NL Hafta

The alleged theft of donations from the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya has opened a window into the opaque finances of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust. Our Hafta panel discusses the SIT investigation into missing funds from donation boxes, the unanswered questions around the crores collected during the temple construction drive, and the land purchase controversy that implicated trustee Anil Mishra – with no consequences.The panel examines who Champat Rai (the general secretary of the trust) is, why allegations are being made against him, and what Nripendra Misra – former principal secretary at the PMO and chairman of the Temple Construction Committee – characterising the incident as a “dacoity” rather than theft signals about the political dynamics at play. With UP assembly elections months away and resentment running deep in Ayodhya, the panel asks: Is this about stolen money, or a power struggle within the RSS over control of the trust?Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav.Sound by Anil Kumar.

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, and Rinchen Norbu are joined by a very special guest – our former colleague Jayashree Arunachalam. Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav. Research inter Manya Garg .Sound by Anil Kumar.

This week on Hafta, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Shardool Katyayan are joined by journalist, author and former Amnesty India executive director Aakar Patel.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters. Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Abhay. Sound by Anil Kumar.

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan and Rinchen Norbu are joined by veteran journalist Neerja Chowdhury. Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav . Sound by Anil Kumar. Research Intern Manya Garg.  

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Anand Vardhan are joined by Suhasini Haidar,  Diplomatic Affairs Editor at The Hindu.In this week’s episode, the discussion moves from PM Modi’s Europe tour, particularly his visit to Norway, to press freedom. Suhasini Haidar, who was present at the venue in Oslo, describes how shocked Norwegian journalists were to learn that the Indian Prime Minister would not be taking questions at all. She says, “We have so normalised in the Indian media this idea that the prime minister doesn’t take unscripted questions, that we didn’t even clock how big a deal it was for Europeans.”Haidar criticises the way the focus shifts to attacking the reporter’s background, ideology, and even personal life, rather than engaging with the issue she raised.“The focus became about that journalist — who she is, what her background is, where she goes on vacation. It’s not about the question anymore. It is about the fact that the prime minister does not take unscripted questions.”Abhinandan Sekhri points out how deeply normalised this culture has become in India. “It is so alien to journalists outside India. They are shocked at the kind of barrage and abuse that follows a simple question,” he remarks while discussing the online trolling and threats directed at the Norwegian journalist after the incident.Manisha Pande argues that the government’s response to the controversy reveals how deeply political communication in India is driven by headline management rather than accountability. She adds, “The focus is so much on controlling the headlines, which you've managed to do in India so well that that is all your focus, and you've been unable to do it with the world media, so you don't get it. Like, why are these guys asking us questions? But I think this basic understanding that the world is not going to bend in the way that the Indian media has to you, large parts of it, many are free, but a large part of the loud primetime segment has completely given in to you.”All this and more.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Ashish . Sound by Anil Kumar.

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Rinchen Norbu and Raman Kirpal are joined by business journalist Govindraj Ethiraj and Anushka Saxena, a researcher from the Takshashila Institution.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Ashish . Sound by Anil Kumar.

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Anand Vardhan are joined by senior journalist Aunindyo Chakravarty and The Hindu resident editor Varghese K George.The panel begins with what the recent poll results mean and if traditional election analysis is even equipped to understand the playing field.  Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav. Sound by Anil Kumar.

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri and Manisha Pande are joined by Anupam Manur, professor of economics at the Takshashila Institute, and former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav. Sound by Anil Kumar

This week on Hafta, Manisha Pande and Anand Vardhan are joined by Pooja Prasanna of The News Minute and Sobhana K Nair, senior deputy editor of The Hindu. The panel focuses sharply on the assembly elections in Tamil Nadu and West Bengal, and the contentious issue of delimitation.Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.Produced by Amit Pandey with production assistance from Sourav. Sound by Naresh