Will this reform improve the lives of ordinary Indians — or mainly strengthen the political class?

This discussion should not be reduced to regional fault lines. Nor should genuine causes like women’s representation be used as political packaging. The real issue is governance, accountability, and whether expanding Parliament solves the problems citizens actually face every day.

More Seats, More Politicians, More Cost

India already has 543 Lok Sabha MPs and 245 Rajya Sabha members at maximum strength. Yet millions still struggle with poor schools, understaffed hospitals, broken roads, unemployment, delayed justice, and weak local administration.

So the natural question is:

Does India suffer from too few politicians — or too little delivery from the ones already elected?

Increasing seats means more salaries, more allowances, more staff, more security, more office infrastructure, more official residences, more vehicles, and more long-term public expenditure funded by taxpayers.

Before adding more representatives, citizens have every right to ask:

• What measurable outcomes have current MPs delivered?
• How many actively engage in Parliament beyond party instructions?
• How many solve constituency issues consistently?
• How many improve education, healthcare, jobs, or infrastructure?
• How many remain accessible after elections?

Representation matters. But representation without accountability becomes expensive symbolism.

Women’s Reservation: Valid Cause, Wrong Packaging

Women’s political representation is necessary. India needs more women lawmakers, ministers, administrators, and decision-makers. That is not in dispute.

But another fair question must be asked:

Why is women’s reservation being tied to delimitation and seat expansion?

If the intent is genuine empowerment, why can’t stronger women’s representation begin within the current structure?

Political parties today can already:

• Field more women candidates
• Reserve internal leadership roles
• Invest in women campaigners
• Promote capable women leaders
• Build long-term political pipelines

Nothing prevents parties from doing this now except political will.

When reservation is linked to seat expansion, a legitimate reform risks becoming a shield for a separate political objective.

Women deserve representation because it is right — not because it helps sell another policy.

The Real Deficit Is Governance

India’s core shortage is not MPs.

It is:

• Quality schools
• Teachers
• Doctors
• Hospitals
• Jobs
• Efficient policing
• Clean administration
• Faster courts
• Urban planning
• Rural development
• Accountability in public spending

Citizens do not wake up each morning worrying there are too few parliamentarians. They worry about inflation, employment, traffic, healthcare bills, education costs, corruption, and safety.

If governance remains weak, adding more MPs changes little.

The Vote-Buying Reality

Many citizens know the ground reality of elections: money power, freebies, identity mobilisation, short-term handouts, and cash-for-vote practices in some regions.

In such an environment, increasing seats without deep electoral reform may simply create more positions to be captured by money, dynasty networks, and patronage politics.

That is not democratic deepening. That is political multiplication.

Reform the System Before Expanding It

If India truly wants stronger democracy, priorities should include:

• Transparency in political funding
• Internal democracy in parties
• Candidate quality standards
• Stronger anti-corruption enforcement
• Performance dashboards for MPs
• Attendance and debate accountability
• Faster constituency grievance systems
• Electoral spending scrutiny

Fixing incentives matters more than increasing headcount.

Final Thought

Delimitation may be constitutionally necessary at some stage. Women’s representation is unquestionably important. But both should be discussed honestly, not marketed emotionally.

India does not suffer from a shortage of politicians.

India suffers from a shortage of governance.

Until that changes, more seats may only mean more power for politicians — not more progress for citizens.

The post Delimitation, Women’s Reservation, and the Real Question India Should Be Asking appeared first on Praja Media.

Tell the majority they are in danger.
Position yourself as their only protector.
And then, never let that danger go away.

Because the moment people feel safe, they start asking questions. And questions are where power starts to loosen.

This is not unique to one country or one leader. But two of the most visible examples of this model running in real time are Narendra Modi and Donald Trump. Different countries, different languages, very different histories. But the same playbook, page for page.

The Script Is Identical

Both leaders built their political identity on a single founding claim: everything before me was failure.

Your country was broken.
Your past leaders were weak, corrupt, or incompetent.
The nation was heading toward danger.
And then I arrived.

This narrative is effective not because it is accurate. It is effective because it rewrites memory. It takes decades of complex governance, institution-building, and real progress, and compresses it into a single emotion: betrayal.

Once people accept that frame, they stop asking what was built. They start asking only who can save them.

What Actually Built These Countries

Let me be direct here, because this part gets conveniently skipped in the PR version.

India did not become a rising global power because of any single leader’s charisma.

India’s credibility, its institutions, and its global relevance were built across decades.

Jawaharlal Nehru, whatever your political position on him, oversaw the construction of the IITs, IIMs, IISc, ISRO, DRDO, and the foundational policies that created a knowledge-driven economy. These were not symbolic gestures. They created real capability, exported talent globally, and gave India scientific and strategic weight that no one gave it for free.

And it did not stop with Jawaharlal Nehru.

Every decade added another layer to India’s capability.

Indira Gandhi centralized political power in controversial ways, yes. But she also made decisive moves that reshaped India’s strategic posture. The 1971 war and the creation of Bangladesh established India as a regional force that could act, not just react. The Green Revolution scaled under her leadership turned food scarcity into self-sufficiency. That matters more than slogans.

Rajiv Gandhi pushed India into the technological age before it was fashionable. His focus on computers, telecom, and education reforms laid early groundwork for what would later become India’s IT dominance. At the time, he was mocked for it. Today, that bet defines India’s global economic identity.

P. V. Narasimha Rao, alongside Manmohan Singh, did something far more difficult than making speeches. They changed the direction of the economy. The 1991 liberalization reforms pulled India back from the edge of collapse and unlocked decades of growth. That single shift created the middle class that politicians now campaign to.

