This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan are joined by author and political analyst Sanjaya Baru.
The discussion begins with Donald Trump being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States of America. The panel analyses the fears of a second Trump presidency. “He will do a lot of damage, yes, but the fear of Trump is greatly exaggerated,” Sanjaya says, adding that India, and the world, historically, has shown the ability to withstand imperialist powers.
Jayashree adds, “Trump comes off as unhinged, but he is the essence of what America is like.”
The panel also addresses the Indian media’s exaggeration of Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s presence in the ‘front row’ at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony. Commenting on India-US relations, Manisha says, “The Joe Biden administration was kind to Narendra Modi’s administration…if Trump is not accommodative, it will affect BJP’s ‘vishwaguru’ politics domestically.”
The panel also discusses how the CBI and TMC government are appealing for the death penalty in the RG Kar case, and catches up on all the subscriber letters we’ve received so far.
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Timecodes
00:00:00 - Introductions and announcements
00:03:04 - Baru on his book ‘India’s Power Elite’
00:08:12 - Headlines
00:20:28 - The return of Donald Trump
00:40:43 - Economic impact of a second Trump presidency
00:55:27 - Baru on Manmohan Singh
01:02:43 - Baru’s recommendations
01:04:43 - Death penalty
01:16:44 - Letters
01:59:46 - Recommendations
Check out Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters
Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Anil Kumar.