CFR Senior Fellow, WSJ Columnist. Author of My Friend the Fanatic.
Washington, DC
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Many Indians would like to see India emerge as a third technology pole to rival the U.S. and China. When it comes to AI, this ambition appears increasingly out of reach. [My take]
wsj.com/opinion/the-ai-race-…
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Jibes about Modi’s English are tiresome and juvenile. Like many Indians in public life he understands English perfectly well. He does not speak it with the fluency of a native speaker, but so what? English is Modi’s third or fourth language after Gujarati, Hindi and (possibly) Marathi. How many of the people who make fun of Modi can speak a third or fourth language as well as Modi speaks English?
Starmer seems to be having a charged discussion with Modi but does Modi understand any of it?
I guess he was intelligent enough this time to prevent himself from laughing out loud, done when he has no clue.
Do Indians deserve to watch this clown show?
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Just listened to a Twitter Spaces interaction where more than 150k people tuned in to listen to Imran Khan. PTI’s social media game seems streets ahead of its rivals, though how much this matters in elections is an open question.
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You don’t have to be an Imran Khan supporter to acknowledge the glaringly obvious fact that he won the people’s mandate fair and square. Hard to respect any commentator or journalist who can’t acknowledge this upfront. #PakistanElection #PakistanElection2024
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I’m on a bullet train from Tokyo to Kyoto. The guy next to me is sipping an iced coffee from Starbucks and watching a video of Milan Fashion Week on his iPhone—with the volume off. It’s dark outside. The only sounds are of the speeding Shinkansen, though occasionally I catch the voices of two middle-aged ladies, old friends perhaps, in a quiet conversation two rows ahead of me. If a plastic bag rustles a few rows back you hear it. Such a lovely country.
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There’s nothing wrong with a Muslim man marrying a Hindu woman. There’s also nothing wrong with a Muslim woman marrying a Hindu man. If your first instinct is to call the cops on someone promoting interfaith marriage, then you’re not a liberal. You’re probably a religious bigot.
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.@Malala deserved to be applauded when she took bullets for speaking up for girls’ education in Pakistan. She deserves to be applauded for speaking up for human rights in Kashmir. The color of her passport is irrelevant.
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What do Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and Meena Harris have in common? All of them are wrong about India’s farm laws. [My take] #farmersprotest wsj.com/articles/rihanna-ral…
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The Indian Supreme Court may jail or fine the lawyer @pbhushan1 for this tweet. If it does so it will: 1. Prove his point. 2. Become a laughing stock around the world.
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1. Nobody mocked Covaxin. They asked why it was hastily cleared without completing trials. 2. BJP should care less about India getting “its own” vaccine, more about vaccinating people quickly. Lives matter more than posturing. 3. Vaccine shortage, not hesitancy, is the problem.
India was among the first to get its own vaccine. Opposition mocked it, promoted vaccine hesitancy. Now after the second surge, everyone wants the jab. But there is only so much production capacity. Vaccine isn’t jam that anyone can produce. So we have to schedule and prioritise.
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If @RahulGandhi had @SachinPilot’s political skills—poise, ambition, hard work, verbal ability and personal warmth—Congress would not be on the skids today. For how long can any party survive by putting lipstick on a pig?
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Both true: 1. Modi’s response to Pulwama attack is much stronger than Manmohan Singh’s to 2008 Mumbai attacks. 2. India’s restraint in 2008 helps it sell its post-Pulwama response. On the world stage, MMS earned India moral capital that Modi is now spending. #IndiaStrikesPakistan
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BJP in 2013: Weak rupee = weak leader.
BJP in 2018: You need to understand the complex interplay of Federal Reserve policies and emerging market currency risk profiles while appreciating expanded export opportunities provided by changes in global interest rate regimes. #RupeeAt70
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If Indian Twitter was less partisan: 1. Congress/NCP fans would admit that the only mandate in #Maharashtra was for BJP-SS. 2. SS fans would admit that Thackeray has betrayed voters. 3. BJP fans would admit that they have no moral high ground to stand on after wooing Ajit Pawar.
