Parth MN Profile picture
Aug 14 12 tweets 4 min read
India gears up for its 75th independence day.

But the fact is the country has never been as depressing as it is today.

Two weeks ago, I paid a visit to the Holocaust Museum in DC.

And for nearly three hours, all I did was draw parallels with India.

#IndiaAt75
In April 1933, Nazis under Hitler had staged a nationwide boycott against Jewish businesses. Signs like "Don't buy from the Jews" were plastered on multiple shops.

In India, BJP leaders and supporters have repeatedly endorsed the economic boycott of Muslims.
A newspaper editor, Julius Striecher, called for a permanent and total boycott of Jews.

He could be our Suresh Chavhanke.
In 1935, Nazi Germany passed the Nuremberg Laws, banning the marriage of Jews and people with "German blood".

In India, we call it Love Jihad.
Goebbels had complete control over the flow of information. He exploited latest techniques like Film and Radio to communicate Nazi achievements.

In India, we have the IT Cell, exploiting social media.
Even schools became a place of political indoctrination in Nazi Germany.

In India, it was compulsory for students to listen to Modi's teacher's day speech. Tweaking history textbooks is another example of the indoctrination.
The spring of 1933, Nazi students and officials burned 25,000 books because they were "un-German".

We have a long list of books banned because they are "anti-India" or "anti-Hindu".
In 1938, the Nazis orchestrated a pogrom, where 91 jews died, thousands had their businesses vandalised.

Not too dissimilar than delhi riots or what happened during the CAA-NRC protests.
On top of it, Jews were held responsible for the damage to their own homes and shops, and a penalty was imposed on them.

Yogi Adityanath did the same thing in UP.
During the 1930s, anybody that spoke out against Hitler was called an "enemy of the state".

In India, we call them anti-nationals, urban naxals and so on.
German businessman greatly benefitted from their cooperation to Nazi Germany.

Remind me who overtook Bill Gates to become the 4th richest person in the world?
We have not had the gas chambers yet, but in conclusion, I'll leave you with this quote from a Holocaust survivor:- It happened. Therefore it can happen again. And it can happen everywhere.

Happy independence day.
#IndiaAt75

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More from @parthpunter

Jun 22
Uddhav Thackeray has his faults. He may say he hasn't abandoned Hindutva.

But here are a few things that didn't happen in Maharashtra because of a non-BJP government.
I don't recall Sanghis landing up in front of a mosque during Ram Navami and calling for a genocide of Muslims and mass rape of Muslim women.

During the CAA-NRC protests, you didn't see the kind of human rights violations against Muslims that you saw in some other states.
Maharashtra has no dearth of Sanghis. A dharm sansad that you saw in UP or Uttarakhand could have easily happened here too.

There were cases of hate speech in Maharashtra too but the scale & frequency of it was nowhere near some other states.

No homes were razed by bulldozers
Read 8 tweets
Apr 1
Mahapaapi or not, Nitish Kumar's liquor ban has been a colossal failure.

Stay till the end of the thread.

In 2020, I had done a deep dive into it to find out how counterproductive this move has been.

It has pushed people towards hooch and drug abuse.
indiaspend.com/bihars-women-w…
“We take a 200-litre drum and we mix carbide, urea, yeast, jaggery and a bit of mahua," a man in a remote village of Muzaffarpur had told me.

“We are currently not making it because of the elections. But we can do a video call sometime next month so you can see it live.”
There are at least 50 such people in the village making 20 litres of hooch everyday, he continued.

“We didn’t even make 20% of this before the liquor ban.”

Hooch deaths in Bihar have continued to happen since the liquor ban.
Read 11 tweets
Mar 31
In June 2021, Sarita, 5 months pregnant, died on her way to hospital

Her husband, Pappu, ensured her body remained upright in the auto while they returned home through checkpoints

"I was afraid of what the police might say."

My story for @PARInetwork

ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/th…
This happened in the outskirts of Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, a state where Yogi Adityanath has returned to power.

Pappu, who belongs to the Musahar community, prioritised his fear of the cops over his grief of losing his wife.

Says a lot about the police of the state.
Sarita was anemic, like 50 percent of the women in UP.

And anemia is directly linked to maternal mortality.

Sadly, it wasn't an "election issue". So it wasn't important enough for the mainstream media.

That's her mother in law holding her infant daughter.
Read 11 tweets
Jan 31
3 years ago, Lakshima Devi, a dalit woman, was refused inside a PHC when she went into labour.

She delivered the baby under a tree outside that PHC. The baby didn't survive.

My story from UP on the discrimination people face at healthcare facilities ruralindiaonline.org/en/articles/pe…
Oxfam recently conducted a survey on patients’ rights, which found that 52.44 % felt discriminated on grounds of economic status.

14.34% felt discriminated because of their religion and 18.68% on grounds of caste.
A local activist in January 2022 conducted a survey in his block in Varanasi, where Lakshima lives.

Out of 64 recent childbirths in seven Musahar bastis of Baragaon block, 35 were home births.
Read 6 tweets
Dec 20, 2021
In January 1999, a 24-year old Ricky Ponting held a press conference with a blackened eye.

He told the media he had a drinking problem.

He divulged that the black eye was the result of a drunken brawl in a club and that he would be seeking counselling.
Most people saw a careless brat not valuing the opportunity to play for Australia.

Few saw a young man who had the courage to face the media with a black eye and concede he had a problem.

The young man would eventually take Australia to its greatest heights.
We are in December, well into the yearly Australian summer. I remember as a kid, I would invariably have a 5 o'clock alarm throughout these months to watch the magic of Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Adam Gilchrist and the likes.
Read 8 tweets
Oct 28, 2021
I get goosebumps every time I watch this video

1999. Pakistan defeated India by 12 runs in a thrilling test match

Pak team took a victory lap, and every single person stood up & clapped

Today, the entire Chepauk stadium would be charged with sedition

Listen to @bhogleharsha: If you ever wanted to see a victory for sport, here it is on your television screens, he says.

"I have never seen a stronger statement in favour of sport than this....There has been no jingoism."
Let's be clear. India and Pakistan had their tensions even in 1999.

But we didn't abuse our Muslim cricketers. We didn't thrash Kashmiri students. We didn't lock up Muslims and charged them with sedition.
Read 5 tweets

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