Atal Bihari Vajpayee combined political stability with long-term infrastructure thinking. The Golden Quadrilateral was not just a highway project. It was an economic multiplier. Connectivity is not glamorous. But it is what actually drives trade, logistics, and national integration.

Manmohan Singh, in his tenure as Prime Minister, carried that economic momentum forward. High growth years, global integration, expansion of services, and a relatively stable macroeconomic environment. You can debate policy choices. But you cannot deny the trajectory.

Narendra Modi gets standing ovations on foreign trips. But that respect is borrowed from the India his predecessors built. The market size, the geopolitical importance, the institutional credibility. None of that came from his government. He just brought a better camera crew and a more aggressive PR operation.

America’s story is the same.

The idea of the American Dream was not a campaign slogan. It was a policy outcome. Built over generations through immigration-driven innovation, institutional continuity, investment in research, and a network of global alliances that gave the United States genuine leadership, not just leverage.

Trump’s claim that America had “lost its way” before him was the first lie people were fed, and many are still carrying it. America was the most powerful country on earth when he took office in 2017. The question of what specific thing he built to make it greater remains genuinely unanswered.

Name One Thing They Built

This is the question that makes supporters uncomfortable. Not because they’re bad people. But because they do not have an answer.

Narendra Modi: Name one institution built under his government that will outlast the next decade.

Not a renamed one. Not a rebranded scheme. An original institution, policy, or structural reform that created compounding national capability the way IIT or ISRO did.

Donald Trump: Name one policy from either term that created lasting structural advantage for average American citizens.

Not a tax cut that predominantly benefited corporations and the wealthiest households. Not a tariff war that raised consumer prices. A durable, measurable improvement in the lives of the working-class voters who supported him.

I’m genuinely asking. Because I cannot find a clear answer. And neither can most supporters when pushed past the slogans.

The Friends Question

Here is a simpler test.

Before Modi, India had a carefully managed position across global relationships. Not perfect. But functional, strategic, and respected. Can you name one strong, reliable ally India has built or deepened under his tenure? One relationship where another country sees India as a trusted long-term partner and acts accordingly?

Before Trump‘s first term, the United States led coalitions. NATO was functional. The G7 was coherent. Multilateral agreements, for all their flaws, gave America diplomatic leverage.

Today, where does that stand? “America First” turned out, in practice, to mean “America negotiating its credibility back from scratch.”

These are not rhetorical questions. They are the actual measure of whether a foreign policy is working.

What Happened to the Media

Both leaders understood early that narrative control is power.

The approach is not always loud or obvious. It is a gradual process. Critical outlets lose access. Friendly outlets get amplified. Journalists who ask uncomfortable questions get labeled enemies of the nation, of the people, of truth itself.

In India, independent media has been systematically pressured. Ownership changes hands. Outlets that maintained editorial independence have either softened or been edged out of relevance. What remains in prime time is largely a performance, not journalism.

In the United States, Trump did not hide his contempt for independent press. “Enemy of the people” was not a slip. It was a policy signal to his base. And now, with his return, the pressure on media institutions and the judiciary is more direct, not less.

When media gets bought, threatened into compliance, or drowned out by state-friendly noise, the average person is not getting information. They are getting a managed version of reality.

Which brings us to the supporters.

Let’s Talk to a Supporter

Go find a strong Modi supporter. Or a strong Trump supporter. Sit down and have a real conversation.

You will notice something consistent: deep conviction, strong emotional connection, and almost no verifiable data backing any specific claim.

The arguments sound like:

• “He is strong.”
• “He speaks for us.”
• “Things are better now.”
• “The country is finally respected.”

Push further. Ask for specifics.

• Which policy?
• Compared to what baseline?
• What data are you using?

The answers blur. The conversation moves back to feelings, to identity, to “you just don’t understand.”

This is not accidental. It is the intended outcome of the model. Support built on identity does not require evidence. It only requires belonging.

Ricky Gervais said it plainly: “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”

I’m not saying this to mock anyone. But I am saying that when the average person is getting all their information from media that was purchased or pressured into a specific narrative, and never encounters a genuine contradiction, what they believe is not really their own conclusion. It was installed.

When I see someone fully in that mode, who cannot give you a single clear, data-backed answer, who responds to questions with hero-worship and deflection, I don’t see a patriot. I see someone who has been colonized by a narrative. Not by a foreign power. By their own government’s communication machine.

When Identity Replaces Thinking

This is where something deeper happens. Something more psychological than political.

There’s a line of thought from George Carlin that has always stayed with me. Not his exact words, but the way I’ve come to understand it is this:

I tend to like people more as individuals. You can talk to them, understand them, see their nuance. But when they become part of a group, an identity, something changes. It feels like they give up a part of that individuality. They trade independent thinking for belonging. And somewhere in that shift, they become easier to influence, easier to simplify.

That’s how it feels to me when I have these conversations.

Individually, people are capable of nuance. They can question. They can hold contradictions. They can admit uncertainty.

But once identity takes over, something changes.

• Questioning feels like betrayal
• Doubt feels like weakness
• Loyalty replaces logic

And suddenly, intelligence is no longer measured by how well you think, but by how strongly you agree.

This is why conversations break down so quickly. You are not arguing with a person anymore. You are arguing with an identity they feel obligated to defend.

And identities don’t debate. They react.

They Don’t Like Questions. That Tells You Everything.

A simple way to evaluate any leader: watch how they handle an unscripted question.

Narendra Modi famously does not hold press conferences. His interviews are pre-arranged, question lists reportedly shared in advance, and the format is largely designed to display rather than interrogate. When a journalist once asked him about the widening gap between rich and poor in India, his response was reportedly: “Should everyone become poor?”