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Sweetest gig in journalism: Get paid to write the SAME column about India 10 times a year.
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There’s so much hateful garbage about Pakistan in the Indian media. Just want to say I’m rooting for Pakistanis to pull through this #coronavirus crisis. Admire the many brave doctors, medical personnel and others working heroically against the odds. Please RT if you agree.
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Imagine living in a country where the government sets out to clean a river and it actually gets cleaned.
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My latest WSJ column has set off a firestorm in Pakistan. It also gives us a glimpse of how misinformation/disinformation works. TLDR: Pakistani media has used my piece to attack Imran Khan while ignoring or misrepresenting my criticism of the army. 1/n
wsj.com/articles/imran-khan-…
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People are all upset with me because I praised Modi for making a sensible point about how to view inequality in a developing country. (You should allow some people to get rich first instead of forcibly keeping everyone poor in the name of equality.) This is not political partisanship. I would just as happily praise Rahul Gandhi if he said something sensible about the economy. Not my fault that he chooses instead to spout nonsense about lakhs of rupees of free cash pouring into bank accounts khat-a-khat, khat-a-khat.
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Good point. I’m sure Piyush Goyal, Dharmendra Pradhan, Jayant Sinha, Vasundhara Raje, Anurag Thakur, Varun Gandhi and Poonam Mahajan agree.
Priyanka Gandhi's appointment takes dynastic politics forward: Nirmala Sitharaman ndtv.com/india-news/priyanka…
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Leaving Pakistan after a fascinating visit. Will save my thoughts for an article, but for now suffice to say that the cliche about Pakistani warmth and hospitality is a cliche for one simple reason. It’s true.
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The paradox of India: Capable of landing a craft on the moon, but unable to master something as basic as drainage almost 80 years after the Brits left.
This is the corner just outside my home in Lutyens’ Delhi. Woke up to find my entire home under a foot of water — every room. Carpets and furniture, indeed anything on the ground, ruined. Apparently the storm water drains in the neighbourhood are all clogged so the water had no place to go. And they switched off the electricity since 6 am for fear of electrocuting people. Warned my Parliament colleagues that I might not make it there without a boat. But the city managed to pump water out of the roads and I did arrive in time!
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Depressing to see so many educated Indians willing to entertain bogus #EVMHacking conspiracy theories. At this point, the pattern behind such claims ought to be obvious: the losing side blames the machines because it’s easier than blaming the voters.
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Good to see Modi echo Deng Xiaoping on Aaj Tak just now. When asked about inequality Modi turned the question around and asked the journalist (@rahulkanwal) if he would prefer it if everyone in India was equally poor. It’s okay if some people get rich first, said Modi. That’s how countries make progress. And wealth creators deserve respect, not admonition.
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I’ve already seen half-a-dozen solid critiques on Twitter of Rahul Gandhi’s goofy income guarantee scheme. That’s great. But something tells me that if Modi makes exactly the same promise tomorrow 95% of these critics will immediately hail it as a “masterstroke” or “gamechanger.”
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You may think that with the whole world paying attention to Pakistan the army may ask the terrorists it has long nurtured to lie low for a bit. You may think it would at least tell uniformed soldiers not to pray alongside a U.S.-designated global terrorist. You would be mistaken.
🔴 #BREAKING Hafiz Abdul Rauf, a US-designated global terrorist and a Lashkar e Taiba commander, leads funeral prayers for those killed in India’s strikes
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In the past ten days, I’ve done interviews with media from America, China, Germany, Qatar, Singapore and the UK. (Not counting India obviously.) If you think #Kashmir has not been internationalized by the Modi government’s actions you’re living in an extremely impressive bubble.
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Perfectly okay for folks to disagree with, or even to criticize, @Shehla_Rashid. But when national TV channels start whipping up hatred against an activist because she pushes the right buttons—articulate, female, Kashmiri Muslim who opposes the BJP—decent people should push back.
