According to this NYT report what got the Americans after initial nonchalance was fear of Pakistan’s nuclear installations getting decapitated by India. India had moved from destroying terror bases to Pakistan’s Air bases. Within minutes India destroyed Pakistan’s 11 air bases. Most importantly Nur Khan base which is a short distance from Pakistan’s nuclear facility. India was adamant. According to NYT report and this quotes only American sources, when Vance spoke to PM he committed nothing, agreed to nothing. Rubio then got into action and pressed that there is a strong chance of dramatic escalation. Ceasefire seems to have been agreed upon after Rubio spoke to Asim Munir.

What Udhayanidhi Stalin said is a call for Genocide. It is not covered by free speech. When you ask for ‘eradication’ of a certain kind of people you are calling for genocide. Remember what point b of Article 3 of UN convention says - Conspiracy to commit genocide is also punishable under genocide convention. #UdhayanidhiStalin Gregory Stanton’s 10 stages of Genocide start with classification, symbolization, discrimination, dehumanization, organization, polarization, preparation, persecution, and extermination and them denial. Having fulfilled all stages until persecution,Udhyanidhi Stalin has now called for extermination. ERADICATION means root and branch massacre. Root and branch massacre is Genocide. #UdhayanidhiStalin

I am not oversimplifying this debate, nor am I unaware of all strands of debate on all sides. But honestly, truly speaking, I don’t get politicization of languages in a country like India. We are so comfortably multilingual without even realizing we are. Why not encourage that? I have never come across a language that I haven’t loved. I have never come across a language that does not have rich literature, poetry, unique phrases and beautiful imagery. Being trilingual is the best way forward. Mother tongue, Hindi and English - acquire fluency in all.

Ms. Anuradha Bhasin of Kashmir Times, who has authored this piece, is upset because she was told to vacate Govt allotted premises where she peddled her anti state agenda for decades. Ms. Bhasin wants to attack Indian state but she wants Indian govt to pay for it. Too bad.

https://twitter.com/nytopinion/status/1633498259351273473

Media in J&K was stunningly ‘free’ before 2019. They wanted govt money, govt accommodations, govt doles to dish out anti India stuff. That has been stopped now. I don’t understand if they want to write Jihadi narrative why should India pay for it. Use your own money folks.

India was a one party system for pretty much 50 years after independence. Pity those who talk about political competition now didn’t worry about quality of democracy now. BJP should be credited for making India a genuine multi party democracy. India’s one party system was broken by two men- Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Lal Krishna Advani along with thousands of their political workers. It took them decades to achieve this. They never ran to foreign shores complaining about institutions working against them.

I have to say that ghats are much cleaner and Kashi Vishwanath corridor has transformed this place totally. No oped, no video, no report can prepare you for this miraculous transformation. You have to see this yourself. PM ⁦@narendramodi⁩ has managed to do impossible Don’t believe what naysayers tell you. Don’t believe ‘dirt and squalor adds to character’ crowd and don’t believe ‘Kashi Corridor has destroyed ancient architecture’ crowd. Nothing has been destroyed. Look at what has been preserved and how important it is for revival.

All ‘serious and scholarly’ work certified by who? Establishment historians? Establishment historians who were sold to Sheikh Abdullah. Historians who sold Sheikh as anti colonial and anti imperial crusader of which there is no proof?

https://twitter.com/Jairam_Ramesh/status/1588062556723490816

Maybe @Jairam_Ramesh should read Prem Shankar Jha’s Kashmir,1947- Rival Versions of History where he says Maharaja sent an emissary to Delhi on 13th Sept. Maharaja had communication lines open with Patel. There is nothing on record that proves Maharaja wanted independent Kashmir.

Mr. @Jairam_Ramesh must learn to go to primary sources before putting half truth out there. In Patel, Nehru and Kashmir debate he missed an imp point- Invasion of Kashmir by Pakistani tribal militia. Within months of ‘becoming’ Pakistan, they started using ‘non state actors’ Patel handled the integration of princely states with courage, grit, wisdom that the world had rarely seen before him or after him. Integration of more than 500 states without using much force at all ( other than Hyderabad)

1) Ghulam Nabi Azad has never been a mass leader but his re-entry in J&K politics will create significant ripples in other parties. The new kid on the block, J&K Apni Party already seems to be on the way to merger or disintegrate totally. 2) Gupkar Alliance is already finished. Sajad Lone had parted ways earlier and now Abdullahs are on their way out. This leaves only Mehbooba’s PDP as a party of some significance in the alliance. Gupkar alliance is as good as dead.

