The ‘H’ in ‘Hindi’ is meant to be capitalized. But we let that pass because we get the point being made, right?
That aside, ungrammatical English is used by a large base of Indians for whom English is a second, third or even fourth language. It cuts across party lines.
A fraction of the population is educated in the English medium, and a sliver of them are taught well in the chaste form. Many of the same “trolls” referred to voted for the Congress or regional parties in the past. How else did the BJP’s vote share increase over the years?
Now on to the narrow base and the colonized mind. A small, English-speaking group penned (and revised) the ‘idea of India’. An overwhelming majority laid the concertina wire of English to protect the hallowed colonial halls they inherited, from the subaltern masses.
As for the use of rude Hindi, I’d suggest one draws a comparison with the English content on Twitter, produced by the ‘masses’ from across the political spectrum residing in English-speaking countries. Normalizing for that is an important starting point for the doctoral thesis.
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This article discusses how temple grounds are used for the UK’s vaccination drive.
It states “...studies show that minority groups have higher vaccine hesitancy,” without mentioning that the Indian community is as likely as any other enthnic group to take the vaccine.
Why is @cnni hiding the details? When a Hindu temple is organizing a vaccine drive, why is the community grouped with other ‘South Asians’ and people from beyond who take the average anti-vax rate amongst ethnic minorities to a level higher than of the average population?
@NadaMBashir, is there any reason why a community-wise breakdown is not provided in this article? Is it to create a false equivalency between British Indian attitudes towards the Covid vaccine and those of other ethnic groups? Why is a Hindu temple used for monkey-balancing?
What can be stranger than those who enjoy the fruits of a liberalized agricultural market in the US condemn 95% of Indian farmers who are patiently waiting for the implementation of the laws which would grant them access a free market?
It’s not strange at all if it’s an effort to stymy reforms that can drastically improve labor productivity in India. The bills unleash the potential of hundreds of millions who have been denied the basic human right to sell their produce to who they wish, at the price they can.
Typically, the reason academics spend time studying before teaching is so that the information communicated to the audience is accurate.
The profundity of @gchikermane’s essay truly matches its nuance. Meanwhile, the forthrightness of its arguments provide a framework for understanding the lay of the land of the emerging 21st century protest against the canvas of history. A must read:
Taking it further in the cultural context to derive a glide path for the impact on national consciousness and polity, it’s worthwhile noting that the postmodernist reductionism embraced by many who lend ideological support for such protests, hasn’t found broad adoption in India.
The idea that a minority/majority binary carries forth an inherited victim/oppressor narrative, finds little resonance in India outside some academic circles. Overlaying this, a majority of the nation’s farmers have not pushed back against the bills, and it is telling.
With history of developing working relationships with China and KSA while having unseated democratically elected governments in Iran, Brazil and beyond, the US would be well placed to circumvent discourse on democratic norms with India. Plenty of other areas to focus on.
Indian democracy is unique, and will always be so. An effort to superimposes a Western matrix of supposedly “liberal” democratic norms on a civilizational state that is emerging from the darkness of institutional as well as intellectual colonization, will see a natural pushback.
While our factors of production - land, labour, capital, entrepreneurship and technology - share some commonalities, our approach to pluralism diverge. India’s pluralism is rooted in its philosophies, similar to that of the indigenous Americans. It’s not enforced by constitution.
Amidst the mayhem on SM, it’s important not to lose sight of a couple of things. First, there are many who hold opposing political views, who genuinely have Indian interests at heart. Second, there is a sizeable number of Sikhs who abhor the effort to divide this country.
We can’t lose track of the big picture. The purpose of a hit job of the kind we’ve seen is to vitiate the atmosphere. There are many players - separatists, foreign intel agencies, demagogues running SM platforms, the media, think tanks, politicians and uninformed “influencers”.
This is from old friend of mine who happens to be a Sikh from London. He holds agricultural land in Punjab and has also contributed to India’s agritech sector, putting money where is mouth is. He supports the farm bills, and was livid seeing the propaganda.
After the “toolkit” for anarchy and Hinduphobia (note: Peter Friedrich’s inclusion) got exposed for what it is, here’s the new think tank spin: demean the MEA’s effort to counter paid, subversive propaganda through patronizingly reducing it to a conflict with a single “celebrity”
The subtlety of narrative change - cherry-pick “facts” to fit a story that suits an agenda. Compound it with moral grandstanding. Ignore the ground realities and confine the delivery of the story within a framework that is impervious to criticism. How? By turning it into a joke.
When on the back foot, engage the entire think tank and pliable op-ed network (eg. from WSJ, Bloomberg) to comment on similar lines. Turn off the comments section and reply only to one another’s points. Make that the only conversation visible.