Hafta 214: Official Secrets Act, media and the national security beat, Balakote and more

In the latest episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by the usual gang of Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Madhu Trehan, and special guest Praveen Donthi, staff writer at The Caravan.The discussion takes off with Praveen discussing his cover story on the rise of ANI news agency during the NDA government's tenure. He emphasises how ANI is considered over any other publication and that it reports the government's version of the truth. He adds: “It (ANI) has a monopoly … the story is: the government allowed it to be a monopoly, discouraging other people.”The discussion moves to Attorney General KK Venugopal's remarks in the Supreme Court, where he accused The Hindu of putting "stolen" documents from the Defence Ministry in the public domain which he said violated the Official Secrets Act. Madhu says, “The Official Secrets Act was written in 1923, the date itself should explain it.” The panel unanimously stands for the freedom to question the government. The panel also discusses the aftermath of the Balakote airstrikes, especially the varying numbers cited as "casualties" by media houses with no official confirmation. Praveen talks about how compromised India's national security beat is, citing his 2013 story on the same issue, and the damage these "source-based" reports do. The panel brings up the story on the "lynched" Pakistani Air Force pilot, which later turned out to be fake. Abhinandan asks, "How can the Opposition be accused of setting narrative … does anyone buy that this narrative is set by the Opposition and those who question Modi?" Manisha responds: “Forget the BJP and Congress, the international media … they are testing India’s claims of major damage, destruction of a terror camp … so all the sceptics are responding to what the government has said from day one."This and much more, so listen up!

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