That answer, from a sitting Prime Minister of a country with hundreds of millions living in poverty, is not just a bad answer. It reveals the absence of serious engagement with the question entirely.

Donald Trump‘s relationship with honest questioning is well-documented. Word-salad answers to direct policy questions. Attacks on the questioner’s credibility instead of engaging the substance. A visible preference for rallies, where the crowd is pre-selected and the energy is controlled, over formats where he might be held to account.

When a leader consistently avoids real questions, it is not because they are too busy. It is because the answers do not exist, or the answers would not survive the scrutiny.

The Cost Is Not Immediate

This is what makes fear-driven governance so effective in the short term and so destructive over time.

The damage is slow. Institutions weaken by degrees. Public discourse becomes more polarized. Citizens become more reactive and less analytical. Global relationships fray quietly before they break loudly.

And by the time the full cost is visible, the leader has moved on. They are either out of power or pointing at the next enemy.

India and the United States were not built by strongmen with great PR. They were built by institutions, by informed citizens, by continuous questioning of leadership, and by the willingness to hold power accountable even when it was uncomfortable.

When any leader, regardless of the country, asks for belief without evidence, loyalty without accountability, and support without scrutiny, they are not making the nation stronger.

They are making themselves harder to remove.

That is not leadership. It is self-preservation dressed as patriotism.

What did I miss? Tell me in the comments. I’d rather have this argument out loud than let it stay in the margins.

The post The Politics of Permanent Danger – Why Modi and Trump Need You Afraid appeared first on Praja Media.

Vijay Mallya’s recent podcast has reignited familiar debates about his guilt or innocence, the accuracy of debt figures, and the fairness of his treatment. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: whether Mallya is telling the truth or spinning another elaborate tale is becoming irrelevant. What matters is the alarming pattern he represents—and our collective failure to address it.

The Parade Never Stopped

While we’ve spent nine years dissecting Mallya’s every claim, a steady stream of high-profile defaulters has quietly exited India, taking with them staggering amounts of public money. The numbers tell a devastating story:

Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi: The uncle-nephew duo orchestrated the Punjab National Bank fraud worth approximately ₹13,000-14,000 crore through fraudulent Letters of Undertaking, making it one of India’s largest banking frauds.

The Top 10 Defaulters: As of March 2023, India’s top ten wilful defaulters collectively owed ₹40,825 crore to banks.

The Bigger Picture: By March 2023, wilful defaulters across India had ballooned to ₹3,53,874 crore involving 16,883 accounts—an increase of nearly ₹50,000 crore in just one year.

Beyond the headline cases of Nirav Modi, Mehul Choksi, Lalit Modi, Jatin Mehta, and Pushpesh Baid lies an even more troubling reality. Banks filed suits against 36,150 NPA accounts to recover ₹9.26 lakh crore in FY23 alone—a figure so massive it dwarfs individual cases yet receives fraction of the media attention.

The pattern is depressingly consistent: accumulate massive debts, exploit regulatory loopholes, create complex corporate structures to obscure fund flows, and when the house of cards collapses, catch the next flight out. What varies is only the scale and the sophistication of the exit strategy.

The Real Malya Legacy

Whether Mallya actually siphoned ₹9,000 crore or genuinely faced circumstances beyond his control is almost beside the point now. His real legacy isn’t the collapse of Kingfisher Airlines—it’s the blueprint he provided for evading accountability. He showed that India’s wealthy elite could default on massive loans and face no meaningful consequences beyond media criticism and legal proceedings they could easily avoid by relocating.

Mallya’s comfortable life in the UK, despite years of legal battles, sends a clear message to potential defaulters: the risk-reward calculation heavily favors flight over fight. Why face Indian courts when you can live comfortably abroad while lawyers handle the paperwork?

The System’s Stunning Inability to Learn

Each new fugitive case reveals the same systemic weaknesses: inadequate due diligence by banks, delayed recognition of stressed assets, weak early warning systems, and toothless recovery mechanisms. Yet we continue treating each case as an isolated incident rather than symptoms of a broken system.

The scale of the problem is staggering. The Enforcement Directorate has attached assets worth ₹18,170 crore from just three fugitives—Mallya, Modi, and Choksi—yet the total wilful default amount has grown to ₹3,53,874 crore involving 16,883 accounts by March 2023.

Consider the timeline: Mallya left in 2016, but we’re still arguing about his debt calculations in 2025. Meanwhile, Nirav Modi executed a ₹14,000 crore fraud at PNB, Mehul Choksi pulled off similar schemes, and others have followed suit. Our investigative agencies are always reactive, never proactive.

Even India’s ambitious solution—the National Asset Reconstruction Company (NARCL) or “bad bank”—has fallen dramatically short. Since its establishment in October 2021, NARCL has acquired only ₹21,350 crore of outstanding debt against its self-imposed ₹50,000 crore target.

The Cost of Our Obsession

Our fixation on relitigating past cases comes at a staggering opportunity cost. Every hour spent debating whether Mallya owes ₹6,000 crore or ₹9,000 crore is an hour not spent strengthening systems to prevent the next fraud. Every press conference about recovering assets from decade-old cases is energy not directed toward real-time monitoring of current risks.

The numbers are sobering: while the government celebrates recovering ₹22,000 crore from financial fugitives in 2024, the total amount owed by wilful defaulters has reached ₹3,53,874 crore—meaning recoveries represent barely 6% of the total problem.

The banking sector continues to grapple with stressed assets, but instead of focusing on improving credit evaluation, risk management, and early intervention systems, we’re still celebrating marginal recoveries from cases that should never have reached crisis point.

