Hafta letters: Abhinandan’s authoritarian tendencies, freebies, academics on Hafta

Hello team,

I have been a subscriber for three years now. Discovered NL through Newsance and got hooked. Appreciate ground reports, Hafta, Charcha, and LTA. Manisha and Jayashree are awesome. I like the way Anand weaves his words into sentences in a very measured tone. Though I am not able to go through everything, it feels like you are doing some good work. Something like social service on my behalf. Thank you.

I have realised there is simply no one that I can share these articles and videos with. It seems everyone in my family, workplace and friend circle is a far-right Modi bhakt, many with really extreme views. I have had two serious fights with my wife on political issues after which I put a moratorium on such discussions at home. I wonder if I am alone in experiencing this. Anyways, keep up the good work.

Anonymous

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Late to the party but I listened to the Let’s Talk About series on RSS. It was fascinating and probably one of the most comprehensive accounts of RSS I have heard. Thanks a lot for starting this series. This is exactly what I as a subscriber expect.

I wanted to share it with some of my family members, but I know their response would be that this is a one-sided account, factual but selective. Every interpretation of history is biased and therefore I wonder what can be done differently to bring this other voice in these discussions and give an equal chance to share their version. I know this is not easy, but I wonder how we can break this idea of your truth vs mine? Your work is brilliant, but will that change the perspective of those on the other side? I am not sure.

Will always be your supporter. Keep up the good work.

ND

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Hi Hafta panel,

I have written to you to shed light on the recent deterioration in content quality on Hafta. Though your topical guests and their takes are very enlightening, the constant and unwarranted interruptions by Abhinandan of the panellists and guests are unbearable.

I have also noticed that Chota Hafta on YouTube nowadays has started carrying a thumbnail that only has Abhinandan's face. Maybe some inspiration is being drawn here from Dankapati, so much so that I would call this a Silent Coup. If this goes on any further we might have to contact Josy Joseph and ask him to write another book specifically about this.

I would humbly request Abhinandan to keep his authoritarian tendencies at bay. Let other panellists complete their trains of thought and either put all of the Hafta panellists' faces on the thumbnail or none. Maybe this great song by the revolutionary poet Gorakh Pandey will induce some sense of representation in you.

Regards,

Pritom

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Hi Team NL,

On the "freebie" issue, I agree with Jayashree that the court is edging itself into an executive issue. My freebie could be your necessity, and so is best decided by the elected local government than some unelected, unaccountable "experts" in Delhi.

Some states already pay more tax to the Centre than they get back, and now a central council will dictate what they can give back to their own citizens from their own funds. I doubt this council will rein in Yogi's schemes and loan waivers because that's not politically expedient to the BJP, so the losers will be states that have more money but less representation at the Centre.

This is yet another blow at federalism. Between this, GST and upcoming delimitation, which will reduce power at the Centre for some well-performing states, I wonder why even have state governments at all. Let Modiji run everything in his infinite wisdom and eliminate "revadi", and centrally plan everything.

Suhas

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Please check the Harghartiranga.com website. It's on the .com domain and the website lookup doesn't show proper registry details. The website is storing GPS coordinates of every member with their name and phone number. It might be used for a precise electoral campaign. Do check it before reporting.

Sameen

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The discussion about bureaucracy and freebie culture could be contextualised better with conversations with economists. Karthik Muralidharan (an economist), in a recent podcast (The Seen and the Unseen) talked about how investment in welfare schemes is not enough without investment in governmental infrastructure. Having him, or some other economist on the podcast to understand this issue might be nice.

I like when you get academics (like Hilal Ahmed) on the podcast, because they break down arguments very systematically. Great job NL team! Hafta is my source of weekly news and gives me food for thought each time. More power to you :D

Simar

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Hello NL staff, I'm a first time subscriber and I would like to thank you for trying this model of news podcast, which I have listened to from the US for a long time. I believe this is the only way the future of news can sustain, without being the lapdogs of power.

Sourav