“I strongly condemn the statement of a BJP leader and a Member of Parliament that the BJP has come here to eradicate ‘Periyarism’ (Periyar policy) in Tamil Nadu.
Father Periyar was the one who fought and won against the poisonous policy of ‘Sanatana Dharma'”
TL;DR don’t take the media’s mythology about the “subaltern revolt” against elites in WB too seriously, there’s plenty of disaffected elites who became turncoats who have begun to help the BJP.
“Subaltern Hindutva isn’t a saffron version of Ambedkarite discourse which constitutes upper castes as the Other. Rather, it’s the positive interplay of subaltern with Hindutva and upper castes as ally, Muslims as the Other while centring subaltern outlook. And its not cooption.
Since the term became fashionable, many started using/misusing it. For journalist it’s understandable, but for people in academia, this is unethical. A guy in fact tried to appropriate the concept. To put in perspective, Subaltern Hindutva is more transactional, less ideological”
Is it though? Sanksritization means mimicing the UCs to shed the tag of being untouchable/lower caste. Its clear that the subalterns in this case are not doing that. They are neither defensive on their caste, nor on their subalterness. So seems different.
DaThang
3 years ago
Razib, what is the lightest and the heaviest you have weighed as an adult?
Sumit
3 years ago
Was chatting to a SL Tamil origin buddy of mine about Kamala Harris he was like “kamala” is a Tamil name means “Lotus”.
I informed him “Kamala” is Sanskrit and means the same thing in North Indian languages.
He was kinda annoyed after that. I actually support Tamil preservation and am pro-Dravidian but I mean chill with trying to disown Sanskrit.
If anything I think Hindi is in someways more Persian/ Urdu influenced and and less Sanskrit than Tamil except for very “shudh Hindi” which no one really speaks.
“…I am actually surprised that Hinduism survived so long in Dravidian lands…”
I am more and more convinced that you grew up in a BIMARU state and attended a “English Convent or College” to attain pretensions of intellectualism among your fellow brethren. On the way you found out that Hindus from other states are more culturally rooted/did not become Mughal cuckolds and suddenly you developed a coping mechanism. Whatever helps you Saurav! 🙂
Was your friend a Brahmin? There are lot of Brahmin immigrants who’s time in Tamil Nadu is a launching pad for their exit to the USA. They do NOT believe that Tamil Nadu evolved independently of Sanskrit.
Prats
3 years ago
Here’s a trio of Georgian girls singing an old Hindi song.
I have brother and sister in laws who are Tulu, Marathi (2), Kashmiri, Gujarati, Rajasthani Gehlot and UP Brahmin. All of these marriages are more than a decade old, some happened in the late 90s. In not a single case was there a hint of protest from my parents or uncles/aunts. Surprised to see Andhra-Punjabi marriages are being opposed in the 2020s, I am beginning to realize now what a big exception my family was. I thought cross-state Hindu marriages in India were completely normalized by the 2000s.
Pakistani and Italian archaeologists unearth Hindu temple dating back 1,100 years
“The temple was discovered almost ten days back, which is believed to have been built by the Hindu Shahi or Hindu dynasty (850-1026 CE) during their rule in Gandhara and Kabul Valley,” Dr. Abdul Samad, director for archaeology and museums in the province, told Arab News. “It is believed the temple is of Lord Vishnu,” he added, referring to one of the principal deities of Hinduism.
Roy
3 years ago
Why mosques in rear view mirror, like Kashi’s Gyanvapi, can crash India’s drive into future
Court’s order to ASI to survey Gyanvapi Mosque for remains of old Kashi Vishwanath Temple questions the optimism that Ayodhya wouldn’t be repeated.
One, how did this spark suddenly light up? There was a suit filed over Mathura as well recently. So, are these actions taken in concert with a common intention? If so, does it have the blessings of the people at the top of the VHP-RSS and BJP? And, finally, if that is indeed the case, and if their intention is not to respect the essential spirit of the Supreme Court judgment, will they stop even if a higher court throws out this order?
There is nothing to stop it from following the course of the Ayodhya movement. And now that it’s been choreographed already, the next one might not take two centuries. In this case, majority can rule, and so what if it causes bloodshed and disruption for another decade or more? What price is too much to pay for “righting the wrongs of history”? This, a resumption of 16th and 17th century wars in 21st century India will be an invitation to disaster. It will hold the future of our coming generations to ransom.
It seems when Advani was asked why the push for Ayodhya- his answer was that it is a test. It is the most difficult claim- if they get Ayodhya, they can get other Temples easily as in sites like Kashi/Mathura- the remains of the old temples can be seen easily. Ayodhya was the tough one.
Yes- I think the claims will increase especially when it is the stated intent of the BJP ecosystem. The most judicious thing would have been to return these sites voluntarily and that would have earned a lot of goodwill. Why do you anticipate bloodshed? I think it should be quite smooth- No-one can deny the claim in their right minds after seeing the sites.