The Deterrent That Never Was

Perhaps most troubling is how spectacularly we’ve failed at deterrence. Mallya’s case was supposed to send a strong message to potential defaulters. Instead, it demonstrated that wealthy fugitives could maintain comfortable lifestyles abroad while their cases dragged through courts for years. The message received was likely the opposite of what was intended.

When business leaders see Mallya giving podcast interviews from his UK residence nine years after fleeing, what lesson do they draw? That the consequences of default are manageable, especially compared to the alternative of facing India’s slow-moving justice system.

The Future We’re Not Preparing For

While we debate Mallya’s version of events, several concerning trends are accelerating:

Digital complexity: Future frauds will be more sophisticated, involving cryptocurrency, offshore digital assets, and blockchain-based schemes that make traditional asset recovery even more challenging.

Regulatory arbitrage: As global financial systems become more interconnected, defaulters have more options for relocating assets and themselves beyond Indian jurisdiction.

Time decay: Each year of delay in addressing systemic weaknesses makes recovery harder and deterrence weaker. The longer we take to reform, the more attractive India becomes as a source of easy money for those planning exits.

What Actually Needs to Change

Instead of endlessly relitigating past cases, we need:

Real-time monitoring systems that can flag suspicious transactions and corporate behavior before they become billion-dollar problems.

Preventive detention laws for financial crimes that prevent suspects from leaving the country while investigations are ongoing.

International cooperation frameworks that make it harder for fugitives to establish comfortable lives abroad.

Judicial reforms that ensure financial crime cases are resolved within defined timeframes, not decades.

Cultural change in banking that prioritizes risk assessment over relationship-based lending.

The Inconvenient Truth About Justice

Here’s what we don’t want to admit: whether Mallya is guilty or innocent won’t change the fact that our system failed. If he’s guilty, we failed to prevent and prosecute the crime effectively. If he’s innocent, we failed to protect a businessman from systemic pressures and scapegoating. Either way, the system needs fundamental reform.

Moreover, our pursuit of individual villains provides comforting closure while allowing institutional failures to persist. Making Mallya the face of banking fraud lets everyone else—regulators, bank officials, politicians—escape scrutiny for their roles in enabling systemic weaknesses.

The Choice We Face

We can continue spending the next decade debating whether Mallya’s podcast revelations are truthful, parsing every claim about political meetings and debt calculations. Or we can accept that the past is past and focus obsessively on ensuring this never happens again.

The next Mallya is probably already out there—accumulating debt, exploiting loopholes, planning exit strategies. While we argue about the last one, are we doing anything meaningful to stop the next one?

The real question isn’t whether Mallya is telling the truth. It’s whether we’re serious about learning from this mess or just interested in endlessly relitigating it. Because at the current pace, we’ll still be debating Mallya’s guilt when the next generation of fugitives is booking their flights out of India.

That’s the future we’re sleepwalking toward—and it’s far more dangerous than anything one fallen businessman could say in a podcast.

The post The Mallya Syndrome: Why We’re Missing the Real Crisis appeared first on Praja Media.

The Dangerous Culture of Hero Worship

The stampede at RCB’s victory celebration isn’t just a story about poor crowd management or government failure – it’s a reflection of our collective obsession with treating sports stars, politicians, and movie celebrities as demigods worthy of risking our lives to glimpse.

When did we become a society where people are willing to push, shove, and potentially trample others just to catch a sight of their favorite cricket player? When did we normalize the idea that crushing yourself into dangerous crowds is an acceptable way to show support for a team?

The harsh reality is that while Virat Kohli and his teammates were celebrating their victory in safety, eleven families lost their loved ones in the chaos outside. The players didn’t ask for this sacrifice, and they certainly don’t benefit from it. The only people who suffer are ordinary citizens and their families.

Herd Mentality: The Silent Killer

What we witnessed in Bengaluru is herd mentality at its most dangerous. Thousands of people made individual decisions to join a crowd that was clearly becoming unmanageable. Each person probably thought, “What’s the harm in me being here?” But collectively, these individual choices created a death trap.

This isn’t about being a fan – it’s about losing the ability to think independently. When we see others rushing toward something, we follow without asking basic questions: Is this safe? Is this necessary? What am I actually hoping to achieve here?

The youth, in particular, seem especially susceptible to this mob behavior. Social media amplifies the pressure to be part of “historic moments,” to get that perfect selfie or video that proves you were there. But at what cost?

Your Life Matters More Than Any Celebrity

Here’s what every sports fan, political supporter, and movie enthusiast needs to hear: No celebrity, athlete, or public figure is worth risking your life or safety. None of them would want you to put yourself in danger for their sake.

You have responsibilities that matter infinitely more than getting a glimpse of your hero. Your parents invested decades in raising you. Your spouse depends on you. Your children need you to come home safely. Your friends value your presence in their lives. How do we justify throwing all of that away for a few moments of excitement?

The people who died in Bengaluru had dreams, families, and futures. They were sons and daughters, perhaps parents themselves. Their lives had value that extended far beyond their identity as RCB fans.

Government Failure Doesn’t Excuse Personal Responsibility

Yes, the Karnataka government failed. Yes, the police were unprepared. Yes, the stadium management should have anticipated this crowd. These failures deserve investigation and accountability.

But pointing fingers at authorities cannot be our only response. We cannot outsource all responsibility for our safety and well-being to the government while absolving ourselves of the need to make smart, independent decisions.

The government’s job is to provide security and manage crowds, but your job is to assess risk and make intelligent choices about where you go and what crowds you join. No government can protect you from every poor decision you might make.

