Hafta letters: Canada-India standoff, Khalistan, and US elections

Thanks for the fantastic report on government expenditure on PM’s visits. Can you do an investigation report on the bouquets presented to dignitaries by politicians from government funds? Also, what happens to them after the presentation?

Madan Mohan Sharma 

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Hello,

Regarding the letter from Parit24, I wholeheartedly agree with him. I also avoid logging in to YouTube unless I have to. As Manisha understood, it requires a lot of patience. Therefore, perhaps you can upload MP4 and MP3 files, which we can download and watch. As Abhinandan mentioned, you already take some leakage as a cost of doing business, so even if someone downloads and shares the MP4 files with someone else, NL is more likely to gain followers and subscribers. In the MP4 at the end, you can even include the YouTube channel thumbnail so that people who are happy to use YouTube can reach the NL YouTube channel.

Atin

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In last Hafta, some subscriber wrote in about caste-based discrimination and how it permeates today and how a judge said the caste system never existed and it was the varna system, etc. A major blunder has been made in our constitution; our constitution is the only one in India that states “Equality amongst equals” – we were taught about this in school, with an example saying a pauper can’t be equalised to a prince, and in practice equality can only be achieved amongst equals. This is whitewashing the caste system and propagating it. It should only say equality among all Indians. Equality among equals, by definition, is casteism.

Manan Shah 

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NL Hafta podcast lacks diversity in terms of age. It is important that you include younger citizens (millennials and Gen Z) in your podcasts once in a while so that we get their perspective on the country, what they think are today’s issues, and what their solutions are. It’ll offer a fresh perspective to your podcast listeners. They are also the future of this country.

Ramadas 

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I wanted to write to disagree with Stanly’s statement from episode 508 that democracy vs autocracy doesn’t matter when it comes to geopolitics/alliances. Almost no wars have occurred between two democracies in history. Just look at the EU, which has the highest number of wars historically, and countries like Germany, France, and Poland have every reason to go to war against each other historically to reclaim lost territory. The cooperation of all these countries has only come after democratisation after WW2 and the Cold War. It’s not a coincidence that most of the democratic countries are tilting towards the US/West, while most of the dictatorships like Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea are teaming up with some exceptions.

Niketh Gorla 

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The panellist’s views on democracy were not in good taste. Regardless of democracies aligning with dictators or military actions overseas, there is a key difference between them and dictatorships. The citizens of democracies have the power to overthrow the government. The decision to go to war is taken collectively by elected candidates, not by a self-appointed dictator.

The discussion made very light of democracies. With all the shortcomings, democracies are the best form of government, where citizens have some semblance of power. These are dangerous ideas. I expected better from Newslaundry. I have heard my own acquaintances say monarchy is better.

Whatever Israel is doing, its citizens can overthrow the Netenyahu regime; can it happen in Russia or China?

Dheeraj Bhardwaj 

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Hi guys! Great job as always. I know Hafta is a podcast, but is it possible to upload video along with the podcasts to the app (like you do with the teasers on YouTube)? That would be great!

Vibhu Khanna 

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Deeply hurt and angered by everyone’s hate towards vada pav. It isn’t supposed to be a healthy dish, but tasty it is. Bombay being a city of mill workers back in the day, the vadapav was a convenient meal for mill workers because it was quick to make, cheap, and could be eaten on crowded trains. It was essentially a meal to be had on-the-go. Also, a source of carbs considering the labour they had to perform. So next time, any of the team members are in Bombay, I would happily like to make you eat a vada pav that I cherish! Other than that, cheers for all the good work. I eagerly wait for the Hafta episodes every week.

Ishita 

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Hi Manisha, liked your interview with Aditya Thackeray. Interesting to hear his views on adapting with the times and amused by him having to say Balasaheb was the most liberal man he knew. I think there should have been some detailed discussion on Raj Thackeray and that first schism in the Shiv Sena. He may be a non-essential player in the polls, but I feel that would have added an important layer to the long conversation you had on the evolution of the Shiv Sena’s politics.

Huge respect for all your work. Each Hafta panelist has opinions I agree with and opinions that annoy me, which probably means I can trust you guys more than others in the media. Proud to be a part of this.

Salman 

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Great work on Hafta, NL team! I’ve been going through several of the archives that are available on video.

The insights from the experts are welcome. Each of them gives great insight into their areas of expertise. Love the insights from Anand. He’s often the contrarian view on the panel. The recommendations and the helpful collation in the spreadsheet are an underrated benefit.

Still waiting for the TNM Hafta. It would be nice to have some coverage of Telangana on the TNM Hafta, which, as a resident of this state, I find lacking. Maybe it’s because nothing too exciting happens here, which I’m grateful for in a way.

I take back my previous criticism of Abhinandan about his comments on “fucking nerds”. Having watched more of the Hafta archives, he seems to get carried away frequently, but without malice. Let Abhinandan be Abhinandan!

By the way, I subscribed *after* the election. Your great joint coverage with the other independent news outlets and the free Hafta episodes drew me in.