“Raina says glacial melt contributes barely 2% to the flow of the Ganga at Allahabad: rain is the overwhelming source of flow. Corollary: even when all the glaciers melt centuries hence, the river and agriculture will be impacted very modestly.”
I personally think that groundwater depletion is a bigger problem than glaciers
But for the US to treat India as potential strategic impediment in the same class as China, is something else altogether. It undercuts Modi’s entire foreign policy centering on the US that has been vigorously pushed by the external affairs minister S Jaishankar, who as Foreign Secretary shephered the four foundational accords and earlier in his career as an MEA babu negotiated the completely unequal 2005 nuclear civilian nuclear cooperation deal that, by barring future testing, froze Indian nuclear weapons technology at the low yield fission level.
The operative part of these developments is this: The next time IMAC begins tracking US Navy ships and finds one heading towards Indian waters, Indian Naval ships will have to be ready to impose the UNCLOS rule of law to keep them out. The crunch will come when that US ship simply disregards Indian naval warnings, then what? What exactly will the Indian ships do in response — fire a missile across the bow of the American ship as a warning? What if the US ship counters by firing a salvo to miss the Indian naval ship(s), will the Indian ship(s) be ordered to escalate proceedings? Should the Modi regime and Indian Navy not be ready and prepared for such contingency?
If, on the other hand, the Indian government and Navy again do nothing, or plan on doing nothing, how can they respond differently if a Chinese warship does exactly the same thing? Meaning, the US ships are setting a precedent for other navies to violate Indian territorial seas at will. Already, India and Indian government have been shown up — nothing new here! — as weak, willing to take guff from anybody, because they are too spineless, too unwilling to court risk, to up the ante. To restate an old saw — with friends like the US, who needs enemies?
Bharat Karnad has taken apart the arguments of American shills like Manoj Joshi.
“And two, the US disrespects Indian claims off Lakshdweep extending some 220 kms out to sea as India’s Exclusive Economic Zone per UNCLOS that the US wants nothing to do with even as its its representatives Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Biden’s NSA Jake Sullivan crow about all countries needing to heed a “rule based order”! What’s that again?! So the US means to follow only those rules that serve its purposes, in which respect how is it different from China?”
In 2000’s when Plasma lost to LCD Japanese Sharp, Sony, Panasonic were propped up by Japanese government subsidies that never really paid off.
I hope that (a) Vedanta doesn’t get any more money to squander from Indian lenders and (b) They are not trying some ToT route and just being a normal supplier to LG.
LG can see 10 years into the future of display technology but a mining company like Vedanta cannot.
Discussed on BP before, why does it seem that neoliberals and leftists don’t see hindus as a protected minority in the manner of muslims? My take at the moment is that it has nearly nothing to do with doctrinal compatibility or inherent characteristics of the religions in question. Its just that India, like Russia and China, has the ability to insulate itself from US/NATO pressure. Its effectively outside the framework as they wish it to operate, due to its size and lack of accessible internal levers. Culture is downstream of politics in this instance and the entire advisory class of think-tanks, consultants, and academics see a quasi-anglophone country that doesn’t value their agenda. Add to this that hindutva is a type of nationalism itself, and that india is the essentially the custodian of the religion, its easy to subsume your attitude towards a group within your strategic view of a nation. Finally, woke hindu-amercians realize that its probably easier to navigate the US political hierarchy than the Indian one, they are being pragmatists or opportunists depending on how you’d color it. The US establishment wouldn’t mind an influential opposition to the Indian state like miami cubans and others. Anyway the TL; DR here is narcissist neoliberals need people who need them.
Bharnat Karnad writes about America’s flagrant violation of Indian seaspace. The US feels comfortable doing so because they calculate that India is so submissive it won’t seriously fight back. Sadly, that might be a correct calculation.
Caste system is of course abhorrent feudalism but the ranking tends to go as follows for mixed caste marriage offspring caste position
1. UC W UC M
2. LC W UC M
3. UC W LC M
4. LC W LC M
The distances between each step are not the same. 1 and 2 form a grouping and 3 and 4 form a grouping. You can say 10 units apart in these groupings. And 20 units apart between 2 and 3.
U are dealing with N-Indians here, we know how to deal with this Mandir-Masjid stuff, u see we have some expereince in it, unlike ‘culturally and deeply felt’ Hindus of other regions. 😛
“I have always believed that despite political differences we are all part of the same country and society. But it is now obvious to me that we are not part of the same moral universe. Therefore, our being part of the same society or country becomes secondary”
Bhadraloks having Dravidian thoughts. As i said earlier, less Hindu region = less Indian region
Corrupt middle men finding new ways. Those involved need to be pay value of that wheat. If they don’t have cash, take assets. This type of theft behavior needs to be punished severely.
Sinha is several standard deviations above in quality over Modi and Shah. But he was never a party man. He joined the party late and in many ways he is a moderate nationalist. He fit better with Vajpayee.