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If BOTH these photos don’t sadden you, you’re part of the problem.
#DelhiViolence #DelhiBurning
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Do people seriously believe that Rahul Gandhi’s speech in Parliament insulted all Hindus? (I don’t.)
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Evidence that:
Indian jets hit Pakistan (KPK province): Strong
Indian jets unscathed in raid: Strong
Indians hit JeM camp: Weak
Pakistan downed MiG-21: Strong
Pakistan captured Indian pilot: Strong
India downed F-16: Weak
Most people don’t care about evidence: INCONTROVERTIBLE!
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Fact: It’s easier for the U.S. to hire Sriram Krishnan for a senior White House position than it would be for Modi to hire him as a joint secretary in some ministry that nobody has heard of.
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While China challenges the US in telecoms, robotics and artificial intelligence, Indians are busy fighting about who did what to whom in the 18th century.
There is no difference between Tipu Sultan & Aurangzeb: @ARanganathan72, Author tells Rahul Shivshankar on INDIA UPFRONT. | #CongBacksIslamistHate
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Beyond ghoulish. Indian leftist journalists are directly boosting Hamas, not just talking about the Palestinians, but acting as PR flaks for a terrorist group responsible for one of the worst atrocities of the 21st century.
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I’m in an auditorium in Geneva awaiting the exiled crown prince of Iran. The room, packed with Iranians, is humming in anticipation. I hear Persian all around me, soft and civilized. A lady in front of me turns around and offers me plump dates from a plastic box. It’s a simple but beautiful gesture. I say “merci” and silently wish her well. The Iranian people deserve a better future. #GenevaSummit2025
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This video is beyond cringe. Regardless of your political views, you can’t simply airbrush Imran Khan out of the history of Pakistani cricket. Banana republic level propaganda.
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I would not be surprised if one casualty of the recent India-Pakistan shooting match is the Quad. China unambiguously backed Pakistan, its most important client state. Can anyone honestly claim that India’s “Quad partners” unambiguously backed India?
To clarify, I’m not predicting that the Quad will definitely die or wither away. It exists in the first place for good reasons. But I am saying that we will see more skepticism toward the grouping in New Delhi than we would have had the Quad tilted clearly toward India. At the very least, the U.S., Japan and Australia missed an opportunity to cement their image as reliable partners in the Indian imagination. Quad supporters should acknowledge this failure.
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Unfortunately, India went directly from British rule to BJP rule in 1947. Congress never got the chance to scrap this “colonial law.”
Kapil Sibal, Senior Congress leader: There is no need for a sedition law in today's times, it is a colonial law. Many who merely speak or tweet against the Government have sedition charges imposed against them, it is being misused by Centre just to keep citizens in check
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Sorry, but no. Earlier this year India smoothly counted more than 600 million votes in one day. This stuff is not rocket science. #2024
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Crowdsourcing: Can anyone name a prominent Indian Muslim politician or commentator who has done both these things:
1. Condemned Hamas atrocities against Israeli civilians on October 7.
2. Questioned Iran for enforcing mandatory hijab.
Thanks in advance. 🙏
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Dear Delhi media: Thanks for reporting on every obscure subcaste and constituency in UP and not spotting the biggest wave in a generation.
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If you’re an Indian citizen, imagine if tomorrow suddenly someone falsely accuses you of holding a Swiss passport. How do you conclusively disprove something that doesn’t exist? This is what the BJP is doing with its phony #RahulCitizenship row. And TV channels are playing along.
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Actually India has 20x the population of France or the UK. Same size of GDP with 20x the number of people is not a strength. Only crazed Indian hyper-nationalists think it’s a strength.
India vs France & the UK
1. Same GDP
2. Faster GDP growth
3. 15x Population
4. 5-10x Land area
5. Larger stock market cap, army size & defense spend
6. Democracy
Why is India not a G7 or UN Security Council permanent member like France/UK?