If you see a dangerously large crowd forming, you have the power to walk away. If you notice inadequate security arrangements, you can choose not to participate. If the situation feels unsafe, you can prioritize your life over your fandom.

Redefining What It Means to Be a Fan

Being a true fan doesn’t require putting yourself in physical danger. You can support your team by watching matches, buying merchandise, engaging in healthy discussions about the sport, and celebrating victories safely with friends and family.

The best tribute you can pay to any team or celebrity is to live a fulfilling life – excelling in your career, contributing to your community, raising your family well, and pursuing your own goals and dreams. Your favorite cricket player would be far more honored by your success and happiness than by your presence in a dangerous crowd.

A Call for Individual Awakening

The Bengaluru tragedy should serve as a wake-up call for all of us to examine our priorities and behaviors. We need to cultivate the courage to think independently, to resist crowd mentality, and to value our own lives and responsibilities above momentary excitement.

Parents need to have honest conversations with their children about the difference between healthy appreciation and dangerous obsession. Schools should teach critical thinking about crowd behavior and peer pressure. Communities need to model balanced approaches to fandom and celebrity culture.

Most importantly, each of us needs to take personal responsibility for our choices. The next time you’re tempted to join a massive crowd or engage in risky behavior for the sake of fandom, ask yourself: Is this worth my life? Is this worth the pain my family would feel if something happened to me?

Moving Forward

The eleven people who died in Bengaluru cannot be brought back, but their deaths can serve as a powerful reminder that our lives are precious and our responsibilities to our families and communities matter more than any form of entertainment or celebrity worship.

Let’s honor their memory not just by demanding better from our governments and institutions, but by committing to better choices ourselves. Let’s be fans who think, not followers who blindly rush toward danger.

Your life has value. Your family needs you. Your dreams matter. No victory celebration, no matter how historic, is worth sacrificing any of that.

It’s time we learned to celebrate responsibly – and to live with the wisdom that our own well-being and that of our loved ones should always come first.

The post When Fandom Becomes Fatal: The Bengaluru Tragedy Should Make Us Question Our Priorities appeared first on Praja Media.

Let me be clear: I have been, and remain, a critic of the BJP’s domestic policies and political maneuvering. But when a government takes a step that is inclusive, strategic, and in the interest of national security, it must be acknowledged—not out of allegiance, but out of principle. And this move is precisely that.

A Collective Stand Against Terror

India’s initiative, now officially named Operation Sindoor, involves seven all-party delegations visiting over 30 countries—including the US, UK, Russia, France, Gulf nations, Japan, and several African states—to present an unified Indian position on Pakistan-sponsored terrorism. The backdrop is grim: the brutal Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025 that left 26 dead. But the response has been measured, diverse, and democratic—and that’s what makes this different.

This is not the BJP sending a press release. It is India sending a message. Not just through official channels but through faces and voices that reflect the plurality of our democracy.

Diversity in Action: Beyond the Stereotypes

For too long, Pakistan has peddled the false equivalence: that since it’s a Muslim-majority nation and India has a Hindu-majority population, the conflict is religious. But India has answered that myth—not with propaganda, but with presence.

AIMIM MP Asaduddin Owaisi and former J\&K Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, both prominent Muslim leaders, led a delegation to Bahrain and other Gulf nations. Their message was unambiguous: Terrorism is a betrayal of Islam, and India stands against it—not Muslims. In doing so, they not only represented India’s position, but also dismantled the lie that India’s Muslims are silent or complicit.

Other delegations included:

• Supriya Sule (NCP) leading the team to Qatar, Egypt, South Africa
• Shashi Tharoor (Congress) in New York, meeting US lawmakers and visiting the 9/11 Memorial
• Kanimozhi (DMK) traveling across Russia, Greece, Slovenia, and Spain
• Abhishek Banerjee (TMC) addressing diaspora in Japan
• Ravi Shankar Prasad (BJP) covering UK, France, Germany, EU HQ, and Italy

Even Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Shrikant Shinde met UAE officials in Abu Dhabi before traveling to Africa. This wasn’t tokenism. It was representation—and a realignment of how India conducts its diplomacy: grounded in pluralism, strengthened by unity, and driven by a shared national interest.

When Political Rivalries Pause for National Duty

These delegations included leaders who rarely agree with each other. Congress MPs sharing platforms with BJP, Leftist voices echoing nationalist concerns, and even religious minorities standing up for a secular India. This is not the India Pakistan wants the world to see—but it’s the India we actually are.

As someone who frequently criticizes the ruling party, I found it particularly meaningful to see Muslim, Hindu, Christian, and Sikh MPs all carrying the tricolor abroad—each reminding the world that our identity is Indian first. Our disagreements at home do not dilute our commitment to India’s global image and internal security.

This, to me, is patriotism: when political allegiance takes a backseat to national integrity.

Not Just Optics—But Strategic Diplomacy

Critics have questioned the need to send delegations to countries like Liberia or Congo. But diplomacy isn’t just about the G7. It’s about gathering moral consensus in every possible forum—from UN votes to media narratives to diaspora support.

Some have called this “diplomatic tourism.” I disagree. If these efforts even marginally reduce terror funding, shift global perception, or put pressure on Pakistan’s double game, they’re worth it.

Credit with Caution

Let’s be clear: this doesn’t mean the government is above criticism. On many fronts—press freedom, inflation, minority rights, and institutional independence—this government still has serious work to do. But praising a strong move on national security doesn’t dilute our vigilance. It shows we’re capable of nuanced patriotism, the kind that doesn’t come with blind loyalty or cheap opposition.