” In the case of the Gyanvapi Mosque, there is no real dispute. It is widely accepted that parts of the Vishwanath temple were destroyed and its walls may have been raised on the plinth of the temple. One also does not have to deny that many Hindus experienced and have a consciousness of Aurungzeb’s reign as being characterised by religious bigotry. Historians can debate the context and the motives of Aurangzeb’s actions, and the complexity of his rule. But minimising the significance of his actions has always been a little historically incredible and politically disingenuous. If we rest the case for secularism in contemporary India on establishing Aurangzeb’s liberal credentials, then secularism will indeed be on rickety foundations. It will also legitimise Hindutva resting its case on Aurangzeb’s credentials. Secularism will be deepened if it lets history be history, not make history the foundations of a secular ethic.
In the past, the destruction of religious shrines may have been the function of state power. But modern India cannot repeat the same logic. We cannot say that because political power has changed hands, so must the power to define the religious landscape. The demand that Kashi or Mathura be returned is exactly that. It is a raw assertion of majoritarian power. Now that power has passed to the majority, it must claim back or avenge wrongs committed five centuries ago. There is also a deeper logic. The purpose of reclaiming these shrines is not religiosity. Bhakti for Kashi Vishwanath has not been impinged or diminished by the existence of the Gyanvapi Mosque. The purpose of claiming it back is to claim that Hindus have power qua Hindus and they can now show Muslims their place. The purpose is not to craft a connection with Shiva or Krishna, the purpose is to permanently indict minorities. It is to use a sacred place of worship as a weaponised tool against another community.”
” Enter Narendra Modi: The man who can do no wrong
That the BJP keeps trying to, and with great success, insulate Modi’s image from policy failure or the economy’s poor performance is a well known factor. What is surprising is the fact that the acceptability of this campaign, especially among the poorest, does not seem to fade. In fact, the appeal becomes stronger as one moves from cities to villages where income opportunities are scarce and poverty higher. That large parts of West Bengal are among the poorest regions in the country only increases the attractiveness of the central government welfare schemes which might appear paltry if income levels were higher.
While the BJP is seen as the dominant party in rest of the country, in West Bengal it is still as a bunch of rebels who have dared to take on the local strongmen of the TMC. The glue which binds its nascent organisation on the ground is not effective organisers or leaders, but the belief that the BJP is the most effective weapon in the fight against the TMC.”
“”New Delhi must seek answers from Washington about how their newly intensified Quad partnership, especially their stated objective to cooperate on a “free and open Indo-Pacific”, can co-exist with the open challenge U.S. Navy has posed”:
@the_hindu”
The Indian wing of Chinese communist party is worried , India is getting too close to USA
Yes, manufacturing really is leaving China – and authorities are scrambling to slow down the exodus
Roy
3 years ago
China’s right. The long, grim death toll from America’s 201 military conflicts since 1945 reveals the world’s real bad guy
Once the Soviet Union fell in 1991 and the international system became ‘unipolar’, dominated completely by Washington, the politics of ‘humanitarian interventions’ became mainstream, whereby righteous Western countries ‘intervene’ in other nations to topple another government on behalf of the ‘human rights’ of their own population. There are a few notable examples of this, including Afghanistan, Iraq (multiple times), Libya, and Syria.
This is what China’s report strikes at. Although the US has intervened in many countries claiming to promote human rights, the outcome has often been the wholesale destruction or destabilization of these countries. The above Middle East examples stand out most prominently, because US or Western intervention in each case has in fact made the situation worse. The Taliban are still prominent in Afghanistan. The toppling of Saddam Hussein unleashed political instability through the rise of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, which killed many. The removal of Muammar Gaddafi produced a catastrophic civil war in Libya. And the people of Syria have faced prolonged conflict and sanctions in the bid to topple Bashar Assad.
It doesn’t end there. The US has actively supported Saudi Arabia and its allies in an indiscriminate carpet bombing of Yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians and spread disease and starvation. As the world has become more multipolar recently and outright interventions become more difficult, America has upped the use of crippling economic sanctions to try to besiege hostile countries into submission, including Venezuela, Iran and North Korea, all in the name of so called “human rights” or other geopolitical grievances.
” I was glad that India was separated from Pakistan. I was the philosopher, so to say, of Pakistan. I advocated partition because I felt that it was only by partition that Hindus would not only be independent but free. If India and Pakistan had remained united in one State Hindus though independent would have been at the mercy of the Muslims. A merely independent India would not have been a free India from the point of view of the Hindus. It would have been a Government of one country by two nations and of these two the Muslims without question would have been the ruling race notwithstanding Hindu Mahasabha and Jana Sangh. When the partition took place I felt that God was willing to lift his curse and let India be one, great and prosperous..”
Thoughts on Linguistic States, by Bhimrao Ambedkar
Good piece. There is this recent conversation between two “Macaulay Men”, Sanjaya Baru and Karan Thapar, who are wailing in memory of the Nehruvian Paradise lost. It went viral on Indian Twitter and these two guys are literally living out that stereotype.