Treat us as partners, not a colony.
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I’m sure this will disappoint all the brilliant people around the world lining up to pursue their dream job in Bihar.
Big announcement:-
After forming the government in Bihar, 100% domicile law will be implemented
So that all the jobs in Bihar are given only to the people of Bihar and not to outsiders- @yadavtejashwi
#Bihar #TejashwiYadav #RJD
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My view: India cares deeply about an off ramp and has made that clear in all its messaging about Operation Sindoor. What it doesn’t care about is a “face-saving exit” for Gen. Asim Munir.
The off ramp India constructed had a sign that said this: “Accept our limited and targeted retaliation for the Pahalgam massacre and we will not escalate further.” It did not say “come launch an attack on our military bases so you can save face and we’ll call it quits.”
In short, Pakistan has had an off ramp from the start. It still has an off ramp. It just may not be the most appealing off ramp from the Pakistani army’s perspective.
I made an analytic error, I think. I assumed India would want to restore deterrence by showing cost-imposing capabilities while still finding a way to give Munir a face-saving exit. But it seems clear that India doesn’t care about off-ramps.
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The central fact of India’s Covid catastrophe is this: the Modi government dropped the ball. Everything else is deflection. #COVID19India
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Totally fair to slam Modi/BJP for performing far below expectations, but to put this in perspective:
1. BJP is on track to win roughly 2.5X as many seats as its nearest rival.
2. In any election between 1996 and 2009 pundits would have hailed 240~ seats as a major victory.
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No Indian Muslim has justified or minimized any of the heinous crimes recently committed against girls. No marches to support them. No sectarian appeals. No attempt to whip up hatred against other faiths. So could you please stop making ridiculous comparisons with Kathua? Thanks.
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You may foolishly believe that India is run by Modi, but luckily we have Republic TV to remind us that actually JNU students are in charge.
When the Chinese have amassed tons of hardware at the Sikkim border, nobody protested at JNU: Prof Makaran Paranjape on the #JNUTankDebate
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What we know: 1. The Pakistan army regularly lies through its teeth. (Remember Abbottabad.) 2. Much of the Indian media exaggerates wildly. (Remember nutty demonetization.) 3. Social media mobs in both countries view skepticism as a form of treason. #HappyFactChecking #Balakot
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Between 2002 and 2018, the US gave Pakistan more than $33b in assistance, including $14.6b to the Pakistani military. During that time, Pakistan ensured the failure of America’s #Afghanistan project by sheltering, arming and training the Taliban. [My take] wsj.com/articles/biden-withd…
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Insult Mohammed: Go directly to jail! Insult Durga: Freedom of expression. #OnlyInIndia
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Apparently the mildest praise for Sonia Gandhi makes you a “bootlicker.” But believing that the sun rises and sets with Modi shows self-respect. #OnlyInIndia
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Recently I pointed out the obvious fact that Rahul Gandhi is unsuited to politics and would be better off pursuing something for which he has natural aptitude. He could set up a private gym in south Delhi, or start his own travel show on YouTube. Maybe he’ll finally get the hint?
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America leads the free world because it has a massive economy, a powerful military, cutting edge tech, a system of government that has lasted ~250 years, and a culture that attracts talent and rewards merit. American leadership does not depend on the approval of Indian leftists.
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So basically Rahul Gandhi believes one of two things about his grandmother, father and mother: 1. That they were vicious caste supremacists dedicated to oppressing most Indians. OR 2. They were supremely incompetent and unable to address what he sees as India’s biggest problem.
#WATCH | Panchkula, Haryana: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi says, "I have been sitting in the system since the day I was born. I understand the system from the inside. You cannot hide the system from me. How it works, whom it favours, how it favours, whom it protects, whom it attacks, I know everything because I come from inside the system. When my grandmother was the PM, my father was the PM, and when Manmohan Singh was the PM, I used to go to the PM's house. So I know how the system works from the inside. I can tell you one thing, the system is aligned against the lower castes, severely and on every level..."
