Hafta 518: Bihar protests, Moradabad murder, Hindutva campaigns

NL Hafta

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Shardool Katyayan are joined by The News Minute’s Pooja Prasanna.

The panel begins with protests in Bihar against a ‘paper leak’ in the Bihar Public Service Commission preliminary exam. Jayashree explains, “The normalisation process for exams has been rejected outright by the BPSC, but it’s a standard procedure in other competitive exams.” Shardool emphasises systemic delays and negligence, stating, “Students are aging out of eligibility because of these recurring delays – it’s a vicious cycle.”

The conversation turned to the lynching of a Muslim man in Moradabad over allegations of cow slaughter. Shardool calls it an “economic issue as well as a social issue” since “most victims of lynchings are from the lower economic strata, unable to defend themselves legally or socially”. Jayashree criticises the media’s reportage of such incidents: “We don’t report these as murders; they are contextualised as actions driven by allegations – almost a justification.”

Abhinandan adds, “It’s telling that the prime minister and government are quick to comment on global issues but remain silent on hate crimes within the country.” Pooja highlights the impunity enjoyed by repeat offenders: “In Karnataka, a hate offender live-streamed attacks and continues to engage in hate speech, even while out on bail.”

The panel closes with predictions for 2025. Raman predicts worsening economic conditions, saying, “Public sentiment is unlikely to favour large-scale protests despite growing discontent.” Abhinandan sums it up, “If we want systemic change, citizens need to harness collective power to push politicians to act. Protests alone won’t be enough.”

This and a lot more. Tune in!

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Video timecodes

00:00:00 - Introductions

00:01:39 - Announcements

00:06:36- Headlines

00:18:54 - Bihar paper leak protests

00:30:58- Moradabad Murder

00:41:51 - Hindutva’s growing influence and economic motivations

00:53:26 - Panel’s predictions for 2025

01:10:11- Special Message

01:12:46 - Subscriber letters

01:32:24 - Recommendations

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters

Produced and recorded by Prashant Kumar and Priyali Dhingra.

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