India – Brown Pundits

IIT Bombay Says It Followed Procedure. A Student Is Dead.

On Friday 18 September, Sahil Wakode, a second-year BTech student in IIT Bombay’s energy science department, was caught with his phone in a midterm; the institute says he had uploaded the question paper to ChatGPT. By evening he was found dead in his hostel room. He was Dalit, from Yavatmal, and the third IIT Bombay student to die by suicide this year.

The accounts split. The institute says the invigilator, Prof Suryanarayana Doolla, followed Senate-approved procedure, that no disciplinary action was begun, and that the instructor and head of department counselled the boy and assured him his career would not suffer. Students and the family say he was threatened with suspension, and the father’s police complaint alleges three months of casteist remarks. An FIR now names Doolla and other senior officials for abetment of suicide and under the SC/ST Act, whose Section 18A lets police register the FIR without a preliminary enquiry. The Faculty Forum has expressed solidarity with him. About 700 students blocked the main gate.

Take IIT Bombay’s own version at face value: procedure was followed, counsel was given, assurance was offered, and hours later the student was dead. That sequence settles nothing about cause; the Crime Branch must establish what was actually said in that hall. Either the assurance was never given, or it was given and did not land.

In Remembrance of Shaheed Lt. Ashfaqus Samad, Bir Uttam (My Cousin Nishat Bhai):

by Shawkat

A Tribute to A Family of Freedom Fighters

In 1971, my cousin Ashfaqus Samad (Nishat Bhai) was a student in the Statistics dept. of Dhaka University, having graduated from St. Gregory’s School and Notre Dame College. A talented student, he was considering options of graduate study at MIT and elsewhere. Pakistan Army’s genocidal crackdown started on the night of March 25th; on the 27th, he and his friends Badal, Bodi (Shaheed) and Masud left for Kishoreganj and met with EBR forces there. On April 4th, they returned with a few .303 rifles, some ammunition and 25 grenades, thus becoming the first guerrillas to organize armed resistance in Dhaka. The cache was initially stored at his home, and subsequently moved cross-town at great peril to his friend Towhid Samad’s Dhanmondi residence. Realizing that it was inadequate, he then went to Agartala, India, for further military training.

After seeing sporadic action in the Saldanadi sector, in June he was selected for the First War Course of Bangladesh Army, to be trained by the Indian Army at Camp Murti, near the Indo-Bhutan border. Bearing ID No. S.S. 33, he was one of 61 Commissioned Officers, including Sheikh Kamal (eldest son of Sheikh Mujib), who graduated on October 9th, and one of only two of his batch to be killed in action (KIA) during the war. He was assigned to Sector 6 in Dinajpur and Rangpur, where he helped liberate several areas, notably Bhurungamari, the first upazila (sub-district) to be freed.

Continue reading In Remembrance of Shaheed Lt. Ashfaqus Samad, Bir Uttam (My Cousin Nishat Bhai):

Thoughts That Shape Power

This is an essay written by Varun (Bone of Empire @BotE85371688 on Twitter), an Indian-American friend who asked me to share it on brownpundits. I think it starts an important conversation..

Thoughts that Shape Power

Once upon a time I worked in a defense think tank in New Delhi. It was a fun, fresh-out-of-college job. The pay sucked, but the conversation was always rich, and we had tea time twice a day.

Every Friday morning we were encouraged to sit through a Research Briefing by one of our colleagues. Presentations lasted an hour and were divided into two parts – the presentation itself, and the question/critique period. Everyone — from fresh-faced interns (myself) to retired professionals — was encouraged to present their research or some other topic of interest and receive audience feedback. The variety of personal backgrounds at the institute guaranteed a range of quality for the presentations. What was most shocking to me, as an intern, was that senior researchers were often the sources of tremendous bullshit.

One Friday, a scholar — whose name I will not mention — gave a presentation on the Indo-Bangladesh border. They offered detailed recommendations for securing the region, including drones, CCTV cameras, electrified fencing, checkposts, watchtowers, and more. The presentation lasted a full 30 minutes; the question period, which had been allotted the same amount of time, lasted only five. Continue reading Thoughts That Shape Power

Open Thread: Pakistani song goes viral in India..

I’ll expand on this but enjoy the beautiful song in the meantime.

India vs. Pakistan in one graph

However, total GDP isn’t the right comparison. More populous economies will usually produce more output. GDP per capita is the correct metric to consider. Until 2009, India was poorer than Pakistan on a per capita basis. India truly became richer than Pakistan after 2009 and since then it hasn’t looked back. If trends continue for a decade, India will be more than twice as rich as Pakistan soon.

Pakistan’s GDP is about $400 billion while India’s is around $4 trillion. Since the ratio of their economies has stayed roughly constant for decades, their nominal growth rates should be similar from the 1960s onwards.

So why has India pulled ahead in GDP per capita? The reason is simple. Pakistan’s high fertility has driven population growth faster than India’s. In 1952 Pakistan had about one-tenth of India’s population; by 2025 it had grown to nearly one-seventh.