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Attacks on India’s Muslim minority are rapidly becoming an international issue. A smart government would recognize this as a serious problem and address it quickly, in part by cracking down hard on anti-Muslim vigilantes. In India they’ll settle for trolling Mesut Ozil instead.
Praying during the holy night of Lailat al-Qadr for the safety and well-being of our Muslim brothers and sisters in India🤲🏼🇮🇳🕌Let's spread awareness to this shameful situation! What is happening to the human rights in the so-called largest democracy in the world?#BreakTheSilence
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Ganguly: Modi had a choice between protecting his own image and protecting India from the pandemic. He chose himself. #Covid19India washingtonpost.com/outlook/m…
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When was the last time you saw an election anywhere where the loser looked a lot happier than the winner?
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Many Modi supporters acknowledge the obvious fact that his political star has dimmed. But RG fans seem unable to see that though 99 seats is a lot better than 52 seats, it still represents the Congress Party’s third worst performance ever. They’re acting like they won 300 seats.
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A 78-year-old activist and religious scholar is assaulted—allegedly by members of a BJP-affiliated youth group—and what matters most to Indian foreign minister @SushmaSwaraj is making sure that nobody makes a mistake about her CV.
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When every tragic loss of life is labeled a “genocide” you end up diminishing the experiences of Armenians in Turkey, Jews in Europe, Bangladeshi Hindus in East Pakistan and Tutsis in Rwanda, to name just four genuine attempts to wipe out a people over the past ~100 years.
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Let’s count the ways the BJP’s Pragya Thakur nomination has been a disaster for India: 1. Sends message that terrorism is noble—depending on who you kill. 2. Undermines faith in institutions. 3. Stains India’s international reputation. [Feel free to add more.]
Why is India’s BJP fielding a candidate who is facing terrorism charges?
@mehdirhasan asks Nalin Kohli, spokesperson for Bharatiya Janata Party. 1930 GMT @ AJEnglish
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I’m somewhat surprised that Satya Nadella touched this issue, but not at all surprised that he disapproves of India’s citizenship law. A successful firm like Microsoft is built on the principle of treating all people equally regardless of their faith.
Asked Microsoft CEO @satyanadella about India's new Citizenship Act. "I think what is happening is sad... It's just bad.... I would love to see a Bangladeshi immigrant who comes to India and creates the next unicorn in India or becomes the next CEO of Infosys" cc @PranavDixit
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I wonder which principle China was upholding when it placed a million Uighurs in re-education camps and virtually made it a crime to practice Islam in Xinjiang.
We are grateful to all 15 members of the UN Security Council for discussing the situation in Indian occupied Jammu and Kashmir. China as always stood firmly on principles and upholding international law
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Two cleanest South Asian cities I've visited: Colombo and Lahore. Wonder if Indian cities try to learn from them, or dismiss them as small.
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For four years, Trump ignored the steep decline of democracy and human rights in India. Joe Biden won’t repeat that mistake. [My take]
wsj.com/articles/will-biden-…
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The contrast between the Indian and Canadian responses to their standoff is striking. The Indian media is full of pieces attacking Justin Trudeau as clueless and out of his depth. The Canadian media is also full of pieces accusing Trudeau of being clueless and out of his depth.
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Prediction: India’s Covid crisis will shake up the country’s media landscape. Viewers will flee pro-government propaganda channels and milquetoast newspapers for online platforms that still practice journalism. Who wants to watch some angry bully who only berates the opposition?
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Successful democracies make even their newest citizens feel included. Unsuccessful democracies look for ways to exclude. #KamalaHarris #Kamala
You know, whatever else you think of Kamala Harris, it’s pretty amazing and awesome that immigrants can come to the U.S., meet, marry, have a child, and their daughter can grow up to be DA, state attorney general, U.S. Senator, and on a presidential ticket.