India Is Not Pakistan—and Never Will Be

In the end, that is the message we are sending to the world. That we are not governed by religion, and that democracy, diversity, and dialogue are still our core strengths. While Pakistan shelters militants and uses terror as statecraft, India—despite all its internal arguments—chooses to debate, vote, and speak with many voices as one nation.

This all-party delegation isn’t just foreign outreach. It’s a mirror to ourselves—that even amid deep divisions, we can come together when it matters most.

And that, perhaps, is the most hopeful message of all.

The post A Rare Moment of Unity: India’s All-Party Delegation Exposes Pakistan’s Terror Campaign appeared first on Praja Media.

But, Is it really make sense by spending Rs 2,989 crore to build his statue in the name of honoring a great man?

To honor the legacy of Sardar Vallabhai Patel, we should follow his ideology, we should make this country as what he dreamed of. You can only honor his contribution of bringing this country under a single flag by really uniting the people of this country inspite of our believes, languages, religion, caste, and creed. But, our politicians always feed on our differences by dividing us by religion, caste, region, language, beliefs, and creed. This is definitely not what our Iron Man dreamed of.

Building statues are the cheap way of politics and fooling people using their emotions. Sardar Patel Was Completely Against Building Statues and Memorials. He would have been profoundly disappointed at the futility of the so-called Statue of Unity.

A Small Story:

“A great man worked his entire life fighting for Freedom of his people, got the Freedom, united all the people inspite of their differences and made of a great nation with a unity in diversity. He dreamed of this country would eradicate the poverty, and educate every child in this country. Then, he died. After 70 Years, This country became even poorer, no access for education, no hospitals in the rural areas, people are dying with hunger, no employment, people are divided by their pity believes, and hatred between the communities are rising day by day.”

Now, How do you want to honor him and his legacy?

Do you want to honor him by achieving what he worked for, and what dreamed of as a country ? Or,  you want to spend thousands of crores by building his statues, which he was completely against of?

What Do You Know About Sardar Vallabhai Patel?:

• He is Against Building Statues and Memorials:

Sardar Patel was completely against building statues and memorials. He was very keen in public health and education. In 1921, India had just two public health laboratories – in Pune and in Karachi. Patel set up the third laboratory was set up within Dudheshwar waterworks compound at Shahibaugh.

• He is Against RSS & BJP Ideology:

Sardar Patel banned the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha and called them as ‘Terrorist’ organizations.

• He Could Have Never Agreed with BJP Activists Protesting Against Sabarimala Verdict:

Sardar happened to be the first to pitch for removing “sexual disqualification” in the district municipal Act. By this Act, women were barred from contesting elections as per Section 15(1)(C). A resolution was passed in this regard in the Ahmedabad municipality general board on February 13, 1913. Sardar had argued that keeping women out of the elected body was equivalent to eliminating the representation of half of the urban population. In 1926, Section 15(1)(c) was abolished.

India is the world’s fastest-growing economy but it’s also one of the poorest countries in the world.

Some of the horrible statistics every Indian should know about our country:

• The recent census report identified 13.8 million households— about 64 million people — located in city slums nationwide. That’s 17.4 per cent of all urban households, which account for roughly one-third of India’s 1.2 billion people.
• As per the most recent Swachhta Status Report in 2015, more than half of the rural population (52.1 per cent) of the country still defecates in open. Even Bangladesh is ahead of us in this field.
• The World Bank estimates that India is one of the highest ranking countries in the world for the number of children suffering from malnutrition. The prevalence of underweight children in India is among the highest in the world, and is nearly double that of Sub Saharan Africa with dire consequences for mobility, mortality, productivity and economic growth.
• 170 women die for every 100000 live births during or after child birth due to lack of health facility and knowledge. Even though this no. is declining but still it accounts to about five women dying every hour in India from complications developed during childbirth.
• Around 5 lac people die every year just because of Tuberculosis every year.
• India is home of largest population of illiterate adults in world – 287 million, amounting to 37% of the global total.

Stupid Comparisons:

My Take on the above stupid comparisons: United States don’t have the majority population below poverty line. None of those developed countries doesn’t have the thousands of kids dying with nutrition deficiency. We might be calling ourselves as a developing country. But, we are not at all match to the above developed countries in living standards. When you’re taxing people with so many names and collecting people money, you should spend it on the basic needs in a poor country. You can’t feed your country people, you can’t give a proper healthcare, you can’t rise the living standards of your people. But, you want some show up by building huge statues while your country people are dying without food and basic needs.

What is the Rest of the World Says:

A British MP criticised India’s 182-metre Statue of Unity of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel as “total nonsense”. Conservative Party MP Peter Bone said, “To take 1.1billion pounds in aid from us and then at the same time spend 330 million pounds on a statue is a total nonsense and it is the sort of thing that drives people mad.”

We are a poor country with worst living standards, and the majority population is not having the basic amenities. We receive thousands of crores as a foreign aid to support the poor people in our country, and we are wasting our own people’s hard-earned money on building statues.

What It Leads To?: More Statues – More Wastage of Public Money

• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath likely to announce a 151-metre tall Lord Ram statue in Ayodhya.
• The Maharashtra state has allotted the tender for construction of the Rs The state has allotted the tender for construction of the Rs2,500 crore plus taxes for the first phase of the project.

Does the Entire Country Shares the Same Opinion?

• Over 1,500 farmers of four districts – Chhota Udepur, Panchmahals, Vadodara and Narmada – have threatened to drown themselves during the unveiling of the Statue of Unity because they have been waiting 11 years to be paid their dues for sugarcane they sold to a mill that later closed down. The dues add up to Rs 12 crore.
• Andhra Pradesh CM Chandrababu Naidu said that while the Modi government could spend Rs 2,500 crore to build a statue of Sardar Patel, it could spare only Rs 1,500 crore to build a city, the new state capital in Amravati.
• Kerala suffered a loss of Rs 8,316 crore in the rain, floods and landslides. Prime Minister, Narendra Modi visits Kerala; announces Rs 320 crore relief fund.
• If this is the Statue of Unity, Where are the other leaders from around the country in inauguration? Where are you showing the Unity?

