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The Guardian calls India’s refusal to crawl before the US a diplomatic blunder, while American bullying ‘realpolitik’: Brown Sepoy blames PM Modi for standing up for India’s sovereignty

Jinit Jain
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The Guardian calls India’s refusal to crawl before the US a diplomatic blunder, while American bullying ‘realpolitik’: Brown Sepoy blames PM Modi for standing up for India’s sovereignty

There is something strangely predictable about India’s English-speaking liberal elite. The moment the West throws a tantrum against India, they rush to the nearest foreign media outlet, eager to pen an “I told you so” sermon that blames India, never the West, for the breakdown. The latest to join this brigade of sepoy intellectuals is Mukul Kesavan, who in The Guardian recently authored a column that squarely pins the blame for the temporary strain in Indo-US ties on PM Modi.

The headline itself was dripping with colonial smugness: “Blindsided by Trump, Modi is learning hard lessons about India’s place in the new world order.” In other words, stop pretending you are an equal, India. Know your place. Treat the United States with the respect it commanded half a century ago, or face tariffs.

The Guardian recently published a condescending article, authored by one Mukul Kesavan, on how it was India’s fault to stand up against the US bullying

But perhaps the most striking aspect of this entire episode is not the arrogance of Trump, or the opportunism of Western leaders who conveniently target India while sparing China. It is the eagerness of India’s own “brown sepoys” men like Kesavan, to amplify that arrogance and paint it as wisdom. Instead of standing with their own country against foreign bullying, they gleefully side with the bully, gaslighting their readers into believing India committed a big blunder by standing up for her honor and not massaging the ego of a mercurial narcissist.

Trump’s tariffs: A weapon of bullying, not policy

Mukul Kesavan describes Trump’s imposition of tariffs on India as if it were some inevitable lesson in “realpolitik” that Modi failed to grasp. He conveniently glosses over the fact that these tariffs were not a matter of economics but punishment.

In April, Trump slapped India with a 25% tariff, already higher than what most US allies faced. When India refused to yield, that tariff was doubled to 50%. The supposed reason? India’s purchase, refining, and re-exporting of Russian crude oil during the Ukraine war.

Let’s pause for a moment. China is the largest buyer of Russian oil, by far. Yet China faced no such tariff hike. Why? Because the United States knows better than to open a full-blown trade war with Beijing, given the American economy’s dependence on Chinese supply chains. India, on the other hand, was seen as a softer target, a country that could be pressured through economic arm-twisting.

But the calculation backfired. India kept buying Russian oil, ensuring affordable energy for its citizens and a stable refining industry. In fact, far from undermining the global economy, India’s refiners helped stabilise global fuel supplies, with Europe ironically being one of the biggest beneficiaries. The West that sanctioned Russian crude ended up buying Indian-refined Russian fuel.

If anything, India saved Europe from its own energy crisis. Yet, in Kesavan’s telling, India deserves the punishment and Modi deserves the humiliation. Only a sepoy mindset could twist victim-blaming into analysis.

The attack on Ambani and “Brahmins”: Exploiting India’s caste fault lines

Trump’s tariffs were only one part of the strategy. The other was a coordinated smear campaign against India’s business elite. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent targeted Mukesh Ambani, alleging that India’s richest families were profiteering from Russian crude. The dog whistle was clear: turn the spotlight on Ambani, vilify him, and sow divisions inside India.

Then came Trump’s notorious aide, Peter Navarro. In an extraordinary and deeply offensive statement, Navarro invoked caste politics, accusing “Brahmins” of profiteering “at the expense of the Indian people.” Think about that: a senior White House official casually imported India’s internal caste divisions into global trade negotiations.

Adding to this chorus of arrogance, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick recently declared that India would “say sorry” within a month or two for resisting Trump’s diktats. The remark perfectly sums up Washington’s entitled mindset: expecting India to behave like a vassal state, and exposes why sepoys like Kesavan so eagerly amplify this bullying as “realpolitik.” In reality, Modi’s government has shown restraint and maturity, refusing to dignify such condescension with a reaction while keeping India’s long-term interests paramount.

This was not diplomacy. This was psy-ops, a deliberate attempt to weaponise India’s social fissures in order to pressure the Modi government into signing an unfavourable trade deal. The expectation was that India’s internal critics would amplify these attacks, thereby isolating Modi.

And lo and behold, Mukul Kesavan obliges. Rather than call out the racist, casteist rhetoric of Trump’s advisers, he writes a column in The Guardian blaming Modi for “overreaching” and “miscalculating.” For Kesavan, the real scandal isn’t that American officials mocked India’s caste dynamics, but that India refused to bend.

