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The Iran That 1979 Erased: What If Khomeini Had Lost?
X.T.M runs a thought experiment on Iran had the 1979 revolution failed. Citing Central Bank of Iran figures on growth before and after, the post argues a constitutional transition could…
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The Chess Masters Who Weren’t
X.T.M argues that the leaders cast as grand strategists, from Trump and Modi to Netanyahu, Milei and Orbán, are losing pieces. Op Sindoor, Hormuz, Lebanon and Hungary all cut against…
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Moderation Notice
X.T.M tells commenters that the site now prefers many voices to many comments, and holds known authors to a higher bar than anonymous readers. Authors are urged to write posts…
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Pakistanis = Indian Muslims With Sovereignty?
X.T.M argues that Pakistanis are in effect Indian Muslims who gained sovereignty, and asks what it cost. The post says Partition gave sovereignty to two-thirds of the pre-1947 Muslim population,…
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India That Is Bharat: The Exceptional Uniqueness and the Dual Identity
X.T.M answers the charge that the site treats India more gently than Pakistan. The post argues India is both a seventy-nine-year-old state and a civilisation of some five thousand years,…
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Open Thread; the endless Argument of the Archives
Open thread marking the backtagging of the site’s 3,987 posts into one navigable archive. X.T.M reviews what it shows: Partition as a living argument, the Persianate thread, the genetics trove…
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The Ukrainian Interlude is over
X.T.M argues that the real 2026 story is Pakistan’s move from written-off state to mediator in the Iran crisis, alongside Iran’s survival and a faltering global far right. The post…
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The Inward Turn: Muslim Politics in the Indian Subcontinent from the Fall of the Mughals to the Present
Omar Ali reposts, with permission, vidurascounsel’s Substack essay of 13 April 2026 on the inward turn in Muslim politics in the subcontinent. It traces the arc from Mughal decline through…
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Open Thread; The Archive, The Lynching, and Humanity First
Open thread noting the backtagging of the archive, then taking up a commenter’s linked report of the lynching of Suleman Khan Pathan, 20, and a debate over asymmetric condemnation of…
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At the Heart of the conflict
Nachiketa argues that debates on India-Pakistan and Hindu-Muslim conflict miss a core issue. Prompted by the alleged TCS Nashik conversion case, he points to reports of forced conversion and sexual…
The Indian Subcontinent Argues with Itself
Sunday, 8 November 2026Since December 2010 · 4,170 posts · 93,923 comments
