Well, here is the long promised article. I’ve been meaning to write this for a year, with many disparate bits of data floating around from different subjects in a brain soup. Gratitude to Q, while his purposes are very much misaligned and probably in direct opposition to mine, provided both the impetus and coalescing of the arguments. And of course to X.T.M for the site on which it took place. I’m pretty sure if it weren’t for BP, this wouldn’t have gotten penned.

https://indosaurus.substack.com/p/parsis-matrilineal-dna-and-steppe

May the common Agni deva of the Zoroastrians and Hindus enable them to reclaim the name Aryan from the Nazis, the skinheads, the brotherhoods and all the racist degenerates who have tried to corrupt it.

For instance, there is an oft repeated theme about – why Arab armies tend to lose wars. It is true that Arabs have either lost or stalemated every modern battle they have been involved in (post say 1918) with a non Arab power.

Given the truism, there is a little hop skip and jump to be had trying to explain it using Arab culture.

It gives the impression of being very learned about international affairs, a revelatory observational expose for your edification.

There is this famous article…

https://americandiplomacy.web.unc.edu/2000/12/why-arabs-lose-wars-fighting-as-you-train-and-the-impact-of-culture-on-arab-military-effectiveness/

And recently I saw this, which feels to be a bit of a rehash of the first one, but possibly has arrived at the same conclusions independently.

https://substack.com/home/post/p-216723035

However, all the so called -ve qualities attributed to Arab culture, which I am sure most western readers would nod their heads and sing along to, can be found in a Japanese corporate office.

Saving face, extreme subordination, overriding authority of the boss, innovation discouragement, information hoarding for fear of speaking out. It is all there. Even the rote memorisation is a key aspect of Japanese education. Anyone who has tried to learn Kanji will understand the sheer mindless tedium involved.

And yet, this seems completely absurd, because the Japanese achieved a spectacular degree of modern military success, punching well above their weight class until the Atomic bomb knockout.

Conversely the Houthis are very Arab, and socially identical to the Saudis, (except for the Shia/Sunni variance). And yet, despite heavy international sanctions and no viable extractive exports, this militia on a shoestring budget repeatedly humbles the worlds largest arms importer.

It has come to the point where the Saudis are desperate and the US & Nato allies are now quite visibly gearing up to engage in a kinetic campaign against the Houthis.

So given the bias of western analysts, and my own inability to find reasons why the Arabs fare so badly in general vs non Arab states, I wanted to pose the question here.

I will observe that the most successful outfits have been Hezbollah and Houthis, both Shia militia, punching well above their weight, and did so before linking up closely with the Iranians.

* This sort of curve fitting analysis is often at the heart of many articles, like why Asians are good at math, and why the Indian economy underperformed for so long. They feel true because they are often tautological.

In our age of internet echo chambers, this immortal line has new meaning, not of privilege and poverty but about disparate views of the same time and space as fed to us by our information sources.

For instance I viewed the Delhi crackdown on the CJP/Congress as exemplary state action against disruptive protestors out for anarchy on the streets and attempting regime change of the govt.

If you feel the characterisation far fetched, it isn’t. Both Prashant Bhushan and Neha Bora voiced these sentiments in the midst of making appeals for people to hit the streets.

While the SC indicated its pre-emptive displeasure of a planned shut down of metro services and wholesale protestor detainment, their tack changed sharply days later when the protestors marched on the SC. Turns out even the court is not immune to a volte face when it realises the pitchfork rabble have started discolouring the walls of its ivory tower.

No one died. No shops were looted, no masked banditry on the streets, some arrests and lots of drama. The opposition attempted an overwhelming human tsunami and the govt put in enough police breakwater friction to dissipate the surge into mild salty back spray.

It is hard to explain to the ideologically fervent that anarchic protestors effecting regime change Bangladesh or Nepal style, i.e. overturning popular mandate by street violence in urban centres is not democratic. Quite the opposite.

Happily, like a metronome with near perfect synchronicity France had its own ‘Gen Z’ protests. Unlike Delhi, they were not prepared for it. The interior minister offered his resignation admitting that the police lost control of the crowd.

It is as if the French wanted to provide an alternate reality as to what might have happened in Delhi without sufficient police presence. Widespread looting, violence, arson, massive property damage and the death of at least one protester directly connected.

France has now shut down Metro stations, banned public protests and arrested thousands, deploying tear gas, riot police, mounted police, armed response vehicles, the entire interior state arsenal.

The protests have spread countrywide and across country lines to Milan, where Meloni has deployed the Italian Army.

The net result of all this, is that it brought the endless hypocrisy of western media into stark relief.

France24, for instance, was simultaneously glazing Neha Bora while decrying protests on Paris streets. It is a wonder that their editorial team doesn’t unscrew their heads with all the contradictory spin.

The parallels keep rolling in. Just days after bitter complaints about the de-notification of Jantar Mantar as a protest site in Delhi, press reports are blasé about French police changing protest routes and enforcing ‘no protest on threat of arrest’ zones in Paris.

This October should have been a tale of 3 protests, with actual regime change enacted in Khyber Paktunkhwa. But shoot at sight orders were in place, and the preemptory deaths of over 100 PoK Kashmiri protestors in the previous months was dissuasive. Faced with untrammelled wrath of the Pakistani military machine the ‘martial’ race stayed largely off the streets.

Habitually, liberal editorial media looked elsewhere and instead fed us gloom and doom about democratic backsliding spiced with dire portents about descent into fascism by the BJP.