“…When you go to a…very fancy restaurant and you see these young people…don’t know what to do with a fork or a spoon…but they are very, very confident of their presence there…in my generation people with that kind of a background, they would feel very uncomfortable…today there’s a tremendous self-confidence in this class. They actually still don’t know how to use a fork and spoon and they don’t care.
Sandeep Balakrishna put out a full article on the “sob of the St. Stephenś Sultanate” where in these two old men complain about the lack of importance given to English-speaking elites by the Modi administration.
Heard the news of Prince Philip’s passing yesterday. Genetic history of European royal families on substack/clubhouse possible?
https://www.reddit.com/r/IndiaSpeaks/comments/mo0gp9/dalits_scst_constitute_over_17_of_the_council_of/
#AASIlivesmatter
“What’s going on?”
I cry sometimes when I’m lying in bed, just to get it all out, what’s in my head.
https://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/roads-cannot-be-blocked-causing-inconvenience-to-publicsc-101617993375522.html
https://theprint.in/india/punjab-arhatiyas-to-go-on-strike-today-over-dbt-scheme-for-farmers/637429/
Rent seeking middle men are upset
https://www.opindia.com/2021/04/west-bengal-infant-snatched-from-mother-during-voting-by-muslim-women-tmc-alleges-staged-drama/
Corrupt leftists
https://www.forbes.com/sites/harrybroadman/2021/03/26/indias-ossified-ports-are-ceding-indo-pacific-trade-to-china/?sh=2ade782a4be0
Very bad
https://twitter.com/PChidambaram_IN/status/1378905174194851840
“I strongly condemn the statement of a BJP leader and a Member of Parliament that the BJP has come here to eradicate ‘Periyarism’ (Periyar policy) in Tamil Nadu.
Father Periyar was the one who fought and won against the poisonous policy of ‘Sanatana Dharma'”
India’s ex finance and defense minister ☝️
Good represntative of less Hindu regions.
https://www.opindia.com/2021/04/tmc-leader-sujata-mondal-khan-labels-dalits-as-beggars-by-nature-claims-that-they-sold-themselves-to-the-bjp/
Absolutely disgusting statement by upper caste convert Haleem
mondals are rarely upper caste hindus.
https://scroll.in/article/991730/interview-indians-should-not-believe-the-myth-that-the-countrys-covid-19-mortality-rate-is-low
I was wondering when this joker will resurface again.
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/subaltern-hindutva-bhadralok-bengal-bjp-rise-7266795/
TL;DR don’t take the media’s mythology about the “subaltern revolt” against elites in WB too seriously, there’s plenty of disaffected elites who became turncoats who have begun to help the BJP.
The person who coined the term retorts
https://twitter.com/sajjanjnu/status/1380778226482438145
“Subaltern Hindutva isn’t a saffron version of Ambedkarite discourse which constitutes upper castes as the Other. Rather, it’s the positive interplay of subaltern with Hindutva and upper castes as ally, Muslims as the Other while centring subaltern outlook. And its not cooption.
Since the term became fashionable, many started using/misusing it. For journalist it’s understandable, but for people in academia, this is unethical. A guy in fact tried to appropriate the concept. To put in perspective, Subaltern Hindutva is more transactional, less ideological”
> Subaltern Hindutva
Why do people invent new terms? Isn’t this what “Sankritisation” is?
Is it though? Sanksritization means mimicing the UCs to shed the tag of being untouchable/lower caste. Its clear that the subalterns in this case are not doing that. They are neither defensive on their caste, nor on their subalterness. So seems different.
Razib, what is the lightest and the heaviest you have weighed as an adult?
Was chatting to a SL Tamil origin buddy of mine about Kamala Harris he was like “kamala” is a Tamil name means “Lotus”.
I informed him “Kamala” is Sanskrit and means the same thing in North Indian languages.
He was kinda annoyed after that. I actually support Tamil preservation and am pro-Dravidian but I mean chill with trying to disown Sanskrit.
If anything I think Hindi is in someways more Persian/ Urdu influenced and and less Sanskrit than Tamil except for very “shudh Hindi” which no one really speaks.
/rant
“He was kinda annoyed after that. I actually support Tamil preservation and am pro-Dravidian but I mean chill with trying to disown Sanskrit.”
I am actually surprised that Hinduism survived so long in Dravidian lands, considering their aversion to all North Indian stuff.
Not surprised that you are surprised.
“…I am actually surprised that Hinduism survived so long in Dravidian lands…”
I am more and more convinced that you grew up in a BIMARU state and attended a “English Convent or College” to attain pretensions of intellectualism among your fellow brethren. On the way you found out that Hindus from other states are more culturally rooted/did not become Mughal cuckolds and suddenly you developed a coping mechanism. Whatever helps you Saurav! 🙂
LOL only if this aggression be seen in their homeland compatriots (rather than in NRI blogposts) , things would be in a better place….
Possible a lot of Tamil is from Pali.
South India was a big Buddhist center around early AD.