False equivalence with Pakistan: The old American playbook

Another strand of Kesavan’s argument parrots Trump’s treatment of India and Pakistan as “squabbling South Asian neighbours.” After the Pahalgam terror attack, India launched a swift and decisive response. Trump and his vice president, JD Vance, tried to spin the crisis as if their phone calls had stopped a war. When India refused to endorse this fiction, the White House sulked.

Kesavan frames this as Modi’s failure. But let’s be clear: this is the same American playbook that has been used for decades. Washington loves to bracket India and Pakistan together, reducing one of the world’s largest democracies to the same level as a failed terror-sponsoring state.

Modi rightly rejected this false equivalence. India will never allow its couter-terrorism policies to be dictated by an American president desperate for a Nobel Prize. Yet for Kesavan, India’s refusal to play along is a diplomatic misstep. He is less offended by Trump humiliating India than by Modi refusing to accept the humiliation quietly.

Strategic autonomy: India is not for sale

The central thrust of Kesavan’s piece is that India under Modi foolishly tilted too close to the US, believing it had a permanent seat at the “white man’s table.” This is both historically false and analytically dishonest.

India’s foreign policy under Modi has been remarkably consistent: deepen ties with the United States, yes, but never at the cost of sovereignty. That is why India simultaneously buys Russian oil, expands defence ties with France, joins the Quad with Japan and Australia, and attends SCO summits with Putin and Xi.

This is strategic autonomy: ,the very principle that guided India’s non-alignment during the Cold War, but now adapted to a multipolar 21st century.

Ironically, Kesavan himself admits this when he says “Non-alignment flies today under the flag of strategic autonomy.” Yet he still twists it into a criticism, as if Modi should apologise for pursuing exactly what every serious Indian statesman from Nehru to Vajpayee aspired to: an India free to choose its partners, not dictated to by any bloc.

The irony is that Trump himself, in a rare moment of honesty, admitted that the US had “lost India and Russia to China.” What he didn’t say was that it was his bullying, his tariffs, his casteist taunts, his attacks on Indian business, that drove India to broaden its embrace of multipolarity.

Kesavan’s anger is not that Modi “lost” America. It is that Modi refused to lose India’s dignity to please America.

The dignity of silence vs. the cowardice of sepoys

Through all of the tariffs, the attacks on Ambani, the Brahmin jibes, and the veiled threats, India has maintained a dignified silence. Modi even reciprocated when Trump recently extended an olive branch, calling him a “great friend.” That is statesmanship: refusing to be dragged into the mud, keeping long-term strategic interests above short-term slanging matches.

Perhaps, Kesavan would interpret this perforative charm offensive by Modi as weakness. But what he calls weakness is in fact maturity. A confident India doesn’t need to issue X rants. It plays the long game. Sadly, brown sepoys like Kesavan, blinded by ideological prejudice and crippled by intellectual shallowness, simply lack the depth to grasp this nuance.

Kesavan’s piece betrays his abject lack of maturity as he rushes to The Guardian, the favourite platform of colonial nostalgia masquerading as progressive thought, and writes a lecture about how India should know its place.

This is the essence of the brown sepoy: silence when the West insults India, but loud indignation when India refuses to bow.

Historical parallels: From Nehru’s kowtow to Modi’s spine

To understand the contrast, let us recall history. In 1962, when China invaded India, Nehru begged the Americans for military help. Washington’s response was humiliating: they offered conditional aid, lectured India on its “socialist policies,” and even toyed with mediating Kashmir in exchange. Nehru swallowed the insult because he had no choice.

In 1971, during the Bangladesh Liberation War, Indira Gandhi faced the same American arrogance. Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger called her names, sent the Seventh Fleet into the Bay of Bengal, and tried to bully India into submission. But Indira, unlike Nehru, stood firm. India liberated Bangladesh and rewrote South Asia’s map.

Fast forward to 2025. Modi faces similar bullying. This time through tariffs and oil diplomacy rather than fleets and armies. And like Indira, he refuses to blink. He keeps India’s interests of prime importance, whether in buying Russian oil or refusing unequal trade terms.

The sepoys who once applauded Nehru’s humiliations now criticise Modi’s defiance. That is the inversion of India’s liberal elite: surrender is “sophistication,” but sovereignty is “hubris.”

The real “hard lesson”

The Guardian headline sneers that Modi is “learning hard lessons about India’s place in the world.” But the truth is the opposite. The real hard lesson is being learned in Washington: that India is no longer a pushover.

Trump is realizing the hard way that hyphenating India and Pakistan was a big mistake; that Modi is not someone like Asim Munir who could be influenced by simply inviting him over for a sumptuous meal at the White House.

India will not be told who it can trade with. India will not apologise for buying affordable oil. India will not accept being bracketed with Pakistan. India will not sign a bad trade deal just because the American President wants us to.

If that frustrates Trump, so be it. If that makes Mukul Kesavan choke on his colonial hangover, even better.