The other explanation why Pakistan finds it easier to maintain the status quo is that it is located in a geopolitically sweet spot. It can extract geopolitical rents from the US. It’s location close to Afghanistan is strategically important and the US has used many Pakistani airbase.

Thanks 0M for the article.

80 achievement of the Modi government on the 80th Independence Day 2026

On the eve of Independence Day, I thought it would be a good opportunity to share what I believe are the 80 undeniable achievement of the Modi government for my first post. Feel free to add more in the comments.

1) Accepting things like Aadhar and GST devised during UPA era.

2) Monetizing many govt services for better use like railways and defense exports.

3) Improving our overall port capacity.

4) Making India self sufficient in ammunition production.

4) Not letting ideology dictate policy, as seen in overtures to Pakistan till Pakistan closed the doors.

5) Trying their best to keep a wide circle of friends in a heavily polarized world.

6) Connecting all state grids into a single national grid.

7)Signing a slew of FTAs with many western countries.

8) Development of Brahmos and our own multi artillery defense system.

9) Formalizing our border enclaves with Bangladesh as much as possible.

10) Taking advantage of the reduction of cost in renewable energy to make our grid 55% dependent on renewable energy.

11) Supporting investment in hydrogen based fuel cells.

12) Supporting research in making cow dung based fuel valuable.

12) Increasing the number of airports.

13) Made significant efforts to bring back Indian cultural artifacts like the Leiden plates.

14) Construction of tap and toilet facilities till 99% of the country has either a tap connection or a toilet in their home.

15) Increase in ethanol blending to secure our fuel supply.

16) Increase in mobile phone assembly facilities.

17) Increase in semiconductor manufacturing facilities.

18) Bringing much needed investment in high quality manufacturing to states like Assam.

19) Enabling private telecom operators to provide cheap data to almost all parts of India.

20) Better export opportunities for Indian toy makers.

21) Vande Bharat trains launched.

22) Bullet trains though they should have started with Hyderabad to Bangalore and Hyderabad to Mumbai/ Pune to begin with.

23) Increase in overall tree cover.

24) Increasing the number of electricity available to 22 hrs from 12 he’s through national grid, renewable energy capacity generation and reduction of losses.

25) Exporting tigers to other countries.

26) Bringing cheetahs back to India from Africa.

27) Promotion of yoga through world yoga day.

28) Worlds largest vaccine drive during covid.

29) Successfully conducting the mahakumbh and kumbh mela many times.

30) Production linked initiative scheme helping advance in mobile cell manufacturing

31) Production linked initiative scheme helping manufacturing for electric mobility, power electronics and advanced safety systems.

32)Production linked initiative scheme helping in development of biosimilars,monoclonal antibodies and medical devices.

33) Production linked initiative scheme helping in domestic polysilicon manufacturing.

34) Production linked initiative helping in over 2.16 lakh crore cumulative investment,exports of 8.3 lakh crore,and almost 14.39 lakh direct/indirect jobs.

35) Creation of over 500 million accounts through jan dhan yojana.

36) Depositing over 2 lakh crore in jan dhan yojana accounts.

37) Reducing leakage through direct benefit transfer.

38) Construction of 3 crore houses under PM Awas Yojana through both rural and urban schemes.

39) Empowering women by registering the houses built under their name.

40) Providing 10.58 crore gas connections to poor women under Ujjwala Yojana.

41) Approving 25 lakh new connections in 2025-26.

42) Reducing indoor air pollution by 74% through Ujjwala yojana.

43)Increase port capacity to 2818 million tonnes per annum till 2025-26, from 1400 million tonnes per annum in 2013-14.

44) Increasing cargo handling capacity to 1668 million tonnes per annum in 2025 26 from 972 million tonnes in 2013-14.

45) Increasing inland waterways to 32 operational in 2025 to 5 in 2014.

46) Increasing operational length of inland waterways to 4894 km in 2025-26 from 2716 km in 2013-14.

47) Increase in food grain production to 357.7 million tonnes in 2025-26 from 265 million tonnes in 2013-14.

48) Increase in horticulture production to 369.1 million tonnes in 2025-26 from 277.4 million tonnes in 2013-14.

49) 2900 climate resilient varieties of crops released since 2013-14.

50) Agricultural exports raised to 51.1 billion dollar in 2025-26 from 34.5 billion dollars in 2013-14.

51) Increase in fish production to 197.7 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 from 95.8 lakh tonnes in 2013-14.

52) Increase in shrimp production to 11.8 lakh tonnes in 2025-26 from 3.2 lakh tonnes in 2013-14.

53) Increase in milk production to 239.3 million tonnes in 2025-26 from 137.7 million tonnes in 2013-14.

54) Increase in egg production to 130 billion in 2025-26 from 75 billion in 2013-14.

55) Increase poultry production to more than 4.2 million tonnes.

56) Launch of Indias first solar observatory in 2023 through Aditya L1 mission.