Modi Govt Spends Rs 4,800 Crore On Advertisements, But Has Only Rs 320 Crore For Kerala Flood Victims

In a closed-minded society, The politicians try to get the support by using religion, caste, statues, idols, and your emotions.

In a open-minded and modern society, The politicians try to get the support by discussing about education, healthcare, development, and policies.

We are a country with majority of people live in Poverty, no hospitals, no schools. And, we don’t have money to support the natural disasters. Yet, we spend Rs 2,989 crore on a single statue, and other statues are on the way.

The post Why Does Statue of Unity Doesn’t Make Sense appeared first on Praja Media.

A few days back while I was listening to a laudable speaker I became aware of the importance of certain issues that I had known earlier but it had never provoked me to think of them. This realization turned out to fascinate me and provoke me into writing this article. The speaker mainly spoke of how youngsters did not realize the value of the priceless gifts that God gave – an intact body, a strong mind and valuable time.  Referring to the lives of Stephen Hawking and Nick Vujicic, he reminded to us that we were free of any bodily restriction and that we had to use our mind in the best way possible without wasting any of the precious time that was predisposed to us.

Apart from the gifts that we already possess, Col.Ramulu, the guest speaker spoke of the constant complaints that the youth today made with regard to the lack of jobs.  This statement took me to the recent ‘Pakoda Controversy’ that the newspapers and the news channels in our country spoke of, day in and day out for a good number of days. Before going any further about what Col.Ramulu spoke of we should probably go through some statistics.

At present, there are over 1 lac jobs that are vacant under the Central Government. Apart from this, there are also job openings every now and then for various banks. A number of private companies also contribute to job creation in India. The division of vacancies under various central government sectors can be seen on https://www.ncs.gov.in/Pages/default.aspx

Hence, one conclusion that can be made is that there are jobs but unemployment is still a growing issue in the country. Our country is in a situation where even after having completed graduation and post-graduation, people do not have jobs. Now, this is an issue of major concern. Instead of blaming the government and politicising the issue, we need to understand as to why we are facing the problem. The number of job vacancies that are already there could not be sufficient given to the vast population of the country. But then is population the only reason? I don’t think so.

 Lack of Skills:

By now it can be clearly understood that having a degree is not sufficient to get a job.  There is a possibility that the job seekers lack the essential skills that could earn a job for them.

In one of the episodes of ‘Daily News Analysis’, Mr.Sudhir Choudhary, while speaking of the worst conditions of unemployment, refers to a situation in Uttar Pradesh, where a group of young graduates, postgraduates and engineers were cleaning a drainage as a part of the physical test for a job in the municipality. A bunch of youngsters educated in the field of arts, science and technology could surely have come up with a system to clean the drainages mechanically rather than manually. But that wasn’t the case. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7kXtlQq0Yk

Education System:

Developing particular skills starts from educational institutions. Since childhood, the number of career options that we are aware of is quite a few. We grow up with people talking of a career as an engineer and if you are willing enough to be patient, you can opt for medicine or Chartered Accountancy too. If you are more concerned about job security, you should probably write Government Recruitment tests.  Over the recent years, MBA, fashion designing, journalism, Youtubing etc has started to gain recognition. Even today there are so many career options we are not aware of.  How can skills be developed without knowing what interests a person? Most of us follow or are made to follow the paths that have already been taken. Most of us do not even make an effort to explore to make a choice from the thousands of options that we have.

Lack of Focus:

If you are lucky enough to have found your interest and passion and yet you cannot find a job for yourself, you need to think seriously and start focussing on achieving your goals.

In an interview, when asked about the unemployment issue prevailing in India, Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam had said that ‘the youth in India should become job providers and not job seekers.’ With the above-mentioned problems, it can get difficult to motivate the youth to develop entrepreneurial skills.

Sadly, media today has emphasized more on broadcasting who blames whom for the situation we are in, rather than trying to educate people of the reasons and possible solutions for such a situation. Media has the power and capability to educate the people and influence them to change their perspectives.

At the end of the day, by blaming the government the problem shall not fade away. It is the need of the hour that people learn to become independent and hunt for what their true passion and interests are rather than deciding on what shall get them a high-paid job or an easily- achievable job.

From what Col.Ramulu spoke, one thing that I could conclude is, make yourself so efficient that the jobs come to your doorstep instead of you running after them.

The post Decoding the ‘Pakoda Controversy’ appeared first on Praja Media.

Usually we mistake educated to being literate. So, what do we mean when we say that a person is educated? Do we mean to say that a person can read and write? Partly, yes. But then a person who does not have knowledge regarding anything but can read and write, will that person be called educated as well? The person shall be called a literate.  UNESCO defines literacy as an ability to read and write.  Whereas education is the process of learning, understanding and differentiating between things.

It is essential that we understand that being literate does not make a person educated. But then, literacy can surely be helpful in educating oneself.

Often we hear a lot of statements regarding the education system in India. They say the system has become obsolete, it needs to be changed. But then is our system really bad? On thinking about it and after a little research it can be concluded that it is indeed the people that run the system who need to change. The education system in India is as good as the systems followed by other countries. In fact, a number of institutions have been globally acclaimed. So, what is the problem?

To understand the problem regarding education in India, we need to understand the psychologies of the people who run it and of those who follow it.

