This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, and Manisha Pande are joined by ex-Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi, and academic Professor R Manivannan. Dr Quraishi says that ensuring a level-playing field is the Election Commission’s “dharma”. He says it is necessary for conducting free and fair elections which are “a basic structure of the Constitution”. He adds that the EC follows the principle of “what can wait must wait”, and asks whether the arrest of opposition leaders could have waited. On the Katchatheevu island issue, Prof. Manivannan says the island was historically “within the revenue region of the king of Ramanathapuram”, adding that by 1976, the fishing rights of  Tamil fishermen had been taken away in the region. “What happens to the population that relies on fishing in the region?” he asks. This and a lot more. Tune in! We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here.  Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media.  Download the Newslaundry app. General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans. Click here to support us. Timecodes 00: 02:41 - Headlines 00:10:53 - Role of Election Commission 41:01:30- Katchatheevu  01:22:01 - Letters 01:46:48 - Recommendations  Hafta letters, recommendations, songs and references Check out our previous Hafta recommendations. Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta and Priyali Dhingra, edited by Hassan Bilal and Umrav Singh. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.