Because this is the India of 2025: proud, assertive, civilisationally confident. It knows that the West’s “rules-based order” was always a euphemism for Western hegemony. And it knows that the multipolar world is here to stay.

Learning for sepoys and the West: India will not crawl when asked to bend

At the end of the day, this is what it boils down to. Mukul Kesavan and his ilk see India’s refusal to bow as a failure, not as a nationalistic defiance. They measure success not by what India achieves for its people, but by how well India conforms to Western approval.

PM Modi, whatever his critics say, measures success differently. For him, India’s dignity is non-negotiable. And that is precisely why the sepoy class despises him: because he exposes their irrelevance in a world where India no longer needs their colonial hand-holding.

So let us be clear: Modi is not “blindsided.” India is not “learning its place.” It is Trump and his sepoys who are learning theirs that in this new world order, India will not crawl when asked to bend. It is a reminder to everyone that India, under Modi, is not the timid nation of yesteryears. It is a confident civilisational power that knows how to stand up against bullying, protect its interests, even if that unsettles both Washington and its sepoy cheerleaders.

Kerala police books Hindus for making Pookkalam with ‘Operation Sindoor’ on it, image of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, says it was ‘done to cause riots’ between ‘political groups’: No rights for Hindus in Communist Kerala

OpIndia Staff
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Kerala police books Hindus for making Pookkalam with ‘Operation Sindoor’ on it, image of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, says it was ‘done to cause riots’ between ‘political groups’: No rights for Hindus in Communist Kerala

In a condemnable incident, Kerala police booked Hindus for creating Pookkalam (flower art) containing the name of ‘Operation Sindoor’, in which the Indian Armed Forces destroyed terrorist camps in Pakistan and the PoJK, in retaliation for the ghastly Pahalgam terror attack in which 26 Hindu tourists were killed by Pakistan-backed terrorists after verifying their identity. Some people were also booked for erecting banners containing the image of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.

Some Hindus wrote the name of Operation Sindoor and created some creative imagery using flowers in the premises of the Sri Parthasarathy Temple in Muthupilakkad in the Kollam district of Kerala on September 4, 2025, to pay tribute to commemorate Operation Sindoor. However, the celebration attracted action by the Kerala Police, who booked several people for creating the floral art allegedly with the intention of “creating a riot”.

The police registered an FIR, accessed by OpIndia, against 27 people for creating the flower art and erecting flag poles and a flex board bearing the image of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, which, as alleged by the FIR, amounts to instigation of riots.

The seemingly unfair police action was condemned by the Kerala BJP, which termed it “atrocious and unacceptable”. Demanding the withdrawal of the FIR, the party reminded the police that Kerala is not Pakistan, where celebrating the valour of the Indian Armed Forces would constitute a crime.

“In Kerala, an FIR has been filed for making a Pookkalam with “Operation Sindoor” on it. If this happened in Pakistan, it may have been expected but in India, it is atrocious & unacceptable. Operation Sindoor is Bharat’s pride, symbolising the valour of our armed forces. The target is to insult every soldier, including thousands of Malayalis who wear the uniform, guard our borders, and sacrifice their lives for the Tricolour. Kerala is not Pakistan and will never be a land where Jamaat-e-Islami dictates. On behalf of every patriotic Malayali, the BJP strongly condemns this shameful act and demands immediate withdrawal of the FIR, failing which we will be compelled to seek legal recourse,” BJP Kerala wrote on X.

The current incident highlights the tragic situation in the state ruled by the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front, where celebration of the courage of the Indian Armed Forces and the valorous Hindu king Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj amounts to “creating riots”. However, this is not the first time that Hindus in Kerala have faced unwarranted police interference in their celebratory activities.

During last year’s Pooram festivities in Thrissur, Kerala Police used excessive force against the devotees and manhandled them. The festivities involving friendly rivalry and competition between different temples were hindered by the Kerala police, who imposed extreme restrictions and erected barricades during temple processions to control the crowd. Due to the police’s excessive restrictions on the festival rituals, one of the participating temples stopped the festivities, and several artists and devotees left.

Similarly, in February 2023, Kerala Police instructed the Vellayani Bhadrakali temple located on the southern outskirts of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, not to use saffron decoration during a festival, as they believed that it would create a law and order situation. The police advised the temple to use flags and buntings of all colours, and not just saffron, even though traditionally the temple is decorated with saffron during the festival.

However, the Kerala Police’s concerns regarding a possible ‘law and order situation’ due to the use of saffron flags came true in the case of Attukal Bhagavathy temple in Thiruvananthapuram in February 2024, where CPI workers removed saffron flags and other decorations in the temple, and erected a hoarding glorifying the Kerala CM, covering some of the saffron flags. This led to protests by Hindus, whose religious sentiments were hurt.

The incidents highlight how interfering with the festivities and celebrations of Hindus has become a norm in the Communists-ruled state of Kerala.

