This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan are joined by writer and podcaster Amit Varma. 

The panel first discusses pre-Holi communal concerns, including a Sambhal cop saying Muslims should stay inside this Holi if they don’t want to be smeared with colour. Jayashree says communal provocations during Holi have become normal: “We have this delusional idea of Hindus and Muslims holding hands and celebrating Holi. But that is not the country we live in now.” 

Anand explains the history of Bhojpuri Holi songs and the evolution of vulgarity. “The sexualised space has been taken into account by the pop music industry for its titillation value…These songs were not always vulgar, some even represented female desire.”

The panel then moves on to the controversies around the recently concluded Champions Trophy. Abhinandan says, “There was nothing offensive about the Indian team not wanting to go to Pakistan due to security issues. Look at what has happened with the Balochistan train hijack this week.” 

Amit explains the tariff wars with the US: “Of all that Trump is doing, tariffs are the most bizarre. They are a disaster, period, and this has been the economic consensus for the last 200 years.” 

This and a lot more. Tune in!

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Timecodes

00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements

00:03:22 – Headlines 

00:19:33 - Holi and communal narratives

00:26:41 - Holi and vulgar songs

00:42:52 - Introduction to tariff wars

00:45:37 - Champions Trophy and cricket controversies

01:01:08 - Tariff wars

01:39:38 - Amit’s recommendations

01:42:17 - Panel recommendations

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters 

Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra, Hassan Bilal and Anil Kumar. 

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