Same with Sinhala, much derived from Pali.
I think the antipathy of SL Tamil to Sanskrit is probably because may have realized commonality with Sinhala.
I keep getting surprised with the words Sinhala and Tamil have in common.
Even names,
eg Kannangara is considered pure Sinhala surname. There is a town in Kerala name Kannankara.
Was your friend a Brahmin? There are lot of Brahmin immigrants who’s time in Tamil Nadu is a launching pad for their exit to the USA. They do NOT believe that Tamil Nadu evolved independently of Sanskrit.
Here’s a trio of Georgian girls singing an old Hindi song.
Trio Mandili – Goron Ki Na Kalon Ki (Hindi)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84p5bYRy4GA
As an aside, is ‘Mandli’ the term for troupe in non-Indic languages as well?
https://twitter.com/vivekraju93/status/1380037602930212865
I have brother and sister in laws who are Tulu, Marathi (2), Kashmiri, Gujarati, Rajasthani Gehlot and UP Brahmin. All of these marriages are more than a decade old, some happened in the late 90s. In not a single case was there a hint of protest from my parents or uncles/aunts. Surprised to see Andhra-Punjabi marriages are being opposed in the 2020s, I am beginning to realize now what a big exception my family was. I thought cross-state Hindu marriages in India were completely normalized by the 2000s.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.ndtv.com/india-news/india-fastest-to-administer-over-100-million-covid-jabs-in-85-days-2410817%3famp=1&akamai-rum=off
India Fastest To Administer Over 100 Million Covid Jabs In 85 Days
https://www.arabnews.pk/node/1768021/pakistan
Pakistani and Italian archaeologists unearth Hindu temple dating back 1,100 years
“The temple was discovered almost ten days back, which is believed to have been built by the Hindu Shahi or Hindu dynasty (850-1026 CE) during their rule in Gandhara and Kabul Valley,” Dr. Abdul Samad, director for archaeology and museums in the province, told Arab News. “It is believed the temple is of Lord Vishnu,” he added, referring to one of the principal deities of Hinduism.
Why mosques in rear view mirror, like Kashi’s Gyanvapi, can crash India’s drive into future
Court’s order to ASI to survey Gyanvapi Mosque for remains of old Kashi Vishwanath Temple questions the optimism that Ayodhya wouldn’t be repeated.
One, how did this spark suddenly light up? There was a suit filed over Mathura as well recently. So, are these actions taken in concert with a common intention? If so, does it have the blessings of the people at the top of the VHP-RSS and BJP? And, finally, if that is indeed the case, and if their intention is not to respect the essential spirit of the Supreme Court judgment, will they stop even if a higher court throws out this order?
There is nothing to stop it from following the course of the Ayodhya movement. And now that it’s been choreographed already, the next one might not take two centuries. In this case, majority can rule, and so what if it causes bloodshed and disruption for another decade or more? What price is too much to pay for “righting the wrongs of history”? This, a resumption of 16th and 17th century wars in 21st century India will be an invitation to disaster. It will hold the future of our coming generations to ransom.
Don’t worry.you are underestimating the docile nature of your average hindu.
It seems when Advani was asked why the push for Ayodhya- his answer was that it is a test. It is the most difficult claim- if they get Ayodhya, they can get other Temples easily as in sites like Kashi/Mathura- the remains of the old temples can be seen easily. Ayodhya was the tough one.
Yes- I think the claims will increase especially when it is the stated intent of the BJP ecosystem. The most judicious thing would have been to return these sites voluntarily and that would have earned a lot of goodwill. Why do you anticipate bloodshed? I think it should be quite smooth- No-one can deny the claim in their right minds after seeing the sites.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/Swaminomics/yes-glaciers-are-melting-but-no-need-for-panic/
Yes, glaciers are melting but no need for panic
“Raina says glacial melt contributes barely 2% to the flow of the Ganga at Allahabad: rain is the overwhelming source of flow. Corollary: even when all the glaciers melt centuries hence, the river and agriculture will be impacted very modestly.”
I personally think that groundwater depletion is a bigger problem than glaciers
https://www.hindupost.in/dharma-religion/hindu-temple-destroyed-in-jalandhar-hinduphobic-incidents-on-rise-in-punjab/
Terrible
Will the DDG-53 FNOP get Delhi thinking again?
But for the US to treat India as potential strategic impediment in the same class as China, is something else altogether. It undercuts Modi’s entire foreign policy centering on the US that has been vigorously pushed by the external affairs minister S Jaishankar, who as Foreign Secretary shephered the four foundational accords and earlier in his career as an MEA babu negotiated the completely unequal 2005 nuclear civilian nuclear cooperation deal that, by barring future testing, froze Indian nuclear weapons technology at the low yield fission level.