Canadian government report on terror funding reveals Khalistani terrorist groups receiving funds in the country: Read how Canada has been backing Khalistani elements over time

OpIndia Staff
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Canadian government report on terror funding reveals Khalistani terrorist groups receiving funds in the country: Read how Canada has been backing Khalistani elements over time

A recent report released by the government of Canada assessing the money laundering and terror financing in the country revealed that the Khalistani terrorist organisations in Canada have been receiving funding from within the country. The report titled “The 2025 Assessment of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Risks in Canada“, released by the country’s Department of Finance, is a comprehensive assessment of the “most pressing” money laundering and terrorist financing threats in the country.

Khalistani groups listed with Hamas and Hezbollah under the ‘Politically Motivated Violent Extremism’ category

The report places Khalistani terrorist organisations like Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation under “Politically Motivated Violent Extremism” (PMVE), along with Islamic terrorist organisations such as Hamas and Hezbollah. The PMVE has been described in the report as ideologies aiming to establish new political systems or new structures and norms within existing systems by use of violence.

According to the report, Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation received financial support originating from Canada. “Several terrorist entities listed under the Criminal Code in Canada that fall under the PMVE category, such as Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Khalistani violent extremist groups Babbar Khalsa International and the International Sikh Youth Federation, have been observed by law enforcement and intelligence agencies to receive financial support originating from Canada, the report stated.

“While PMVE may incorporate religious elements, actors are more focused on achieving political self-determination or representation, rather than promoting racial or ethnic supremacy, ” it added.

Khalistani groups intend to establish an independent state in Punjab through violent means

Divulging the motives of the Khalistani organisations in Canada, the report stated these organisations support “violent means to establish an independent state within Punjab, India “. It further adds that the funding sources of Khalistani organisations are not limited to Canada but are spread across various countries. “These groups previously had an extensive fundraising network in Canada but now appear to consist of smaller pockets of individuals with allegiance to the cause but seemingly no particular affiliation to a specific group, ” the report said.

Khalistani groups, Islamic terrorist groups like Hamas, and Hezbollah adopting the same strategy to raise funds

The government report shed light on the financial networks of these terrorist organisations. It discloses that the Khalistani organisations have been raising funding in the garb of non-profit and charitable activities. It adds that Hamas and Hezbollah also adopt a similar strategy to secure funds. Donations from diaspora communities are also said to be among the active sources of funding for the Khalistani organisations. “Khalistani violent extremist groups have also been known to use networks to solicit donations from diaspora communities to raise and move funds, including through NPOs,” the report mentioned. It claims that the revenue generated through charitable activities forms only a small percentage of the operational budget of these terrorist groups.

The inclusion of the Khalistani terrorist organisations in the government report might be seen as an indication of the Canadian government’s efforts to improve relations with India, which were strained during the previous openly pro-Khalistani Trudeau regime. However, the current Canadian PM Mark Carney belongs to the same political party as the former Canadian PM Justin Trudeau, i.e. the Liberal Party of Canada. The party has steadily supported the Sikh community in Canada, and some of its politicians, including Trudeau, have either tacitly or openly supported individuals linked to the Khalistani ideology.

India-Canada ties soured during the previous Trudeau regime

Although Canada has historically been the haven of Khalistani terrorist groups, the former Canadian Prime Minister’s blatant support of Khalistani terrorists resulted in an unprecedented downturn in India-Canada ties last year. This came as a result of Trudeau, without any evidence, openly blaming India for the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Nijjar on Canadian soil in June 2023. In October 2024, India recalled its High Commissioner Sanjay Verma from Canada, who was declared a person of interest in the Hardeep Singh Nijjar murder case by the Trudeau government, without proof. Subsequently, the Trudeau government expelled 6 Indian diplomats from Canada in the same month. This was followed by India asking six high-ranking Canadian diplomats to leave the country. The tension resulted in a freeze on trade discussions and a re-evaluation of bilateral partnerships.

Khalistani elements thrived under the previous Labour Party government led by Trudeau

Khalistani terror groups have been getting direct or indirect support from the Canadian government. The Liberal Party government led by Justin Trudeau was supported by the New Democratic Party (NDP), led by pro-Khalistani leader Jagmeet Singh. Under the former Trudeau government, incidents of attacks on Hindus by Khalistani elements increased in Canada. In November 2024, Khalistanis attacked Hindus at the Hindu Sabha Temple in Brampton, Canada after Hindu devotees protested against Khalistani elements raising anti-India slogans outside the temple to mark the anniversary of the anti-Sikh riots in Punjab, following the assassination of then-Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi. The Hindu community in Canada has been facing continuous threats by Khalistani terrorists and SFJ founder Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, as successive Canadian governments have turned a blind eye to the activities of Khalistani elements.