Protests do have a time and place. Electoral democracy should be sacrosanct, but the opposition shouldn’t be prevented from agitating to garner support on pinch issues. Bandhs, strikes, marches are all too common in India, flash swarming of the capital is new and problematic. The hunger strike by Sonam Wangchuk was appreciable in both its ideological soundness (the necessity for demanding action over the lack of accountability over multiple exam leaks) and the demands made. I wrote a very different post in July, but was wary of the precedent it set.

On a lighter note, our very own shehzada has decamped to Vietnam, to enjoy the warm waters of Halong bay in the South China sea. Apparently 3 days of protest in Delhi has awakened his need for some R&R before the next season. RaGa puts one in mind of a Mayfly, perennially moulting through innumerable larval stages in the hope of one brief flash as an adult which takes wing.

He was the youngest full prof @ 37 ever for the university. A meteoric career rise through 4-5 other prestigious universities. Hired for his dissertation on critical race theory. According to his backstory – non verbal till 11, illiterate @ 18, phd @ 31. Ran 600 miles in 6 days through will power. There is also the epilepsy due to a race attack & magnanimity in forgiving his attackers.

These are just the highlights, there is so much more. Sounds too good to be true? It really is a crazy story and most parts are quite unverifiable or inconsistent.

What was provable was his rampant plagiarism in his papers and dissertation. The people who pointed it out (on substack) – Nathan Cofnas, got fired from Cambridge. David Harris, the original whistle blower, got dropped from his college in plymouth. A journalist who reported it, got investigated by the met police on a complaint by Arday.

Arday has now resigned, the met police has apologised, Cofnas is crowing on substack and David Harris has been reinstated.

Questions are now being asked as to why Arday’s ludicrous claims were never challenged by the various universities, he was given uk govt work, for race related curriculum matters, a book deal (claimed million $ + advances).

This scandal, though far more explosive, mirrors the ousting of Harvard president Claudine Gay for plagiarism.

Are people progressive abroad and conservative at home? Do Indians and Pakistanis identify with progressive movements abroad, to make common causes amongst people of colour, then make a hard right turn on the plane back home? Statistically I would say, this seems to be the case. Indians being to the Right of Pakistanis abroad (due to higher income & religion?). But is this sensible, internally consistent, and should people abide by it?

Where do brown people feature in critical race theory?

Addendum: There are some errors, many thx to A for pointing them out.

• Arday was not the youngest full professor at Cambridge, only the youngest Black professor. For instance, Isaac Newton was younger when appointed a professor at Cambridge.
• Cofnas was not fired for his (in) famous substack post commenting on Arday’s alleged plagiarism. That came recently. He was fired a couple of years ago for an article on differential academic abilities among different groups (sometimes called “ races”).
• Ditto for Harris. He was dismissed for his critique of Critical Race Theory. He was then reinstated by Plymouth after a public backlash from various quarters.

https://indosaurus.substack.com/p/cows-vs-buffaloes?r=1mp4jc

The scriptural form of hinduism is in little danger of being displaced or disappearing. It also has a lot of elements palatable to monotheists (advaita) & rationalists (the block determinant nature of the universe/ simulation theory)

Whereas the folk form, practiced mainly by lower castes which has less theology and more sacrifice/possession is often considered on par with devil worship by Christians/Muslims. Some of the deities named overtly as Satan/Shaitan.

For instance the buffalo deity of Kerala Vishnumaya Chatan (pictured), is easily corrupted to Satan. Rituals associated are considered black magic.

Adherents of the more rural folk forms are also often targeted for conversion. The political alliances of the Christians aligns strongly with lower castes in South India, exacerbating this process.

As India grows wealthier, urbanisation & social mobility also involves Sanskitisation. Ancient traditions are further eroded as outdated and irrelevant.

All is not lost though. Kantara was a shot in the arm. Other film makers sat up and took note of the spectacular nature of rural worship.

I updated the first article I had published on BP to acknowledge this development

https://indosaurus.substack.com/p/the-eyes-have-it?r=1mp4jc

I fear it is only a short reprieve. Eventually a lot of these traditions will slowly fall by the wayside, recreated only for entertainment. They have survived for millennia and are the oldest forms of worship in the subcontinent. The world is a duller place without them.

* I have no idea if ‘lower’ caste is the politically correct term anymore, forgive the  plain speak. I desperately avoid talking about caste in general, unfortunately these articles all end up incomplete without it.

Except of course, he decided who was in charge, set the tone for independent India, inspired various other freedom/rights struggles and maybe the British would not have released the rest of the empire without India going first. They didn’t let go of Malaysia till 57, Rhodesia till 64, HK until the lease was up, and they still cling on to the Falkland islands. Not forgetting the resulting apartheid regimes in Zimbabwe & SA.

The Hindu right wing has always been upset with Gandhi, this is unsurprising and the political drift has worsened over time with the Congress squatting squarely on Gandhi’s legacy. Yet, happily, no harsh moves have been made over the BJP decade to degrade his stature, or any public space erasure.

Instead what is new, is the attacks from the liberal left. Cancel culture loves skewering cultural heroes out of time and context. They are constantly rewarded on social media for it.

I came across this article on substack – Gandhi was a creep. It is time we stop pretending otherwise and saw all the cheering, the love, the clapping by so many liberal leaning Indians. The Guardian does it too quoting from Ramachandra Guha.

Except they both lack context. And so I clipped on my keyboard and rode out to defend the strangest and hard to defend thing Gandhi did. I do feel it deserves some discussion though, not merely one sided cheering (or defence). Let the readers of BP hold court.

https://indosaurus.substack.com/p/in-defence-of-gandhis-creepiness