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Ben Norton
@BenjaminNorton
, 7 tweets, 3 min read Read on Twitter
Horrible news in India: The far-right pro-Hindutva (extreme Hindu-nationalist ideology) ruling party BJP just swept the elections, with around 300 of the 542 seats—a victory even bigger than in 2014

This is with the highest voter turnout in Indian history
ndtv.com/india-news/lok…
India's mainstream "opposition," the Congress Party—which embraced neoliberal capitalism after the fall of the USSR—has been decimated.

INC barely managed to secure 50 seats. Rahul Gandhi, who ran a centrist campaign, lost the family seat in Uttar Pradesh
reuters.com/article/india-…
The only "victory" won by India's neoliberal "opposition" Congress Party was in the southern state of Kerala, where the Congress-led coalition took 19 of the 20 seats from the communist-led Left Democratic Front

Congress' only victory was AGAINST the left
thenewsminute.com/article/we-res…
Rahul Gandhi, the incompetent centrist leader of India's neoliberal Congress Party (whose only qualification is being born in the family dynasty), has reportedly offered to resign after the second humiliating Lok Sabha loss in a row
indiatoday.in/elections/lok-…
Even the young communist leader Kanhaiya Kumar — who became known as a student leader after being briefly imprisoned by the BJP government on bogus political charges — lost to the far-right ruling party in Begusarai constituency in his home state of Bihar
ndtv.com/india-news/lok…
So the Indian 2019 election, in summary: The fascists won handily, and the neoliberal centrists lost badly — except for the seats they took from the left, which has been decimated.

There are obviously many lessons to be learned from this around the world.
And while the political situation is different in India, it's not as different as people make it out to be:

The big takeaway for Americans from India's election should be, if it's Biden vs. Trump in 2020, Trump will win again.

Neoliberal dynasty politics only helps the fascists
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Ben Norton
@BenjaminNorton
I wrote about how it is not just Trump, but the media, Obama, Bush, mainstream “human rights” organizations, Republicans and Democrats alike that put the noose around the neck of @WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange — threatening all journalists.
thegrayzone.com/2019/05/24/tru…
The NY Times has spent years demonizing @WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, smearing them as Kremlin tools without any evidence.

Last month, it published this embarrassing article indirectly admitting that there is still no evidence for their bogus attacks.
nytimes.com/2019/04/11/us/…
A CNN columnist published this shameful article last month claiming political prisoner Julian Assange is "not a journalist.” Trump’s assistant attorney general echoed this *exact same language* last night when he announced the indictment.
cnn.com/2019/04/11/opi…
Read 9 tweets
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Ben Norton
@BenjaminNorton
The Trump regime is sending thousands more US troops to the Middle East in a blatant act of aggression against Iran — but CNN is willingly acting as a US gov. mouthpiece, outlandishly claiming that this is to "counter Iran," even though Iran is the victim!
cnn.com/2019/05/24/pol…
This is blatant US government propaganda. CNN is justifying the Trump regime's military aggression by claiming it's to "deter Iranian threats"

CNN hasn't changed since the Iraq War because it never will change: its role is to manufacture consent for illegal US wars of aggression
While the Trump regime is aggressively threatening Iran for merely existing, it is simultaneously considering an emergency declaration that would allow it to make arms shipments to the blood-soaked Saudi monarchy without the approval of Congress
apnews.com/2c23a62730ef44…
Read 4 tweets
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Ben Norton
@BenjaminNorton
Even the NY Times—which has been lying about political prisoner Julian Assange, smearing him as a supposed Russian tool—is warning that the US government's draconian charges against him and WikiLeaks are a blatant assault on the freedoms of speech & press
nytimes.com/2019/05/23/us/…
The director of the First Amendment Institute at Columbia University said the US government's charges against Assange "rely almost entirely on conduct that investigative journalists engage in every day."

"The indictment should be understood as a frontal attack on press freedom."
After spending years attacking and smearing political prisoner Assange, the NY Times is finally admitting that he is a journalist — albeit in the most roundabout way possible

Typical NYT: Eventually it admits the truth, but only when it is much too late ()
Read 6 tweets

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Values, believing, independent thinking, teamwork
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India (Bhārat), aka Republic of India (Bhārat Gaṇarājya) constitutes a mosaic of paradoxes and contradictions starting with the existence of gigantic socio-economic disparities which are in sharp contrast with the spectacular technological development in most productive sectors.
Such contradictions reflect significant measurement discrepancies which, in India's case, could be on the order of hundreds of millions of people.
Furthermore, there is the problem of Islamic terrorists, who are trained abroad and find easy fuel in the contradictions within it.
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Audrey Truschke
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Because @TulsiGabbard has received significant financial support from The Hindu Right and so is beholden to their interests, including anti-Muslim & anti-Christian agendas.

Also, Obama isn't running for office. Gabbbard is, and her Hindu nationalist sympathies are unacceptable.
For Americans unfamiliar with Hindu nationalism, I invite you to read this thread that clarifies the nature and origin of this dangerous ideology: #Hindutva #HinduNationalism
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Audrey Truschke
@AudreyTruschke
Alright folks, a little primer on Hindutva or the Hindu Right Wing, to which presidential hopeful Tulsi Gabbard has ties. This is meant for Americans without much, if any, prior knowledge of India. #Hindutva #TulsiGabbard THREAD
Hindutva & Hinduism are two separate things, in two separate categories. Hinduism is a religion. Hindutva is a political ideology. They are as far apart as Christianity vs. white supremacy. I've no beef with Hinduism. But basic justice & equality are incompatible with Hindutva.
What is Hindutva? In brief, it is the notion that India ought to be land for Hindus, by Hindus. It condemns other Indians to being second-class citizens and accepting increasing Hindutva-fueled violence against minorities in the form of lynchings, morality enforcing mobs, etc.
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Mona Eltahawy
@monaeltahawy
What happens when women defy patriarchy: Violent protests have paralysed southern Indian state of #Kerala after 2 women made history by entering a prominent Hindu temple.
One person was killed in clashes. Schools are closed & public transport suspended. bbc.com/news/world-asi…
The #Sabarimala temple was historically closed to women of "menstruating age" - defined as between 10 and 50.
The Supreme Court revoked the ban in September. On Wednesday, Bindu Ammini, 40, and Kanaka Durga, 39, entered the shrine around dawn and became the first women to do so.
The day before the two women made history by entering #Sabarimala temple, #Kerala had a historic protest for gender equality and against right-wing groups who oppose the Supreme Court’s lifting of the ban on women
Read 7 tweets
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DR.VIKAS PADHA / डाॅ विकास पाधा 🇮🇳🇮🇳🇮🇳
@vickoo1976
I am writing a thread for supporters PM Narendra Modi .
I am a professional , a Doctor , with no intention to join active politics but I take interest in politics to support the efforts of PM Narendra Modi. It doesn't make me supporter of any political party including Bjp! 1/n
After yesterday's defeat of my Prime minister's party Bjp in 3 Assembly Elections, I am too feeling low but in view of larger battle of 2019 for my PM , I am seeing silver lining in the cloud vis a vis yesterday's mandate that I would like to share in this thread . 2/n
One cannot ignore the fact that Bjp had incumbent Governments for last 15 years in Madhya Pradesh and Chhatisgarh & for last 5 yrs in Rajasthan with same term for incumbent CMs.Anti incumbency was natural in these states & especially in Rajasthan, people were unhappy with CM.3/n
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