Canada’s hesitancy to act against pro-Khalistani groups under the guise of upholding freedom of speech has international consequences. India has expressed frustration over the lack of action, with Indian officials pointing out that Canada’s policies directly threaten India’s security. Canada’s recent immigration policy review, aimed at slowing the rate of incoming immigrants, has added to this complex situation, as India remains one of Canada’s largest sources of new residents.

For the first time after assuming office in March this year, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Caney met Indian Prime Minister Modi on the sidelines of the G7 Summit held in Kananaskis, Alberta, in June 2025. The meeting focused on revamping the strained ties between the two countries through future collaborations. Both leaders agreed to take constructive steps to restore stability and send their respective High Commissioners to each other’s capitals.

Glimmering hope of improved India-Canada ties

In August 2025, India and Canada announced the appointment of new high commissioners to each other’s capitals as a mark of improving bilateral ties between the two countries. India has named Dinesh K. Patnaik, a 1990-batch Indian Foreign Service officer and currently Ambassador to Spain, as its new High Commissioner to Canada. Veteran diplomat Christopher Cooter was appointed as the Canadian High Commissioner to India.

Even though with the changed Canadian regime, India-Canada relations appear to be normalising, given Canada’s long-standing backing for Khalistani elements, hopes for a drastic shift in their stance relating to the Khalistani ideology would be premature. This is evident from the fact that a couple of months after the meeting between the Indian and the Canadian Prime Ministers, Khalistani outfit Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), in collaboration with the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara, opened a so-called “Embassy of Khalistan” in Surrey, Canada. The diplomatic post, bearing a sign of the fictional “Republic of Khalistan,” was set up in a building on the gurdwara premises in August 2025. Notably, the building in which the “embassy” was set up was reportedly built using taxpayer money. It was reported that the British Columbia government had allocated $150,000 for installing an elevator in the same structure.

The incident reignited the concerns of the Canadian government’s adopting a lenient approach towards Khalistani elements.

Islam puts women in a lose-lose situation: How women are dying after deadly earthquake in Afghanistan because Taliban’s Sharia imposition stops men from rescuing women

Shriti Sagar
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Islam puts women in a lose-lose situation: How women are dying after deadly earthquake in Afghanistan because Taliban’s Sharia imposition stops men from rescuing women

Afghanistan suffered third earthquake in a week, which killed more than 2,200 people and injured thousands, has revealed not only the destruction of homes and villages but also the deep human tragedy faced by women under Taliban rule. According to the reports, many women were left to die under rubble because male rescuers were forbidden from touching them.

As per the strict Taliban-enforced Islamic rule, ‘no skin contact with unrelated males’, only a woman’s close male relatives, her father, husband, brother, or son, are allowed to touch her.

This has made rescue efforts nearly impossible in communities where female rescue workers are almost absent, since women have been barred from medical education and most public roles for years.

Women trapped beneath collapsed buildings were often ignored, while men and children were pulled out first. Some female victims were left waiting until women from nearby areas could arrive to help. In other cases, bodies of women were dragged out by their clothes to avoid physical contact.

“They gathered us in one corner and forgot about us,” said Bibi Aysha, a survivor from Kunar Province, recalling how rescue teams arrived after more than 36 hours but offered no direct help to injured women.

A male volunteer, Tahzeebullah Muhazeb, told media that women appeared “invisible” during rescue operations. He described how male rescuers hesitated to pull out trapped women, fearing cultural backlash. “It felt like women were just invisible for the rescue teams,” he said.

Shortage of female medical staff left many women untreated

Reports from quake-hit areas show a clear pattern: men and boys received immediate medical attention, while women sat apart, untreated and in pain. Hospitals in some provinces were overwhelmed, with few or no female doctors available because of Taliban restrictions on women’s education and employment in healthcare.

United Nations officials have warned that women and girls will bear the worst consequences of this disaster. Susan Ferguson, UN Women’s representative in Afghanistan, stressed: “Their needs must be at the heart of the response and recovery.” Yet, in reality, women remain at the margins of both rescue and aid efforts.

The Taliban-run Ministry of Health acknowledged the lack of female medical staff but insisted women were serving in hospitals across affected provinces. However, the accounts of survivors indicate otherwise, pointing to a shortage that left many female victims untreated. 

The deadly earthquake has only highlighted a much broader reality: Afghan women are suffering under some of the harshest gender restrictions in the world. For the past four years, the Taliban have enforced a rigid interpretation of Sharia law that has stripped women of education, work, and freedom of movement.

Girls are prohibited from attending secondary schools and universities. Women cannot work in most professions, including NGOs and international organisations. They cannot travel long distances without a male guardian. Even public spaces like parks and gyms have been shut to them.

This extreme environment meant that when disaster struck, women had no safety net, no female rescue workers, no female doctors, and no rights to demand equal treatment.