Anonymous 

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Stubble burning on a large scale happens for 15 days a year. Are we saying that Delhi’s air is clean for the rest of the year? The main reason for Delhi’s air pollution is vehicular pollution. That combined with low wind speeds makes the air toxic in winter Note the days when wind speed is high and you will notice remarkably better air quality. The truth is that no government has been able to do anything about it. Delhi has over 10. 22 million motorized vehicles. People take pride in carrying their SUVs on the roads and then complain about AQI.

If there are FIRs against farmers, there should be FIRs against people who travel more than a prescribed limit of kilometres in their SUVs in a week. Against politicians who have not been able to fix the public transport systems. Blaming farmers is again blaming the most vulnerable stakeholders. There are constraints that farmers have to deal with. A 15-day gap between Rabi and Kharif crops, high labour costs, low payment on farm produce, etc.

Nishtha 

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Hey guys, I didn’t agree with one thing Abhinandan said in the last pod where he claimed that Israel is a 'democracy'. Well, it isn't. It is a Jewish ethnostate that practices apartheid against the Arabs in the country. There are literal zoning areas created where only Jews can buy properties or even walk on the road. It's just that before October 7, the spotlight was not on the country, but now things have continued to come out.

Ta Nehisi Coates is one of the people who has been in the spotlight recently when he talked about his stay in Israel and shared some shocking revelations from that region.

You can take a look at this link where Jon Stewart is interviewing him about the same.

https://youtu.be/d0-y0X51Xtw?si=Mgw_V0XOtXOx4Pp_

Just to add one more thing about the Israel-Palestine discussion you guys had earlier. Maybe we could have rounded off the entire discussion by talking about what India is doing in all of this? Lest we forget, we are still supplying weapons to Israel.

Anonymous 

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Regarding the US elections, I do think there's something very interesting going on with the Trump campaign, especially that maybe we might see replicated in our elections (the next time we have it).

- There was one debate, and that’s it, Trump understood he cannot get the better of Kamala in that setting

- The adversarial interviews with any of the media houses slowly became a ‘no-no’

- Focus on white washing his image by screeching off some of the biggest pods on the internet (guess all of them are right-wing), the most recent being Joe Rogan (Kamala also did a few but not as extensive as Trump)

These pods have organic audiences built on trust, and they won’t be adversarial; media houses cannot claim that. It’s a way of curating what message the candidate wants to send out. The media won’t provide the organic audience.

In India, we saw a bit of it with Modi this time, but I assume by the time we have the next one, these pods would take over (BeerBiceps and the other sasta versions of it).

Anonymous 

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Mail 1:

Regarding the discussion on the pro-Khalistan sentiments abroad, one thing that should be stressed most is the role the Indian government plays in all of this.

Does Canada have a role to play? For sure it does, but the rise of pro-Khalistan voices has a direct correlation with what has been happening in India. Until 2014, these were fringe groups already, but nobody cared what that lot had to say. Then came the farmers protest and suddenly “Khalistanis”. This globally gave oxygen to these fringe groups.

Sikhs being openly told to prove patriotism to India by RW accounts (followed by Modi, by the way). And then Kangana. And a police officer was called a Khalistani in Bengal by Suvendu Adhikari, but nothing happened. Then the perpetrators of the 1984 riots were acquitted. Then, a Sikh shopkeeper was killed in Haryana by random goons who kept calling him Khalistani. 

If the fringe groups abroad claim Sikhs are not being treated well in India, the BJP makes sure that it proves them right. 

Mail 2:

These are mostly isolated incidents, and Sikhs in general are not suffering a plight that Muslims do in our country.

At the same time, if we talk to a friend or a former colleague living in Canada, the UK, or Australia, they talk about how these incidents are highlighted and run on repeat as propaganda of hate against India.

The gurudwaras are plastered with images highlighting these incidents, while in India most of the media does not even cover a lot of things until a Kangana is slapped.

It’s a very simple thing: hate breeds hate; polarisation breeds polarisation.

The BJP project of branding any dissenting voice is where this all began. All of these two-rupee goons like Pannun would not see the light of the day if we didn’t divide our population

A Sikh getting branded a “Khalistani” has become an everyday thing now. Sherbir talked about it as well. Why? Because of manufactured polarisation. We end that and we end a lot of our problems. 

Sorry for the long post :)

Anonymous 

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I appreciate the conversation you recently had on the Canadian-India diplomatic standoff. As someone who grew up in Punjab and immigrated to Canada 12 years ago, I wanted to provide some context that I felt was missing from your discussion.

I was born and raised as a Jain in Punjab and came to Canada as an international student 12 years ago when I was 21. My family remains in Punjab, and I visit often. I volunteer in Canadian politics and currently serve on the federal NDP executive, which operates similarly to the Congress Working Committee for India’s INC. Over the years, I’ve engaged with a diverse diaspora, including Jagmeet Singh and his brother Gurratan, and I believe a few key nuances were overlooked in your discussion.

NDP Support and Trudeau’s Actions:

The NDP’s support for Trudeau has little to do with personal identity politics. Unlike India, Canadian politics is not defined by religion, caste, or identity. The NDP is a centre-left party with 25 elected MPs, and Jagmeet Singh is the only Sikh member. Neither his party nor the Prime Minister would risk accusing a foreign government like India without compelling evidence.

