good time patting each other’s back and laughing at silly jokes most of which were targeted against Trump and few were at
the media houses themselves to be fair.

Trump was actually 100 miles away and gave this speech at his rally there, “A large group of Hollywood actors and Washington Media are consoling each other in the hotel ballroom right now as we speak, and I could not possibly be more thrilled to be 100 miles away from them spending my time with you all, a larger and much better crowd of
people”. So I think this is why people appreciate him.

Now you may be thinking I am a Trump supporter on the contrary I think he is a buffoon. But he has targeted the corporate media of the left rightly ( Fox News is not news its entertainment with a pervert Bill O’ Reilly). I mean the number of evidences of CNN , BBC, MSNBC blatantly lie is mind bending. The famous of all being the Weapons of
Mass Destruction idea propagated by the CIA and proudly chest thumped by these media houses is for all to see. And recent claims that Russia rigged the election even though there is no conclusive evidence that proves this fact. It is just like Kejriwal, after losing the elections blaming the EVM’s. Moreover The US has rigged and interfered in elections in South America, Iran, Egypt and many more countries is a well documented fact. Many such proofs of the media lying can be easily found thanks to the Internet. No wonder these media houses by pressurising the US government now wants to censor the Internet from Fake News ( which is actually real and true news).

The Reason I am writing this mail is because I consider myself a Classical Liberal and currently the liberals in the west are losing their minds and getting offended easily. I am pretty sure Hassan Minhaj would not like a joke on Islam and say that minority groups like him are not safe in America after Trump got elected, even though Asian people are the most privileged group in America in terms of their earnings, which is testament to the hardworking nature of Asians(mainly Indians and Chinese).While they ignore the violence committed by certain Muslim immigrants across Europe. The main concept of a classical liberal is that every individual should be treated equally and have equal rights. While the current liberals are creating separate groups of individual like Gays, Blacks, Woman, Muslims etc. and making them victims and demanding extra rights which is not liberalism.

I would like to hear your views on liberalism of the west infiltrating India and will it make the Right stronger? I ask this is because Modi is using the same tactics of not speaking to  the media and directly speaking to his core followers. May be even he believes our media are liars.  I do feel that we make mockery of our media and Modi online
like the spoof Arnab by TVF and many more examples. I am not of the view that we must have a roast like the one in Washington by Hassan, while people in Odisha, Farmers in Maharashtra and many poor people suffer in India. We are sarcastically critical of our leaders and the media in our own way and making the jokes in front of them does not
get us anywhere. Probably they are offended easily hence don’t want to be mocked live. Anyways as the “great philosopher” Stephen Fry said “It’s now very common to hear people say, ‘I’m rather offended by that.’ As if that gives them certain rights. It’s actually nothing more… than a whine. ‘I find that offensive.’ It has no meaning; it
has no purpose; it has no reason to be respected as a phrase. ‘I am offended by that.’ Well, so fucking what.”

This was my short Whine about the Roast which you all at NL loved and praised.Hope you’ll are not offended. I feel we Indians are uniquely critical of the status quo and need not follow the west, even though there is a lot to be achieved in the freedom of expression department in India. Keep up the Great Work Guys. And can’t wait for Anand
Ranganathan’s Science Desk. Forever a Paid Follower.

Yours truly
Anson Antony ( Pursuing M.A History @ Mumbai)

Dear Madhu Mam,

I respect you and also listen to your show on ‘Newslaundry’. The show is very nice and much needed in today’s time where main stream media is so biased. I really appreciate it.

But I have watched one of the episode of “Clothesline Episode 78- News and Political Satire” where you are keep on using a word “Fuckwa”

which seems to be a mockery of the “Fatwa”. I know many Muslim Mulla give anonymous Fatwa which is sometimes irrelevant. But because of their irrelevant Fatwas on any xyz issues. The word “Fatwa” should not be mocked to make it “Fuckwa”. Here is what “Fatwa” means,

It is an Arabic word, and it literally means “opinion”. Related words in Arabic are “afta”, which means to give an opinion, and “yastafti”, which means to ask for an opinion. In fact, in Arabic countries, an opinion poll is called an “istifta”, which is simply a different form of the same word. As you can see, there is nothing sinister or scary about the word itself.

Mam I respect you and humbly requesting you not to mock this word, “Fatwa” with “Fuckwa” This word has done nothing, Its the people who misuse it. I hope you being intellectual and well qualified will consider my humble request.

Regards,

AlButina,Sharjah
(UAE)