Taliban’s Sharia law has erased Afghan women

What happened during the earthquake rescue efforts is not an accident, it is the direct outcome of four years of Taliban’s brutal system of control. Their version of Sharia law has one goal: to make women invisible.

Since 2021, when the Taliban seized power, Afghan women have been pushed out of schools, jobs, and public life. The regime’s bans have closed classrooms to girls beyond the sixth grade, barred women from universities, and forced female employees out of offices. 

Humanitarian organisations, which once relied on Afghan women to reach vulnerable communities, have been crippled because women staff are no longer allowed to work.

Officials have reportedly shut down beauty salons run by women in their homes and women’s radio stations in various provinces, UNAMA said.

In the province of Kandahar, de facto inspectors asked shopkeepers in a market to report women unaccompanied by a guardian (mahram) and deny them entry into their shops.

At one hospital, authorities ordered staff not to provide care to unaccompanied female patients.

The Taliban claim to rule by “Islamic law,” but this is their own narrow and violent interpretation. Across Islamic history, Sharia has been debated, interpreted, and practised with compassion in many traditions. The Taliban’s version is neither universal nor inevitable, it is a political tool of oppression.

And the results are brutal. Afghan women today are prisoners in their own country. They cannot travel freely, they cannot study freely, and they cannot even be rescued if they are dying under rubble.

Increasing number of forced conversion

Taliban authorities have also increased enforcement of repressive restrictions on media outlets, ramped up corporal punishment, and the clampdown on religious freedom and re-education.

Between 17th January and 3rd February, in Badakhshan province in northeastern Afghanistan, at least 50 Ismaili men were taken from their homes at night and forced to convert to Sunni Islam under the threat of violence, the report says.

More than 180 people, including women and girls, have been flogged for the offences of adultery and practicing homosexuality during the reporting period, in public venues attended by Taliban officials.

Public punishments and fear

The Taliban’s so-called Sharia has also revived violent punishments. Public floggings, amputations, and even executions have returned. During their first rule from 1996 to 2001, such punishments created a climate of fear. The same pattern is emerging again.

Women are told they must remain silent and hidden. Men are told to enforce these rules on their mothers, sisters, and wives. In every way possible, women are treated as property of men, not as independent human beings.

And when women resist, by trying to protest or demand rights, the Taliban’s morality police crack down with arrests, threats, and violence. Even Afghan women working with the UN have faced escalating harassment, forcing agencies to ask them to stay home.

Country’s economy can’t recover without women contribution

The earthquake was a tragedy of nature. But the deaths of women who were left buried under rubble because men “could not touch them” were a human-made disaster. This is what happens when ideology trumps humanity.

Afghan women are not invisible. They are not burdens. They are human beings worthy of the same dignity, the same rights, and the same opportunity to survive as men.

Until the Taliban see this, or until the world puts enough pressure on them to make them change, women in Afghanistan will keep dying, not just from earthquakes or starvation, but from the suffocating brutality of laws intended to wipe them out.

The security situation in the country has also deteriorated since the group’s takeover in 2021, with the nation growing increasingly isolated and impoverished.

Afghanistan is suffering under the burden of this Islamic oppression. Almost half of the country is starving. Families are living off a single meal per day. With women excluded from work and education, the economy has no chance to recover. Aid is harder to deliver, because half the workforce, Afghan women, is banned from helping. Essentially, the enforcement of Sharia has put women in a lose-lose position. Since women are barred from getting an education and joining the work force, there are no women doctors or caregivers in Afghanistan. And since there are no women in the work force, women, crushed under the debris, are doomed to die because Islam does not permit equal rights for women.

Book review of ‘Blade of Fury’, the second part of ‘Rama of the Axe’ trilogy: A fiery tale of Parashurama which can alter the consciousness of a Hindu

Shalini
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Book review of ‘Blade of Fury’, the second part of ‘Rama of the Axe’ trilogy: A fiery tale of Parashurama which can alter the consciousness of a Hindu

Blade of Fury is the second in the Parashurama trilogy that Ranjith Radhakrishnan has embarked upon and it does give centre stage to this avatara of Maha Vishnu who is not much celebrated and talked about as some of the others.

I would start with Ranjith’s ‘Author’s Note’ which comes at the end of the novel. He tries to explain how he has gone about writing what I consider to be quite a magnum opus regarding one of our ancient superheroes if you will. Ranjith says that he was asked by many people after his first book Rama of the Axe as to whether the story that he had trail blazed in that first book was exactly as it happened as per our puranas. It would be good to quote some of his lines so that the reader gets a heads up on what to expect in this the second tome.

Ranjith says, “The tone of both the books is one of deep devotion. At the very start, I was clear that I do not intend to write Parashurama as a mere mortal who later came to be considered an avatara”.