The operative part of these developments is this: The next time IMAC begins tracking US Navy ships and finds one heading towards Indian waters, Indian Naval ships will have to be ready to impose the UNCLOS rule of law to keep them out. The crunch will come when that US ship simply disregards Indian naval warnings, then what? What exactly will the Indian ships do in response — fire a missile across the bow of the American ship as a warning? What if the US ship counters by firing a salvo to miss the Indian naval ship(s), will the Indian ship(s) be ordered to escalate proceedings? Should the Modi regime and Indian Navy not be ready and prepared for such contingency?
If, on the other hand, the Indian government and Navy again do nothing, or plan on doing nothing, how can they respond differently if a Chinese warship does exactly the same thing? Meaning, the US ships are setting a precedent for other navies to violate Indian territorial seas at will. Already, India and Indian government have been shown up — nothing new here! — as weak, willing to take guff from anybody, because they are too spineless, too unwilling to court risk, to up the ante. To restate an old saw — with friends like the US, who needs enemies?
https://bharatkarnad.com/
difficult to understand why kejriwal and yogi are on an advertisement spree on national tv channels?
https://www.thequint.com/amp/story/voices/opinion/us-navy-warship-lakshadeep-message-to-india-china
What US Warship’s Lakshadweep Sail Means for India & China
Bharat Karnad has taken apart the arguments of American shills like Manoj Joshi.
“And two, the US disrespects Indian claims off Lakshdweep extending some 220 kms out to sea as India’s Exclusive Economic Zone per UNCLOS that the US wants nothing to do with even as its its representatives Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Biden’s NSA Jake Sullivan crow about all countries needing to heed a “rule based order”! What’s that again?! So the US means to follow only those rules that serve its purposes, in which respect how is it different from China?”
Manoj Joshi is a US shill? LOL, Mao was a capitalist then…
https://theprint.in/india/srinagar-fashion-show-sparks-protest-organiser-says-it-gives-showbiz-platform-to-youth/638182/
Srinagar fashion show sparks protest, organiser says it gives showbiz platform to youth
https://www.indiaspend.com/amp/covid-19/india-needs-around-10mn-covid-vaccine-doses-daily-is-producing-less-than-half-741036
‘India Needs Around 10Mn COVID Vaccine Doses Daily, Is Producing Less Than Half’
https://www.opindia.com/2021/04/rafiqul-islam-madani-the-bangladeshi-dwarf-who-wants-to-capture-delhi/?__twitter_impression=true
Halal haleem owaisi
https://wap.business-standard.com/article-amp/companies/vedanta-group-in-talks-with-govt-to-set-up-display-fabrication-unit-121041200023_1.html
Vedanta Group in talks with govt to set up display fabrication unit
@Narasingha
In 2000’s when Plasma lost to LCD Japanese Sharp, Sony, Panasonic were propped up by Japanese government subsidies that never really paid off.
I hope that (a) Vedanta doesn’t get any more money to squander from Indian lenders and (b) They are not trying some ToT route and just being a normal supplier to LG.
LG can see 10 years into the future of display technology but a mining company like Vedanta cannot.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Companies/Japan-s-quest-for-display-king-ends-as-Taiwan-led-group-buys-JDI
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/japan-electronics-companies-emulates-us-auto-companies-before-bankruptcy/articleshow/16779436.cms?from=mdr
Discussed on BP before, why does it seem that neoliberals and leftists don’t see hindus as a protected minority in the manner of muslims? My take at the moment is that it has nearly nothing to do with doctrinal compatibility or inherent characteristics of the religions in question. Its just that India, like Russia and China, has the ability to insulate itself from US/NATO pressure. Its effectively outside the framework as they wish it to operate, due to its size and lack of accessible internal levers. Culture is downstream of politics in this instance and the entire advisory class of think-tanks, consultants, and academics see a quasi-anglophone country that doesn’t value their agenda. Add to this that hindutva is a type of nationalism itself, and that india is the essentially the custodian of the religion, its easy to subsume your attitude towards a group within your strategic view of a nation. Finally, woke hindu-amercians realize that its probably easier to navigate the US political hierarchy than the Indian one, they are being pragmatists or opportunists depending on how you’d color it. The US establishment wouldn’t mind an influential opposition to the Indian state like miami cubans and others. Anyway the TL; DR here is narcissist neoliberals need people who need them.
https://thewire.in/security/us-navy-ship-indian-maritime-territory
Bharnat Karnad writes about America’s flagrant violation of Indian seaspace. The US feels comfortable doing so because they calculate that India is so submissive it won’t seriously fight back. Sadly, that might be a correct calculation.
what does usa get by publicly humiliating india?
Karnad is a joker. He thinks India should behave like US with the resources of Somalia.
He is like those people, who feel Modi is cuckold, and soft on muslims.LOL
https://theprint.in/pageturner/excerpt/dalit-veda-vyasa-was-indias-first-nation-builder-he-was-the-child-of-an-inter-caste-union/638392/?amp
Dalit Veda Vyasa was India’s first nation builder. He was the child of an inter-caste union
in my opinion father’s caste defines the offsprings caste. is this the general understanding?
