Previous week’s letters: 

Mail 1: Regarding the ‘Eyes on Rafah’ question I’d asked, it wasn’t about the celebrities, and it got a bit sidetracked, the question was about the mainstream Islamophobia in India and how India’s foreign policy leans more towards Israel now (as we speak, videos of ‘Made in India’ missiles used to commit a genocide in Gaza are circulating all over Twitter).

There were people that were offended over how anyone could support Gaza, we even had protests. At the same time, apparently, a pro-Palestine protest is not allowed and cannot be held in India.

Mail 2: Regarding Punjab elections, why has no one questioned the manner in which the entire Amritpal case has been handled?

- His rise was meteoric, but things didn’t make sense (where did he get the money from/his sudden rise after the farmers protest?).

- He was arrested under the NSA, why has there been no prosecution?

- His smooth path to contesting elections while others (Shyam Rangeela) couldn’t.

- Him contesting in a scenario that helped the BJP (by hurting INDIA bloc). 

Parallelly, Sikhs are now the target of hate campaigns that used to target Muslims. Just as I write this, we’ve had a case of a Sikh being beaten up. 

The continued demonisation of Sikhs is aimed at creating a divide. In all of this, can nobody see how these tactics from their playbook are from the BJP’s playbook? The incidents of someone randomly approaching a Sikh and questioning him about Khalistan are very common but sadly none of this makes news anywhere, be it the Godis or the independents.

Mail 3: A continuation of what I’d written last week on Punjab and the “Khalistan” debate. I’d shared the link of an incident last week. It was reported by one non-Godi YT channel.

This week, a cop from Chandigarh was cornered in Himachal Pradesh and misbehaved with. Even the HP police would chip in. There are incidents of tourists from Punjab facing hostility in Himachal.

Kangana getting slapped becomes news and we have debates on “Khalistan”. Yet, when a Sikh is attacked unprovoked, beaten by bricks, termed a Khalistani, pardon my language, but no one gives a fat fuck. When a Sikh policeman is openly called Khalistani (in Bengal), there’s no action of course.

The incident of being cornered by a random person and questioned if ‘I supported Khalistan’ is something I have gone through in Delhi/NCR and amid a few of my friends.

Just sad that this won’t catch attention until someone in Punjab does the retaliatory nonsense and gets branded as a terrorist.

Mail 4: Pardon if the whole thing sounded like a rant. it’s just a concern because I’d rather bring attention to this now than when irreparable damage is done.

World would have been a better place if Tavleen left the Gandhi hatred to one side and used her platform to spread awareness about the hate factory that’s affecting Punjab and the Sikhs across the country. But here we are (shoutout to Hartosh who’s always had a keen eye on this and has spoken about it).

Sorry for the aggressive tone. But in the battle of religion, caste and what not, often the innocent end up paying the price :)

Anonymous

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To understand how the Punjabi population votes during elections, you have to read about the roots of Punjabi militancy, which was brutally repressed by the Punjab police and the Indian judiciary system with a long list of crimes against humanity conducted by the Indian penal system. You have to go further and read about why Punjabis still hold pride in their kingdom from before the British annexations and establishment of the East India Company. Punjabis have kept their history alive through their gurudwaras and folklore. Without tapping into that sentiment you cannot have a real understanding of Punjabi voters.

Jugraj 

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Mail 1: The News Minute – please cover more local stories from Tamil Nadu. I feel Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh conversations get featured more than Tamil Nadu. Kerala comes and goes. YES! We need South Hafta – I look forward and I hope TN is covered extensively. Also, where is Basheer Ahmed in this Hafta? He brings such useful conversations on Tamil Nadu.

Mail 2: Please do a Hafta on NEET from its origin to why it is what it is. Or please include this in Dhanya Rajendran’s no filter. It is confusing and frustrating why this is happening. In fact this could be taken up by your first investigative cell topic.

Sri 

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I had been living in Gujarat until recently when I moved to Delhi for my bachelor’s degree. My friends were always discouraged from befriending Muslims, and in my household, I was frowned upon for wanting to attend garbas during Navratri. The attitude towards Muslims in Hindu households mirrors the attitude towards Hindus in Muslim households. This pervasive intolerance is the main reason I’ve always disliked the idea of religion. Moreover, what I assumed was normal is actually the relentless decline of Gujaratis. Just when it seems like we’ve hit rock bottom, we Gujaratis astonish even ourselves by descending further, as evidenced by the recent housing protests in Vadodara.

Noaman Khan 

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Hello everyone,

Can you please upload the full Hafta episode on YouTube – behind a paywall – so I can stream it on my TV as my parents find it really difficult to navigate the phone app. They would really appreciate it if there is a way to stream it on a TV app.

Shambo 

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Hi NL team, 

I am a long-time subscriber and supporter of NL. Writing to you regarding lots of requests you are getting for video podcasts. It’s surprising that we Indians love and enjoy watching people talk, maybe it’s in our culture. I love listening to podcasts, that’s what podcasts are, but many Indians love the VODCAST video format of podcasts. Nothing against it, it’s all about preferences. And it gives lots of YouTubers and creators a new medium to attract people and earn money and as shown in documentary hardliners, a new medium to spread hate. Keep up the good work.

Harnek Kang 

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To replace cow-vigilantes with a more apt term, I would love to call them “COW-Ards”, but that does not do the job. So I suggest having a broader term called “COWTARDS”.

Ashutosh 

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This week’s letters:

The headlines of Hafta 490 are so fucking infuriating. This bitchass party is destroying India from its core, be it education or basic humanity of us Indians. I’m ashamed of being an Indian because we’ve elected this government for the third time. I can’t.

Noaman 

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On Elon, my views of him are likely very nuanced. It is difficult to find anyone who has been as meaningful in mainstreaming electric cars that are essential in the fight against climate change. His projects, such as Neuralink, are truly awe-inspiring and show the true benefits of tech for humanity. At the same time, he is an extremely vindictive person who has few morals. I think the biography is a very accurate image of what he is like.

I also recommend reading about his relationship with journalists, which, I think, would be of particular interest to Abhinandan. 

Aryan 

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I have subscribed to NL and TNM. Is the Hafta podcast available in video format like we see on YouTube or is it just audio format only?

Rajanvir Mahal 

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