Regarding the Chinnamasta manifestation in book 1, Rama of the Axe, he says, “Some incidents aren’t in the Brahmanda Purana—Renuka manifesting the Mahavidya Chinnamasta, for example. That comes from folklore and legends connected to the Yellama Temple in Saundatti, Karnataka”.

He also says that the consistent reaction that he got from people who had read book 1 was that they always had the impression that “Parashurama is an arrogant and violent man”. Ranjith’s devotion and deep immersion into Sanatana Dharma and its tenets have ensured that this sixth avatara of Vishnu gets the attention he deserves and that his life and exploits are portrayed with utmost reverence while also not sacrificing modern story telling sensibilities. So, if readers found book 1 to showcase an ‘arrogant’ and ‘violent’ side of him, book 2 would uncover more facets to this fascinating personality. A deeply reflective and contemplative side of Parashurama dominates book 2.

So, before I give my impression of the second book Blade of Fury, I would advise readers, that ideally they should have read book, Rama of the Axe, before embarking on this tome. While this book can be read as a standalone book, it is definitely connected to the first one and therefore, it makes sense to have read and digested book 1 before starting this one. I have also reviewed book 1 here.

Readers of book 1 who were enthralled by all the adrenaline packed action might find book 2 dense but the depth of ideas in book 2 is sublime. Do visit the trailer of Blade of Fury here. The writer Ranjith expands beautifully in this book and while retaining his skill at hair-raising and thrilling action in this tome, he also packs a deep and solid punch with his knowledge of Hindu metaphysics. Hardcore action lovers might just feel a tad disappointed at the drastic reduction in action in this book but if they would just keep an open mind, they will be transported into a deep and sublime world of Hindu philosophy and metaphysics in the way Ranjith handles the evolution of the character of Parashurama here.

In this book, Parashurama discovers his true nature chakra by chakra and in essence the book is a revelation of the character of Parashurama as he grasps the beeja mantra of each chakra through his experience of them. It is an enthralling journey that a seeking reader undertakes along with Parashurama, reflecting, despairing, thrilling and understanding along with him as he unravels the mystery. There is a chapter called Trikona Prashna in which Parashurama is subjected to a Q and A session with three of the Saptarishis. Ranjith excels in creating this exchange and does justice to the gravity that such an exchange deserves. Here’s a sample of the exchange.

When one the Saptarishis asks, “What is dharma”, Parashurama answers, “That which is true to Rta and Satya. Dharma is the anvil of the world. What is forged in it sustains and nourishes. What breaks on it never would sustain and nourish”.

Then the rishi asks, “If dharma is the anvil, what is the hammer”, and Parashurama answers, “Karma is the hammer. If correct, the result will be upheld; if not, it will collapse. Mind the correctness of karma, not the result. That will take care of itself”.

I just provided a small glimpse of the richness of dialogue in the exchange between the Saptarishis and Parashurama. This, I hope will whet the appetite of a curious reader.

Parashurama emerges out of each of his tests and experiences as a more evolved being and we readers journey along with him living his experience too. It is the skill of the writer that he is able to draw the reader into the world of the protagonist and live the emotions and feelings of the character that is emerging from the pages. Ranjith is able to draw the reader poignantly into the life and soul of Parashurama and one is almost living that character. The other skill of Ranjith is that his writing is so visual that one can conjure the image of the scene he is painting with words in the mind’s eye.

The book is replete with ideas that are deep and profound and therefore it is not a work for those interested only in the superficial nature of existence itself. It is a deep dive into metaphysics told with an intensity and bhakti which is unlike the usual spiritual texts that we are used to. From book 1 to book 2, the shift to a higher plane is very evident and Ranjith gives some insight into this in his Author’s Note.

He says, “A good story is like the five koshas of Hindu yogic philosophy. The plot is the Annamaya kosha, and the emotional energy of the story is the Pranamaya kosha. The character arc and character motivations are the Manomaya kosha, the theme and insights, form the Vijnanamaya kosha. Finally, the joy of connection with the divine, the transcendence a story evokes, is the Anandamaya kosha”.

This book does have all five but definitely more in the Pranamaya, Manomaya and Vijnanamaya Kosha. As I mentioned in my review of book 1 too, Ranjith has used extremely profound tenets of Hindu dharma to write his story and he has achieved the near impossible task of making it also contemporary. And to achieve this through a tale that is eons old is not an ordinary skill.

Ranjith is definitely an author to look out for in the coming years and as a reader, I look forward to the third book of this trilogy to see what further realms is going to be opened to us in it. And Parashurama is emerging as an extremely poignant avatara, given to extraordinarily human emotions like anger, pain, joy, suffering and compassion while also revealing his evolved state through the feats he can achieve through his intense tapasya and dhyana. After this trilogy, I guess the personage of Parashurama would have altered in a Hindu’s consciousness for the better and that in itself is justice to this much misunderstood avatara of Maha Vishnu.