Caste system is of course abhorrent feudalism but the ranking tends to go as follows for mixed caste marriage offspring caste position
1. UC W UC M
2. LC W UC M
3. UC W LC M
4. LC W LC M
The distances between each step are not the same. 1 and 2 form a grouping and 3 and 4 form a grouping. You can say 10 units apart in these groupings. And 20 units apart between 2 and 3.
Supreme Court dismisses Rizvi’s petition and fined Rs 50,000 for “frivolous” activity.
https://english.newstracklive.com/news/supreme-court-rejected-wasim-rizvi-plea-against-quran-mc23-nu764-ta325-1154706-1.html
https://www.reddit.com/r/IndiaSpeaks/comments/mp3egn/earlier_tmc_men_used_to_smell_our_fingers_for/
TMC is terrorist party
https://www.opindia.com/2021/04/italy-pakistan-muslim-girl-death-threats-parents-dating-indian-hindu-boy/
Possible honor killing subverted. Halal haleem owaisi
https://www.google.com/amp/s/phys.org/news/2021-04-china-himalayan-super-stoke-india.amp
Scary stuff.
https://thedailyswitch.com/media/the-wire-the-quint-and-the-hindu-are-using-pictures-of-gyanvapi-mosque-which-hide-the-temple-wall
Biased leftist anti hindu media
Dont worry.
U are dealing with N-Indians here, we know how to deal with this Mandir-Masjid stuff, u see we have some expereince in it, unlike ‘culturally and deeply felt’ Hindus of other regions. 😛
https://twitter.com/MrSamratX/status/1381615625471029256
“I have always believed that despite political differences we are all part of the same country and society. But it is now obvious to me that we are not part of the same moral universe. Therefore, our being part of the same society or country becomes secondary”
Bhadraloks having Dravidian thoughts. As i said earlier, less Hindu region = less Indian region
https://www.opindia.com/2021/04/mosque-loudspeakers-used-to-gather-mob-attack-sho-ashwini-kumar-in-west-bengal/
Halal haleem owaisi
https://m.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/day-before-procurement-starts-trucks-carrying-illegal-wheat-from-bihar-found-in-bathinda-236889
Corrupt middle men finding new ways. Those involved need to be pay value of that wheat. If they don’t have cash, take assets. This type of theft behavior needs to be punished severely.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg56WsjX3Tc&ab_channel=HindustanTimes
‘What did present BJP leadership give me?’ Yashwant Sinha targets Modi & Shah
When u give muncipalty level leaders high post, its bound to get to their head. Now the Congress is afflicated by it, once the BJP was.
Sinha is several standard deviations above in quality over Modi and Shah. But he was never a party man. He joined the party late and in many ways he is a moderate nationalist. He fit better with Vajpayee.
“Sinha is several standard deviations above in quality over Modi and Shah”
Is Sinha a cuck like Modi, or not?
Would he have ” instituted a national programme to do mass conversions”?
https://www.yahoo.com/news/pakistani-transgender-woman-finds-niche-011332509.htm
Good stuff
https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/economy/india-becomes-largest-buyer-of-us-crude-in-first-quarter-of-calendar-year-2021/article34294701.ece/amp/
India becomes largest buyer of US crude in first quarter of 2021
https://theprint.in/politics/making-muslims-scapegoat-for-mamatas-failure-owaisi-hits-out-at-kishor-appeasement-clip/637616/
Even the radical haleem all-india spokesperson is shitting Leftist Mamata.
https://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/gyanvapi-mosque-dispute-kashi-vishwanath-temple-asi-7270802/lite/?__twitter_impression=true
” In the case of the Gyanvapi Mosque, there is no real dispute. It is widely accepted that parts of the Vishwanath temple were destroyed and its walls may have been raised on the plinth of the temple. One also does not have to deny that many Hindus experienced and have a consciousness of Aurungzeb’s reign as being characterised by religious bigotry. Historians can debate the context and the motives of Aurangzeb’s actions, and the complexity of his rule. But minimising the significance of his actions has always been a little historically incredible and politically disingenuous. If we rest the case for secularism in contemporary India on establishing Aurangzeb’s liberal credentials, then secularism will indeed be on rickety foundations. It will also legitimise Hindutva resting its case on Aurangzeb’s credentials. Secularism will be deepened if it lets history be history, not make history the foundations of a secular ethic.
