as an aside for some reason your comments are going to the pending folder. it feels like every other comment now.

“International media was actually mocking that whole fighter jet escort”

You Indians are completed anglofied you can’t even see it. “International media “is just codeword for zionist media. MENA media was lauding it, but obviously that’s not ”international” enough

Hindu nationalism has expanded outside the BJP now, there are Hindu nationalists as you know who call Maulana Modi because he appears to soft on Muslims. The Rajputs will remain in BJP camp but a lot of sub altern castes poke fun of them for these facts. I wasnt aware these were secular talking points – because seculars always promoted this Rajput Mughal alliance as proof of Hindu Muslim unity but subaltern Hindtuva have used the same to doubt the loyalty of the Rajputs to the Hindu cause.

I understand the Maratha dynamic as well, since this is also a case of stolen valor where Hindus from Northern regions are now lionizing Marathas for fighting against Mughals (when in fact) the Marathas were raiding their homelands with little regard to Hindu or Muslim peasants.

At the end of the day, my view has always been that there are many nations within India (and Pakistan) and several identities. However people act like they are all one nation.

My comment about past 1000 year Indian history is the same context to reply to the premise that ‘large population groups will be hegemon’ when it is clear that small – often exclusive – groups (like Mughals, Afghans, Rajputs and Marathas) have dominated and ruled over large groups and will continue to do so.

Like I have repeatedly clarified, I sing bhajans as part of Hindustani classical music. It’s a “craft” as you say.

I’m a Muslim. By definition, I cannot believe in any entity other than Allah. That’s the minimum definition of being Muslim.

I have sung Christian pieces in church. I was a member of the National Cathedral choir in Washington, DC. At no point did I accept Christ as my savior.

We have to be able to separate art from religion.

ah yes. “S Qureishi”. Straight outaa the Prophet’s clan.

International media was actually mocking that whole fighter jet escort PR stunt on X. But it plays well with the domestic audience, clearly.

On the other hand, Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranians to Iran and provided full air bridge after they were threatened.

Lol, the theatrics and ISPR propaganda has our man SQ feeling all Top Gun. Its hilarious.

Wow your comments are just +100

I’m familiar with some of these talking points, but i read the dynamic differently. Hindu nationalists thinkers have always valorised Rajputs, to the extent of ahistorically attributing Rajput identity to prominent figures pre-ethnogenesis of that group. As serious Indian historiography is itself a work in progress, early on, delhi-centric nationalists of all leanings elevated Rajputs to central characters in the national history and propagated those narratives to regions where they played marginal or no role at all. The refuting of Rajput valor originates outside the hindu nat circles, it was always secular historians citing it to introduce nuance to the common understanding of the imperial patronage structure. e.g. “There were Hindus at the top of the Mughal system and many Muslims toiling near the base, religious identity was not the sole determinant of victim-oppressor”, so as to preempt polarisation via history. Marathas are invoking this argument for regional/ethnic glory, because their political project was truly of a much grander scale, and it is only relatively recently being coopted. Regionally, as you mention, Meenas and Gujjars might want to prick the perceived arrogance of Rajputs whom they share a geography with. The point though is, Rajputs are the reliable BJP supporters among all these groups. Meenas, Gujjars, Yadavs and Jats are all much less reliable supporters of the hindu nationalist project and vary between an electoral swing bloc and constituting the very base of the opposition. The nuance of the quip of Rajputs “giving their daughters to Mughals”, isn’t as a naive true believer in the Hindu nationalist mythos, but of someone judging someone by the standards of their own pride. The more “hardcore” a Maratha is, btw, the more oppositional they are to the BJP in Maharashtra and they have a deep brahmin and RSS skepticism in their politics. This is hard for hindus from other regions of India to understand, let alone neighbouring countries.
The sense I get is you are seeing the hybridization of ideas, where secular talking points get coopted where convenient in an intra-hindu nat conversation. But its mostly a feature of X or some niche subreddits. At the end of the day, a certain Yogi Adityanath, the hindu rashtra final boss himself, is a rajput.