Share

cover art for Hafta 400: Hindi ‘imposition’ in India, Congress presidential polls

NL Hafta

Hafta 400: Hindi ‘imposition’ in India, Congress presidential polls

This week to celebrate 400 episodes of NL Hafta, it’s an all-Newslaundry panel featuring Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Mehraj D Lone, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan.The discussion begins with the “imposition” of Hindi in India, Amit Shah’s comments at Hindi Diwas on the promotion of Hindi, and whether India needs a “link language” to tie people together.Jayashree thinks English is a suitable link language, if India needs one, but Manisha disagrees. Anand says non-Hindi speakers should continue taking up Hindi naturally without any immediate imposition by the government, which he deems unconstitutional.The panel also talks about the drama surrounding the Congress president election. The Media Rumble is back in its sixth edition! Register here to attend: https://twagateway.com/themediarumble/ticketBookings/Tickets 

00:02:00 - Headlines

00:41:51 - Language imposition 

01:32:00 - Congress presidential polls

01:44:19  - Recommendations

Jayashree

After Decades In Jail, A 95-Year-Old Terror Convict Mounts A Legal Battle To Go Home To Die

Modi Has Destroyed More Temples Than Aurangzeb: Vishwanath Temple Mahant

Manisha

A Sibling Disappears, and the Mystery Repeats ItselfWhat’s ‘stopping’ India Inc from investing in India?

Anand

His story is China’s history: Xi uses versions of historical analysis to serve the party as well as his personal ambitions

Mehraj

Postmodernism disrobedThe Forgotten Lessons of the Recovered Memory Movement

Raman

Sidney

Abhinandan

Oracle India Paid US$400,000 to Railway Company Officials for a Contract in 2019: US SEC

Real Dictators: Lenin

More episodes

View all episodes

  • Chota Hafta 584

    18:20|
    This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Anand Vardhan are joined by Bashir Ali Abbas, Research Associate at Council for Strategic and Defence Research (CSDR) and Amit Kumar, executive editor of East Mojo.  Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Anil Kumar
  • Chota Hafta 583

    15:07|
    This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by senior journalist Sreenivasan Jain and Dhanya Rajendran, editor-in-chief of The News Minute. The panel dives into the high-stakes 2026 assembly elections across Assam, West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Puducherry. Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Priyali Dhingra and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Anil Kumar
  • Chota Hafta 582

    01:44:30|
    This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Manisha Pande are joined by The New York Times journalist Mujib Mashal and Aishwaria Sonavane, research analyst for Pakistan studies at the Takshashila Institution.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Priyali Dhingra and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Anil Kumar
  • Chota Hafta 581

    19:28|
    This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by independent journalist Nidhi Suresh and Mridul Dudeja, a freelance technologist who has been engaged with queer-trans community spaces in Mumbai and across India for over 15 years. Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav Ranjan and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Anil Kumar
  • Chota Hafta 580

    01:50:57|
    This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan discuss three big themes: Nitish Kumar’s succession politics in Bihar, religion creeping into sport, and the ethics of euthanasia.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Saif Ekram and Abhay Kumar. Sound by Naresh.
  • Chota Hafta 579

    22:46|
    This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri,  Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by AFP’s chief US correspondent Shaun Tandon and Aditya Ramanathan, research fellow at Takshila Institution. Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with Production assistant by Saif Ekram. Sound by Anil Kumar 
  • Chota Hafta 578

    19:50|
    This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by academic and columnist Fahad Zuberi and Kallol Bhattacherjee, the foreign affairs editor of The Hindu.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and subscriber letters.Produced by Amit Pandey & Priyali DhingraSound by Anil Kumar 
  • Chota Hafta 577

    17:02|
    This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Amba Kak, a tech policy expert and researcher, and Alex Travelli, the South Asia business correspondent for The New York Times.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and subscriber letters.Produced by Ashish Anand & Amit Pandey. Sound by Anil Kumar 
  • Chota Hafta 576

    20:58|
    This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by filmmaker Sudhir Mishra and senior journalist Arati Jerath.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and subscriber letters.Produced by Amit PandeyAssistant production by AshishSound design by Anil Kumar