Hafta 550: Opposition’s protest against Bihar SIR, SC’s stray dogs order, and Uttrakashi floods

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by Priya Sahgal, editorial director at NewsX, Jasmine Damkewala, advocate on record in the Supreme Court, and senior journalist Hridayesh Joshi.

The episode opens with a discussion on the opposition’s protest against the special intensive revision (SIR) exercise in Bihar. Priya states that when the opposition sets aside its differences, it can make an impact. “The fact that everybody came together, even the AAP, even though they're not part of the India Block itself, also showed there is unity. When the opposition comes in full strength, they can make an impact and a difference,” she says. 

Referring to Rahul Gandhi’s press conference on alleged voter fraud, Manisha notes how it is unusual for a political party to assume the role traditionally played by the media. “However journalistically sound it may be or not be, it’s still striking that political parties today also have to do the media’s job of starting a narrative through such investigations, because very few organisations have actually invested time in looking into this issue and the related complaints.”

The conversation then shifts to the Supreme Court’s order to remove stray dogs from Delhi’s streets. Jasmine Damkewala notes that the dog population surged during the pandemic, when government-led sterilisation drives came to a halt. “Especially during COVID, no sterilisations were happening, or very little… The thing is, the state government is not really doing sterilisations. They do very little, and for that, too, they send the dogs to NGOs and pay them for it.” 

Manisha adds that the court’s solution seems unworkable as there aren’t enough shelters to house the dogs. “This is Delhi – we haven’t even figured out shelters for humans during extreme heat waves or extreme cold waves,” she says.

Abhinandan agrees and says, “For the Supreme Court to pass an order that is unimplementable is ridiculous. We have to acknowledge there’s a problem, but this is certainly not the solution.”

For the discussion on the Uttarakhand disaster, Hridayesh joins from ground zero. He recounts his journey to the site of the tragedy, despite being denied permission by the local authorities. He also discussed the current situation at Dharali, the village most affected by the flood. 

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Timecodes

00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements

00:05:46 – Headlines 

00:16:47 - Opposition’s protest & INDIA bloc unity

00:44:31- Priya’s recommendations

00:47:53 - SC’s decision on stray dogs 

01:11:04 - Updates on Uttarkashi disaster

01:24:27- Letters

01:33:40- Recommendations

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.

Produced and recorded by Amit Pandey and Naresh. 

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