In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan from Scroll. The episode also features three Newslaundry subscribers, Dhiraj Krishna Kumar, S.Harikrishnan and Jefferson Simon.

Abhinandan begins the podcast by asking subscribers why they chose to subscribe to Newslaundry. The trio also shares feedback about areas where Newslaundry can improve.

Moving to the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Rohan gives a blow by blow account of how he was roughed up by middle-aged, saffron-clad men while he was reporting, while personnel from the Delhi police looked on.

Expressing his sympathy towards students who had nothing to do with the incident, Anand notes, “Loss of one year is costly for them. Perhaps more costly than a fee hike”.

Manisha, on the other hand, thinks Anand’s view is a misreading of what actually happened. She emphasizes how the on-campus scuffle changed when men from outside entered the university, pointing to a criminal conspiracy. Dhiraj seconds Manisha and believes that it was unacceptable.

Speaking on the role of the police in JNU violence, Abhinandan says,“ The police’s culpability and involvement in this is so clear.”
Meanwhile, Mehraj backs the protest carried by the students and adds, “As long as there is no violence, it is a pretty legitimate form of protest”. Rohan agrees and adds,” Sure, we can discuss JNU separately. But what was happening outside that gate was a law and order situation. That mob, if they wanted to do something else, they had the impunity to.”

The panel also talks about Kanhaiya Kumar’s oratory skills, Deepika Padukone’s JNU visit, and Delhi elections among other things.

Tune in!