In the past, the destruction of religious shrines may have been the function of state power. But modern India cannot repeat the same logic. We cannot say that because political power has changed hands, so must the power to define the religious landscape. The demand that Kashi or Mathura be returned is exactly that. It is a raw assertion of majoritarian power. Now that power has passed to the majority, it must claim back or avenge wrongs committed five centuries ago. There is also a deeper logic. The purpose of reclaiming these shrines is not religiosity. Bhakti for Kashi Vishwanath has not been impinged or diminished by the existence of the Gyanvapi Mosque. The purpose of claiming it back is to claim that Hindus have power qua Hindus and they can now show Muslims their place. The purpose is not to craft a connection with Shiva or Krishna, the purpose is to permanently indict minorities. It is to use a sacred place of worship as a weaponised tool against another community.”
https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/west-bengal-2021-where-the-national-hegemon-is-a-local-rebel-101618295020691.html
” Enter Narendra Modi: The man who can do no wrong
That the BJP keeps trying to, and with great success, insulate Modi’s image from policy failure or the economy’s poor performance is a well known factor. What is surprising is the fact that the acceptability of this campaign, especially among the poorest, does not seem to fade. In fact, the appeal becomes stronger as one moves from cities to villages where income opportunities are scarce and poverty higher. That large parts of West Bengal are among the poorest regions in the country only increases the attractiveness of the central government welfare schemes which might appear paltry if income levels were higher.
While the BJP is seen as the dominant party in rest of the country, in West Bengal it is still as a bunch of rebels who have dared to take on the local strongmen of the TMC. The glue which binds its nascent organisation on the ground is not effective organisers or leaders, but the belief that the BJP is the most effective weapon in the fight against the TMC.”
https://twitter.com/suhasinih/status/1381481218546434052
“”New Delhi must seek answers from Washington about how their newly intensified Quad partnership, especially their stated objective to cooperate on a “free and open Indo-Pacific”, can co-exist with the open challenge U.S. Navy has posed”:
@the_hindu”
The Indian wing of Chinese communist party is worried , India is getting too close to USA
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.opindia.com/2021/04/kerala-mla-pc-george-india-hindu-rashtra-islamic-country-2030-love-jihad/amp/
India has to become a ‘Hindu Rashtra’, or it will be turned into an Islamic nation by 2030: Kerala MLA
https://www.arabianbusiness.com/461839-yes-manufacturing-really-is-leaving-china-authorities-are-scrambling-to-slow-down-the-exodus
Yes, manufacturing really is leaving China – and authorities are scrambling to slow down the exodus
China’s right. The long, grim death toll from America’s 201 military conflicts since 1945 reveals the world’s real bad guy
Once the Soviet Union fell in 1991 and the international system became ‘unipolar’, dominated completely by Washington, the politics of ‘humanitarian interventions’ became mainstream, whereby righteous Western countries ‘intervene’ in other nations to topple another government on behalf of the ‘human rights’ of their own population. There are a few notable examples of this, including Afghanistan, Iraq (multiple times), Libya, and Syria.
This is what China’s report strikes at. Although the US has intervened in many countries claiming to promote human rights, the outcome has often been the wholesale destruction or destabilization of these countries. The above Middle East examples stand out most prominently, because US or Western intervention in each case has in fact made the situation worse. The Taliban are still prominent in Afghanistan. The toppling of Saddam Hussein unleashed political instability through the rise of Al-Qaeda and ISIS, which killed many. The removal of Muammar Gaddafi produced a catastrophic civil war in Libya. And the people of Syria have faced prolonged conflict and sanctions in the bid to topple Bashar Assad.
It doesn’t end there. The US has actively supported Saudi Arabia and its allies in an indiscriminate carpet bombing of Yemen, which has killed thousands of civilians and spread disease and starvation. As the world has become more multipolar recently and outright interventions become more difficult, America has upped the use of crippling economic sanctions to try to besiege hostile countries into submission, including Venezuela, Iran and North Korea, all in the name of so called “human rights” or other geopolitical grievances.
https://www.rt.com/op-ed/520899-china-us-human-rights/
Today is Ambedkar Jayanti
” I was glad that India was separated from Pakistan. I was the philosopher, so to say, of Pakistan. I advocated partition because I felt that it was only by partition that Hindus would not only be independent but free. If India and Pakistan had remained united in one State Hindus though independent would have been at the mercy of the Muslims. A merely independent India would not have been a free India from the point of view of the Hindus. It would have been a Government of one country by two nations and of these two the Muslims without question would have been the ruling race notwithstanding Hindu Mahasabha and Jana Sangh. When the partition took place I felt that God was willing to lift his curse and let India be one, great and prosperous..”
Thoughts on Linguistic States, by Bhimrao Ambedkar
https://unherd.com/2021/04/the-culture-wars-of-post-colonial-india/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=why-the-west-lost-indias-culture-wars
@Razib
Good piece. There is this recent conversation between two “Macaulay Men”, Sanjaya Baru and Karan Thapar, who are wailing in memory of the Nehruvian Paradise lost. It went viral on Indian Twitter and these two guys are literally living out that stereotype.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OkUKUte2zt4
“…When you go to a…very fancy restaurant and you see these young people…don’t know what to do with a fork or a spoon…but they are very, very confident of their presence there…in my generation people with that kind of a background, they would feel very uncomfortable…today there’s a tremendous self-confidence in this class. They actually still don’t know how to use a fork and spoon and they don’t care.
Sandeep Balakrishna put out a full article on the “sob of the St. Stephenś Sultanate” where in these two old men complain about the lack of importance given to English-speaking elites by the Modi administration.