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This is an absurd argument. Nobody blames Modi for the pandemic. They blame him for badly bungling India’s RESPONSE to the pandemic.
Once-in-a-century pandemic can’t be laid at govt’s door- The New Indian Express newindianexpress.com/opinion…
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The idea that India is doing its Muslim citizens some kind of favor by allowing them to marry non-Muslims, or do well in their careers, is preposterous. That an ostensibly educated person speaks this way shows how far India is from modern conceptions of citizenship and equality.
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Earlier today, a friend and I tried to draw up a list of public intellectuals in India—writers, journalists, academics—who consistently speak truth to power. We came up with seven names. Seven people in a country of 1.3 billion. I’m not sure whether to laugh or weep.
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Hint: For normal people, “they didn’t really behead the babies, they only shot and stabbed them” isn’t exactly a winning argument.
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Childish. Surely the Indian foreign minister has better things to do than respond to pop stars?
Motivated campaigns targeting India will never succeed. We have the self confidence today to hold our own. This India will push back.
#IndiaTogether
#IndiaAgainstPropaganda
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Rajiv Gandhi was not some great youthful visionary as claimed by his fans. History will remember him as a decent bloke who inherited a job that was too big for him, bumbled through five eventful years, and left behind messes that shrewder PMs had to clear up after him.
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India isn’t a serious country. All political parties—including the BJP—are in a perpetual contest to show how much they adore Ambedkar. He is venerated in that typically Indian way—by placing him on a pedestal beyond debate. The idea that Ambedkar is under attack in 2024 is a joke.
Joined the protest with the INDIA Alliance in solidarity with Bharat Ratna Dr. BR Ambedkar ji, the revered architect of the Indian Constitution. We stand firmly for his vision and legacy.
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Pakistan’s democracy appears to have faced the “mad king test” and survived—at least for now. Not a small achievement. Congrats to all!
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It makes no sense for India to condemn the U.S. attack on Iran. If Iran’s rogue nuclear program has been set back or eliminated that’s good for India. Serious countries look out for their own interests. They don’t posture just to make leftist activists feel good about themselves.
Of the 14 Prime Ministers India has had so far, 13 of them -- from Nehru to Shastri, Indira Gandhi.... Vajpayee and Dr Singh -- would have unhesitatingly CONDEMNED Trump's unprovoked attack on Iran.
Will the 14th PM do so?
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I’m no fan of either MBS or Saudi Arabia, but Modi was right to greet the prince warmly in Delhi. Would have been foolish to snub the leader of a strategically important country out of pique. Good to see national interest prevail over the passions of the Twitter peanut gallery.
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The most important divide in India is not between Hindus and Muslims. It’s between Hindus who welcome religious pluralism and Hindus who abhor it. [Reup] wsj.com/articles/hindu-supre…
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Peak Twitter: Exchange between 19-year-old w/ one follower and former Indian foreign secretary & ambassador to China.
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Rahul Gandhi comes from a family that has been enormously privileged for more than 100 years. If he had any political sense he would recognize this as an immutable fact. Instead he likes to cosplay as some kind of leftist revolutionary. Why are we surprised that nobody buys it?
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Fine to disagree with them, but it’s absurd to call professors, some of whom teach at the best universities in the world, “purported economists.” The only “purported” economists out there are the bharatnatyam dancers of the Swadeshi Jagran Manch who came up with demonetization.
The recent statement by the 108 purported economists reveals compulsions of ‘Compulsive Contrarians’. Most of them have, over the last few years, repeatedly signed the memorandums of manufactured issues against path breaking reforms of the present government.
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Expecting Yogi Adityanath to pursue development is like expecting your dog to cook breakfast. No harm in hoping but don't hold your breath.
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A lot of people have said a lot of stupid things during the current India-Pakistan standoff, but this Pakistani claim that India is raining missiles on its own people has got to be the stupidest of all.