57) Launch of Chandrayaan-2.

58) Commissioning of INS Vikrant, Indias first indegenously built aircraft carrier.

59) Launch of new metros in 21 cities including many 2 tier cities.

60) Increase in operational length of metro rail to 940 km from 248 km.

61) 900 km of metro under construction.

62) National highway is now 1,46,572 km from 91287 km.

63) 4 lane highways increased to 46179 km from 18387 km.

64) 2636 km of expressway completed from 93 km expressway in 2014.

65) Rural roads up to 7.5 lakh km from 5 lakh km.

66) Rural roads now connect 99% of all villages.

67) Freight growth to 1600 million tonnes in 2025-26 from 1050 million tonnes.

68) Route km is 71000 km in 2025-26 from 65000 km.

69)60000 km electrified in 2025-26 from 21000 km in 2013-14.

70) Dedicated Eastern freight corridor of 1337 km and western dedicated freight corridor of 1504 km nearing completion.

71) Freight lines have 100 km/h speed lowering freigh costs and boosting business.

72) Reduction in infant mortality from 40 per 1000 live births in 2013-14 to 25 per 1000 live births in 2013-14

73) Under 5 mortality decreased from 48 in 2013-14 to 25.

74) Neonatal mortality fell from 28 in 2013-14 to 17 in 2025-26.

75) Free maternal and child healthcare through Ayushman Bharat.

76) Expanded vaccine coverage through universal immunization program.

77) Presided over a drop in total fertility rate to 2.0 overall.

78) Overall tax revenue is 40.78 lakh crore in 2025-26 from 11.39 lakh crore in 2013-14.

79) GST collection is 2.43 lakh crore in 2026

80) Modi is the most popular, modern leader for many years running.

Open Thread: The Courtesy Guidance & the Two Factions (Majority vs. Minority)

BP’s two Factions in light of its “Bharat” underpinning?
What defines the “Majority”?
What does Courtesy Mean in an online forum?

The majority, described

Now that we are Brown, that is Bharat, Pundits, all of us who are the majority share things in common. Five come to mind, and they should be front and centre:

Hindu by birth or Hindu by marriage (broadly Upper Caste social milieu).
India’s borders can never be reduced. Some, myself included, are very much in the Akhand Bharat camp; I see Iran to Indonesia as one vast Indic, Hindu Continental sphere.
Hinduism was oppressed under the Anglo-Islamicate legacy, which has been a mixed blessing at best (that is a most charitable view). The LeLi Brahmin view that we should have been grateful to be chattel under Despots, who professed Islam, is odd.
Dharma has space for all, and that more Hinduism does not mean less secularism; as well as an inclination for more Hindu-Indic symbology in the national discourse.
Broadly supportive of the current government of India and sceptical towards RaGa.
Partition was a mistake and the two-nation theory was not a good idea. Pakistan has not succeeded.

That defines the majority to a very strong extent, and the minority is defined by being against these positions, in whatever combination. We have such a strong majority that all of us agree with it, including the full admin team.

It just so happens that even if I’m not Hindu by birth, I’m definitely Hindu by marriage. My entire social reality, where I engage with Brown people, is Hindu, so I have become an acculturated Hindu. A fortnight ago I said the divide here was ideological, not sectarian; the last week taught me the map is older than the ideology. It’s not Saffron or Crescent, left liberals or right wing. It is the majority versus the minority, and in a weird way we are converging towards what is modern-day India, and really mapping that.

The minority Continue reading Open Thread: The Courtesy Guidance & the Two Factions (Majority vs. Minority)

Bangladesh-India Open Thread

Bangladesh has lashed out at India for allowing the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina to address journalists in New Delhi, plunging already strained bilateral relations to a fresh low.

Dhaka accused India of giving a platform to a fugitive it labelled a “convicted genocider” and of undermining efforts to repair ties, after Hasina vowed to return to Bangladesh in December despite facing a death sentence on charges of “crimes against humanity”.

The angry response late on Wednesday came hours after Hasina, speaking on the second anniversary of the massive student-led uprising that led to her flight to India, declared: “Whatever fate awaits me, I will return to my people.”

India-Bangladesh relations hit new low over exiled PM’s speech to press in Delhi

30 seconds please

1. Anand rangarajan, a biochemistry professor from jnu , has popularized this 30 second interjection on prime TV debates. He is fearless in questioning beliefs of abrahamanic religions.

2. Shahazad poonawalla a popular spokesperson for BJP has resigned and is hinting a sabbatical from politics. Seems bit fishy.

3. Modi comming on instagram is increasing looking like an all advising ‘ society uncle’. He should expose himself less and concentrate on legislation.

4. Sadly rahul Gandhi is not taking much advantage and is acting in ajit prop style street plays in front of parliament. Crazy.

Admin Note: I’m adding this to sort of demonstrate the direction of travel where BP is going. We are building Community now and if it means a decline of traffic so be it.

Tag: India