Some things to Reconsider

Come October, India enters what I call the “Republic of Outrage.” The so-called festival season now comes with its own ritual choreography — not of lights, but of hashtags. First, the annual denunciation of Gandhi: a flurry of posts calling him the “great appeaser,” followed by that curious sect of Godse devotees who believe the man with the pistol was history’s most misunderstood patriot. And then, inevitably, comes the annual symphony on fireworks — the claim that bursting crackers is a time-honoured Hindu tradition. Celebrities, industrialists, and TV anchors join in with missionary zeal. Some sing solo, others harmonise, but they all hum the same tune. From television studios to X (that glorious temple of half-truths), the chorus swells. Sudhir Chaudhary, our national priest of prime-time patriotism, warns solemnly that “banning crackers is an attack on faith.” Former Infosys CFO Mohandas Pai logs on to declare that “pollution isn’t caused by crackers,” and that restrictions are...

https://www.business-standard.com/opinion/columns/operation-sindoor-india-needs-information-defence-not-just-rebuttals-125061201445_1.html Lets begin with a bitter truth, served neat : the great Modi revolution of 2014 was not built on reform, renaissance, or even righteous anger. It was built on a well-oiled machinery of misinformation and disinformation. Call it what you will—spin, distortion, propaganda—but it has served as the backbone of the new India that many chest-thump about and too few dare question. Remember the three scandals that brought down the UPA government like a house of damp cards? Commonwealth Games , 2G spectrum , and Coalgate . All were declared “historic scams” by our then-echoing newsrooms. Faces were red with rage, fists were raised in candlelight vigils, and an old man in a Gandhi cap threatened fasts unto death. The result? After all the commotion, not a single conviction . Courts dismissed the cases. No money trail, no fraud. Just the noise of a nation exp...