Limited NDP Influence on Federal Actions:

The NDP supported the Trudeau government through a Supply and Confidence Agreement, which focused on policies like dental care, paid sick leave, and tax changes—not foreign affairs. The NDP’s influence is limited to these areas. Jagmeet’s own riding of Burnaby South is majority white and East Asian, with South Asians making up only about 10 percent of the vote.

End of NDP Support:

The Supply and Confidence Agreement ended on September 4, 2024. In the most recent confidence vote, the Trudeau government was saved by the Bloc Québécois, a separatist party that advocates for Quebec’s independence. It’s worth noting that advocating for separatism is legal in Canada, even within Parliament.

On Labeling and Misconceptions:

While I agree that Canada’s handling of Khalistani investigations — particularly the Air India bombing — has been flawed, labeling figures like Hardeep Singh Nijjar as terrorists without concrete evidence is problematic. Nijjar and Gurpatwant Singh Pannu may both be vocal separatists, but without concrete evidence of violent actions, why is Nijjar labeled a terrorist while Pannu is dismissed as merely a clown?

Violation of Sovereignty:

The core issue for Canadians is the alleged assassination of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil. Covert operations of this nature are unacceptable here. If India had evidence against Nijjar, it should have shared it with Canadian authorities. That’s the protocol followed by the U.S. and other allies—not sending operatives across borders. Encounters by law enforcement agencies, unlike in India, are not normalised and horrifying.

Diaspora Dynamics:

The diaspora, especially those with ties to the 1984 violence, often connect personal identity with historical trauma. This can foster strong emotional ties to movements like Khalistan, even if the idea seems outdated. The rhetoric from Indian media and the labeling of protesting farmers as Khalistani only deepen the divide.

Khalistan’s Limited Relevance in Canada:

Khalistan is largely a fringe cause in Canada, confined to certain gurdwaras. Figures like Nijjar and Pannu use it more as a fundraising tool than an actual revolutionary movement. However, India's actions abroad and the celebratory response from Indian social media risk reigniting sentiments that had otherwise faded.

Here are a few lyrics from Kissan Anthem by Mankirt Aulakh and Shree Brar that capture the emotions surrounding this divide:

“Ho haje daang de jawaab ch langar denne aa

Je kitte daang utte aage sukke mame ni jaane

Jinna nu tu attwadi kehndi delhiye

Je attwadi hoge tetho sambhe ni jaane”

I apologise for the length of this letter but felt the context was important. Feel free to use the parts you find relevant for your discussion.

Thank you for your work in keeping news free.

References:

1. Supply & Confidence Agreement - https://www.pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2022/03/22/delivering-canadians-now

2. Burnaby South Overview - https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burnaby_South

3. Current Party Standings in Parliament - https://www.ourcommons.ca/members/en/party-standings

Tushar Jain 

***

(Rant Part 1) 

This is in response to the discussions in Hafta between Manisha and the so-called expert who knew everything about Khalistanis and the Sikh diaspora in Canada. This discussion was so shallow and, in my opinion, the second lowest point in Hafta discussions only after the fiasco after Ayodhya Ram temple, when half of you walked in distributing laddus and spent the next two weeks defending yourselves.

The commonality between both the discussions is your failure to be aware of your blindspots and how tone-deaf your points were. This is a rant, unfortunately. But let me give you one example of why it was uncomfortable to listen to your discussion.

India hired a goon to kill a Sikh separatist in Canada. Hiding this under the garb of “intelligence failure”, allegation vs evidence, and “how should friendly countries handle this” is a deflection (I assume unintentionally) from the fact that this conduct is shameful. The state cannot hire goons to kill people. Period.

(Rant Part 2) 

A majority of Sikhs who migrate nowadays use student visas as a transition mechanism instead of applying for asylum. And a very very small percentage of those who are illiterate and cannot use the student visa route apply for asylum. And yes, they claim they are persecuted in India. During the 80s and 90s, this claim was true, though.

Generalising this to all Sikhs is unfair and an attempt at character assassination of the diaspora. All who leave India work very very hard to make a living in the countries they migrate to and suffer from a plethora of mental illnesses induced primarily from loneliness and separation from their families because trips to India are expensive. The ones who apply for asylum, by definition, cannot come back for up to 7-8 years at a time. It basically sacrifices a generation to provide fair opportunities to the next generation.

(Rant Part 3) 

Instead of talking about how racist immigration rules exploit the majority of those who migrate in such fashion, your discussion made dubious points such as "oh they claim asylum and then they come back to show off their wealth in Punjab". This is so distasteful. You should invite better "experts" to talk about this topic. Or just skip the topic if you are so unaware of the subject instead of making a caricature out of the discussion.

I know you have to watch a lot of propaganda TV for your TV Newsanse research, but please remember that’s not the bar to set for yourself, or even doing a little bit better than that is not what you strive for. Bring nuanced discussions for sensitive topics instead of bogey experts to echo your blindspots.

Sorry about breaching the text limit, but the app counts white space and exclamations as characters too.

Jugraj 

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