India’s Air Force chief is a Sikh. Sikhs serve with distinction across the Indian government, including at senior levels in all branches of the Indian military. You have to be an imbecile to think such a plan would be executable even if someone (outside Pakistan’s GHQ) was crazy enough to dream it up.
For India, though, the absurdity of the claim presents an opportunity. Seeing who amplifies it is a simple way to identify both likely ISI-linked accounts, and people who urgently need a brain transplant.
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If a character in a film can’t criticize a tax, then on what planet can you claim BJP respects free speech? #Mersal ndtv.com/tamil-nadu-news/tam…
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If exit polls are broadly right—as is likely—and the BJP gets a drubbing in Delhi, it will suggest that constant Muslim-baiting plays better with deranged party supporters on Twitter than with actual voters. Some good news for India after a period of gloom. #DelhiElections2020
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Both true: 1. Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi in March was irresponsible, and will end up endangering lives. Fine to criticize it. 2. Bigots will weaponize this incident to smear all Indian Muslims. Decent people should push back. #coronavirus #coronainindia
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Indian media could have asked Trump about China, globalization, immigration, the Quad, Russia and another half dozen important issues that affect both the US and India. Instead we got Pakistan-Imran-Pakistan-Pakistan-Imran-Pakistan-Pakistan-Imran-Pakistan. Pathetic.[Video, 5m]
Watch | "(PM Modi) brought things together in the country like a father... We'll call him the 'Father of India'": Donald Trump
Read more here: ndtv.com/india-news/donald-t…
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Great example of the “lipstick on a pig” school of political analysis in India—the unflagging belief that someone who has not shown political smarts or people skills in two decades of public life will suddenly discover them by reading a tweet. Here’s a more realistic take on the Shashi Tharoor situation: He has no future in Congress precisely BECAUSE he is more articulate, well read, hard working and ambitious than Rahul Gandhi. Congress is a medieval court. In no court can you get ahead by outshining the half-idiot prince.
Dear @rahulgandhi
I am writing to you publicly here because no one within the Congress is probably going to tell you this. So as usual, let me bell the cat.
Leadership ( corporate or political or any other) is about having difficult conversations. It is about trouble-shooting. It is not about living in denial; problems have to be addressed, they cannot be wished away.
You and I both know that Shashi ( Tharoor) is an outstanding parliamentarian. He is probably among the only few in the country to whom the cliché, “ He needs no introduction” truly applies. It is therefore disappointing that once again a great asset of the party is being forced to talk to the media to get his message through to you or the Congress leadership. Almost five years to the date, I was compelled to write an article in a national newspaper when facing a similar predicament. No problem is intractable; the key question is do we have the will to solve them in everyone’s interest? And that too quickly.
The Congress must be focused on taking on the BJP, but a prerequisite for that is to first get the house in order. This cannot become an ongoing unresolved challenge for years as it paralyses the energy and drive of the Congress workers and supporters. A challenger party has to be swift, desperate, risk-taking, hungry and on a constant prowl. It cannot be business as usual, for sure.
We need to the hit the nail on the head going forward, but right now, we seem to be hitting our head on the nail.
I am sure the party and you will sort this out pronto.
Good luck!
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Idi Amin expelled Uganda’s most productive people and ended up tanking the country’s economy. It’s a lesson for all politicians who demonize wealth creators.
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Q: How do you prove that there’s no “climate of fear” in India?
A: By getting rabid IT cell troll army to attack industrialist who had the courage to point out the climate of fear in India.
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Varieties of Vajpayee obit:
1. Great guy. Didn’t replace Nehru portrait. (Congress)
2. Great guy. Built some cool roads and all. (Economist)
3. Great guy. Took that bus ride to Pakistan. (Peacenik)
4. Great guy. Nuclear tests! (Defense pundit.)
5. Great guy. Not Modi. (Shourie)
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On #Kathua only two sets of people are “defaming Hinduism”: 1. Those who march for child rapists. 2. Those who respond with “what about x?”
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