After couple of decades of living literally underground and in hiding, Salman Rushdie had just about started living normally. Probably after 3 decades of being hounded, he felt he was now safe in New York. He forgot that ‘Sar tan se Juda’ threat has no expiry date. In 2016, Rushdie got US citizenship after having lived in NY for 16 years. Perhaps believing that he was safe in ‘Ground Zero’ of Free Speech. @csmonitor reported ‘Afterward,Mr. Rushdie walked alone in Central Park, making his way after sunset through the park’s tree-lined paths’

Few points on #LalSinghChadha. Going by the reviews across the board, seems LSC is Aamir Khan’s biggest blunder. I will only restrict this to craft of film making and not to culture wars which requires separate thread. 1) Artistes should never ever entertain creative egos. At 57 if you want to play a character with an age span of 15-30, and you have no one in the team including the director to say that this is a ridiculous idea, you must know you are trapped in your own ego and your understanding of greatness.

For the first time in what - 50 years (give or take 5), no one in Mumbai needs to appease/pay obeisance/be frightened by a Thackeray. That fear of ‘Thackeray’ is gone forever. Sena may or may not survive, Thackerays will not survive once that fear is gone.Choose successors wisely Uddhav Thackeray forgot the most important lesson that a successor of Balasaheb Thackeray should have never forgotten- Jiske Paas Power Hai … Uska Wrong Bhi Right Ho Jaata Hai- Power in this case didn’t come from CM’s position but from firm control over Sainiks.

I think Lt Gen Puri did his very best to explain Agnipath. It will not be rolled back. This is a voluntary thing. People who feel this is not for them will have to find alternative careers. I understand it is hard. But this is a necessity for both students and Forces.

https://twitter.com/ddnewslive/status/1538481838834225152

Youth will have to understand Government cannot and should not be a job generator. It simply is not feasible. I know Hindi heartland suffers due to lack of privatization and zero industrialization but this will force change. When people are desperate, state govts will change

I was waiting for a hit job on Panchayat.And there it is. Left doesn’t disappoint. How can Left tolerate a show that talks about rural development,that shows women in control,that shows progressive village working towards improving their standards of living.They had to attack it Left loves victimhood. Left loves to manufacture‘suffering women wilting under patriarchy’. And most important Left loves violence and expletives. Left loves thugs and crooks. That is why Anurag Kashyap’s cinema is progressive to them. And real slice of life cinema irks them.

Yasin Malik is no ordinary terrorist. He is no lunatic or trigger happy zealot. Yasin Malik is a genocidal maniac. What he did as a terrorist is known fairly well. What he did with the collusion of Civil Society after he ostensibly ‘laid down arms’ is much more important. With the active help of Academia, Media, intellectual circuit, terrorist Yasin Malik spun a web of deceit and fraud. Stalwarts of civil society, many of whom are still active in public life, some have conveniently changed opinion since 2014, helped Yasin Malik become ‘Gandhian’

LG ⁦@manojsinha_⁩ entire speech in Sheikhpura camp.He answers most Q’s 1)Why he came after a delay. He intended to come the first day. He explains it clearly. 2) compensation amount and issues around it and how he is working around what the policy is 3) LG @manojsinha_ also says something that no Governor probably has said in public before.Not just the terrorists, their enablers too will have to face the law of the land. He said he was cognizant about the dangers 4) He is available for talks anytime to resolve all issues.

Well done Siddhartha. Excellent question.

https://twitter.com/sid_irts/status/1528971624841625603

I always say that India is divided into two kinds of people. Those who believe India is an unbroken civilization of 5000 years, and those who think India was ‘born’ in 1947. Rahul Gandhi belongs to the latter group which is not a surprise. Look at the company he keeps.

Everyone loves #PanchayatOnPrime. It is earthy,humor that we identify with, has people who feel our own.More importantly it has inherent decency which I believe still exists in our lives. Regardless of what Anurag Kashyap brand of cinema tells you and what Social Media tells you Everyone has been raving about #PanchayatSeason2 so there is really nothing more to say. However what most people have missed in their reviews is portrayal of women in the show. Women of Panchayat are feisty, strong, have a mind of their own and are equals.

There is a section of Indians who suck upto Georgetown professor because she takes on Pakistan. As if she is doing a huge favor to you. As if you cannot take on a terrorist state on your own. As if you need her legitimacy. As if her so called scholarship is anything original. They take her abuses, they settle for her bad behavior, they swoon over her hindi accent, they drown in self loathing when she attacks India. In short, they are totally hypnotized by an abusive woman who cannot speak to you, unwashed masses, with respect.

When a civilization declines, the bankruptcy is visible everywhere. The quality of its people deteriorates. Shallow men and women become heroes. There is anger everywhere and people forget their responsibilities. Declining civilizations can’t see future anymore. What happened at Oscar’s last night is a reflection of America’s declining civilization. Responsible people know when to intervene, in order to bring about a change. They know they have agency to do that.They don’t teach young boys and girls that violence is acceptable

I am reading a lot of ‘propaganda’ about ‘propaganda films’.I thought I should address it here. Kashmir Files is my story and story of my people. It is impossible for me to be objective about it. But years of training as an analyst has also taught me to be fair in my analysis 1/6 Those who call TKF propaganda film miss an important lesson that they should have learnt after the film was released. Forget the money, look at the catharsis people are having from Jammu to Kanyakumari and it is all spontaneous 2/6