We first need to understand that India has been a country that took time to believe in the boon of education. Especially the advantages of educating girls was not accepted and this problem still prevails in our country. Making the whole country believe that education was important was one difficult task. To motivate people to send their children to school, the Government brought along a lot of initiatives in the education system. One of the most important initiative being free education for the underprivileged and disadvantaged.

After so many efforts, today we can clearly make the difference. Every parent wants to get their child to get educated. And it is because of the strong efforts that India holds a Literacy Rate of 74.04% (According to census of 2011). The youth literacy rate, measured within the age group of 15 to 24, is 81.1% (84.4% among males and 74.4% among females), while 86% of boys and 72% of girls are literate in the 10-19 age group.

Teachers are the key players in making the education system function efficiently. The problem that is faced in this regard is that teachers are not valued. Teachers are hired on the basis of their experience and not on their skill. If a student succeeds or does good in the exams only then is a teacher’s effort appreciated. Hence their skills are not respected and as a result of this many do not choose the profession of teaching. What is education without a teacher?

The Indian education system is often criticised as using the method ofrote learning for students, so that they can qualify examinations with proper grades. If education is meant to nurture children with knowledge and teachers are meant to impart this knowledge then it is important that this knowledge reaches children. Education loses its meaning when it is practiced just for the sake of grades. Hence, it is necessary that the students in their primary classes are moulded in a way that they consider studying as play and not as pressure. It is understandable that with students getting promoted to higher classes, education gets tougher. But then when they have already understood the importance of education in their early stages, they wouldn’t deny from working hard to achieve their academic grades.

Education helps in creating a proper career. It helps in choosing a career for ourselves. Do we have the knowledge of enough career options that we can choose from? Now, that remains an unanswered question. Careers in technology and Science are most appreciated and acclaimed in India. Does that mean that there are no other options that students can choose from? They’re a number of options to choose from most of these being unknown or not recommended.

Education is often seen as a way to promote businesses. One can understand this by going through the number of engineering colleges India has. When there is business, automatically corruption seeps through. Educational institutions are often used as a means to achieve political gains. How far that is right, is left to the readers to understand.

Loopholes are an undoubted part of every system. But then it is the responsibility of the makers and the members to realize their motives and goals. Education was made compulsory in India to bring economic development. Literacy and education did boost economic growth but then the motive of imparting knowledge through education is not being fulfilled.

None but only the conscience of the members of this system can motivate them to work for the upliftment of the society. Hence, it is left to their conscience to decide if they are educated or not. If they are educated, they wouldn’t hamper the interests of the students and the society. Like mentioned earlier, education is what lets the person to differentiate from good and bad.

The post It’s not the system, it’s the people who need to change. appeared first on Praja Media.

The Allahabad High Court on 12th October 2017 gave its verdict on the AarushiTalwar murder case in favour of the Talwar couple. It declared that due to lack of evidence the couplewould  be given a benefit of doubt and that they should be acquitted. Nine years have gone by, but the CBI hasn’t yet zeroed on who actually killed the 14-year old.

A number of cases like those of the murder of Ayesha Miran in the year 2007, NarendraDhabolkar in the year 2013, the mysterious death of SunandaPushkar, the murder of  GovindPansare in the year 2015, Sister Abhaya in the year 2015 still remain unsolved.

In some of the murder cases including that of rationalists like NarendraDhabolkar and GovindPansare, the investigation agencies had offered a reward in cash prize for those who would bring any information regarding the murderers. This could be an issue of major concern now. Are these investigation agencies trying to get their work done by offering bribe in the form of rewards?

The delay made by these investigation agencies could be because of a number of reasons, but then at the end of the day, justice delayed is justice denied.

The post Does Delayed Justice Mean Justice Denied? appeared first on Praja Media.

Are you against Hanging Yakub Menon? Don’t you ever think about those victims whom he massacred on the streets?

Can’t You Feel the Pain of Victims?

What’s the Problem with Our Muslims who are against this move?

Abdul Kalam or Yakub Menon?

A question for all muslim brotherhood: For whose death you’re bothering about? A terrorist who killed 257 innocent people or the Great Abdul Kalam? Stop supporting terrorists just because he belongs to your religion.

How many Muslims Gathered for Abdul Kalam’s funeral & How many for Yakub’s funeral?

Pic1: Ppl who gathered for DrKalam Pic2: Ppl who gathered for YakubMemon A Picture speaks thousnd words #YakubHanged pic.twitter.com/R3uO8HQxD3

— श्याम (@snootyscham) July 30, 2015

Some Facts to Know Before You Speak Bullshit:

Some Great Tweets I found in Twitter:

#YakubHanged is injustice because it is too late to hang a terrorist who killed 257 innocent people. pic.twitter.com/K0v3BaI6Wp

— Sudheer Kiran (@sudheer_kiran) July 30, 2015

If almighty Allah can bear with thousands of innocent killings per year, then I think he can easily tolerate with one more. #YakubHanged — Navjot Singh Sidhu (@imsujitagrawal) July 30, 2015

Never heard that you were saddened for those whom he massacred on the streets.#YakubHanged https://t.co/YEiHWRDTTd

— Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) July 30, 2015

Crying over hanging of terrorist, chaos in Parliament over debate on terrorism, this is ‘’height of political bankruptcy’’ of Congress. — Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi (@naqvimukhtar) July 30, 2015

Won’t be surprised if “Sickulars” write to Prez asking for leniency with Dawood/Tiger Memon too?? If they are caught/ surrender. #India

— Manak Gupta (@manakgupta) July 29, 2015

The post An Open Letter To Yakub Menon Sympathisers: Know Some Facts appeared first on Praja Media.