Hafta 250: Ayodhya, Sabarimala, JNU protests, and more

In this episode, the usual Hafta gang of Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone, Anand Vardhan and Madhu Trehan is joined by Alok Prasanna Kumar, a senior resident fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy.

The podcast begins with the panellists airing their views on the Ayodhya verdict and the Sabarimala issue. While discussing the Supreme Court’s verdict on Ayodhya, Alok says, “The burden of proof falls on both people and both sides have to prove this claim. What the Supreme court has said is quite puzzling.” He points out that the Muslims had been offering namaaz on that particular piece of land since 1857 and that one could not deny their claim to the particular part of that property. Speaking on the Sabarimala issue, he suggests, “You cannot, by law, impose a certain kind of religious prohibition that goes against the constitutional principles.”

Speaking about an email by a subscriber about political advertising on Twitter, Mehraj comments, “One person shouldn’t have the power to decide what goes and doesn’t go on social media platforms”. He thinks it is ‘undemocratic’.

The panel then moves on to discuss the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress alliance in Maharashtra and the political logistics of the coalition. The discussion was sparked by an opinion piece that suggested the trio has fallen into a trap laid down by Amit Shah. The panel disagrees.

The panel also discusses the air pollution in Delhi and JNU protests among other things

Listen in! There’s more.

Hafta Letters: On Obama’s hatred for Twitter, Aatish Taseer’s exile and more

References

Ayodhya judgment: SC using faith and religion to settle Ramjanmabhoomi title claim is disingenuous and insincere

Ayodhya verdict: A conundrum of fact, fiction and faith

Ayodhya verdict: How claims of ‘mental worship’ at Babri Masjid helped win it for Hindus

Lights, Camera, Jai Shri Ram! A reporter’s account of news debates live from Ayodhya

TN Seshan: The crusader and newsmaker India needed in the 1990s

Listen, Mister Muslim. You are rightly upset with the Ayodhya verdict as it puts faith above law

Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress are walking into an Amit Shah trap in Maharashtra

The Day I Got My Green Card