Mar 07 2025 126 mins 14
This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Anand Vardhan are joined by Dr Sumeet Mhaskar, professor of sociology at Jindal School of Government and Public Policy, and Ajoy Bose, veteran journalist and author of Behenji: The Rise and Fall of Mayawati.
The panel first discusses the controversy triggered by Samajwadi Party legislator Abu Azmi’s remarks on Aurangzeb while addressing the Mughal emperor’s portrayal in the film Chhava.
Sumeet provides historical context to the interpretation of Aurangzeb and Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj’s legacies in Maharashtra. Explaining how they are shaped by competing narratives, he says: “Much more communalised interpretation is projected through movies, history textbooks, and plays”. The return of Aurangzeb to headlines shows that we are using the present to judge the past, rather than letting history inform our present, he notes.
Commenting on Aurangzeb’s legacy, Manisha adds, “When you look at the Mughals, I would say Aurangzeb was the worst of them...He's an odd hill to die on, especially for current politicians.”
The panel then analyses the “political decline” of Mayawati, and her decision to suspend nephew Akash Anand from the Bahujan Samaj Party.
Ajoy terms the suspension as a “significant moment”. Commenting on Mayawati’s “disruptive” thinking, he says: “If Kanshiram was the strategic genius who thought of using Dalits to become a political force, Mayawati was the person who delivered”.
On where things went wrong for Mayawati, he remarks, “She got quite distracted by her prime ministerial dream being thrashed and made fundamental mistakes in handling the social alliance which brought her to power.”
As Abhinandan and Sumeet point to BSP’s cadre being the strength of the party, Anand underlines Mayawati’s “lack of political agility” as one of the reasons for BSP’s decline.
This and a lot more. Tune in!
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Timecodes
00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements
00:03:09 – Headlines
00:03:09 – Was history always controversial?
00:17:24 – Aurangzeb’s return to headlines
00:53:19 – Mayawati and the future of BSP
01:32:03 – Sumeet’s recommendation
01:39:30 – Ajoy’s recommendation
01:51:06 – Letters
01:59:40 – Recommendations
Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters
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