The book can be purchased in all leading bookstores and also online here. 

Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says after Trump climbs down from his tirade against India

OpIndia Staff
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Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments: Prime Minister Narendra Modi says after Trump climbs down from his tirade against India

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has stated that he deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of India-US ties.

“India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership”, PM Modi added.

The Prime Minister posted on X, “Deeply appreciate and fully reciprocate President Trump’s sentiments and positive assessment of our ties. India and the US have a very positive and forward-looking Comprehensive and Global Strategic Partnership.”

Earlier, US President Donald Trump said, “I will always be friends with Modi, he is a great Prime Minister. India and the United States have a special relationship. There is nothing to worry about.”

Trump further added, “I get along very well with (Indian PM) Modi as you know, he was here a couple of months ago, we went to the Rose Garden.”

Notably, Donald Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on Indian products recently citing Indian import of Russian oil.

Hiring slowdown continues in US in August after Trump fired the head of the Labour Statistics for reporting falling job numbers in July

OpIndia Staff
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Hiring slowdown continues in US in August after Trump fired the head of the Labour Statistics for reporting falling job numbers in July

The U.S. labour market continued its downward trajectory in August, adding just 22,000 jobs, as per the report published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). It is well below forecasts of around 75,000 to 80,000 jobs, and a sharp drop from the 79,000 jobs added in July.

The report also stated that the unemployment rate ticked up to 4.3%. This comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s abrupt firing of former BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer last month, following the release of disappointing July figures.

The August report, the first under interim BLS leadership, underscores a broader decline in hiring that economists attribute to factors including high interest rates, effects of recent tariffs, and reduced federal spending. Some analysts predict that the US labor market is “dangerously close to stalling.”

BLS also made revisions to data of prior months, which show an even bleaker picture. June’s job numbers were adjusted downward by 27,000 to a net loss of 13,000, while July’s numbers were revised upward slightly from 73,000 to 79,000, resulting in a net downward revision of 21,000 jobs for the two months combined.

The three-month average job growth ending in August now stands at a mere 29,000, a sharp decline from the robust 196,000 monthly average seen earlier in the year.

The slowdown follows a turbulent July report, released on August 1, which initially showed nonfarm payrolls rising by just 73,000, well below forecasts. That report triggered an immediate backlash from the White House. President Trump accused BLS Commissioner Erika McEntarfer of “rigging” the figures to make his administration look bad. He announced her firing on social media hours after the release of the report.

However, now August job numbers are much worse compared to July, showing that Trump’s firing of McEntarfer was illogical and arbitrary.

the August data aligns with other indicators of labour market weakness, including a drop in job openings to 7.2 million in July.

Kashi Vishwanath Temple priests and employees to get government employee status, salaries to increase three times

OpIndia Staff
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Kashi Vishwanath Temple priests and employees to get government employee status, salaries to increase three times

The Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust has given a green signal to new rules under which, the trust employees will get the status of state government employees. With change in status, the salaries of temple employees and priests will increase three times.

This decision was taken in the 108th meeting of the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust Council on 4th September 2025.

In the meeting held in the Commissioner’s Auditorium under the chairmanship of Divisional Commissioner S. Rajalingam, about two dozen proposals including the Employee Service Manual were approved. The Divisional Commissioner stated that till now Rs 30,000 were given to the priests, however, now their salaries would be around Rs 80,000 to 90,000.

According to the officials, after the implementation of the manual, along with the increase in salary, allowance, promotion, leave and other facilities will also be provided. According to sources, four categories have been fixed in the proposed manual for the appointment of priests, employees and Sevadars. Like state employees, priests will be given grade and matrix.

The budget of the last financial year was approved in the meeting of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Vishisht Kshetra Vikas Parishad and Executive Committee. The honorarium of various categories of employees posted under the Parishad will be increased by 30 percent. The dearness allowance (DA) of full-time employees will increase like last year. A state-of-the-art digital museum will be established in the Dham.

To speed up business activities, a new rent rate will be fixed for the operation of other properties including the Emporium. The Parishad will appoint a new consultancy, which will suggest new options for increasing income.

Notably, the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple was acquired by the state government in 1983. Since then, the service manual could not be prepared. Many attempts were made regarding this, but the matter did not reach any conclusion. Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act was implemented on 13th October 1983 under Article 201 of the Constitution.

Muslim mob smashes Ashoka Emblem carved on foundation stone at Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar after NC leader called it ‘forbidden idol worship’

OpIndia Staff
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Muslim mob smashes Ashoka Emblem carved on foundation stone at Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar after NC leader called it ‘forbidden idol worship’

An Islamic mob on Friday vandalised the recently installed plaque at Hazratbal Dargah in Srinagar. The mob smashed the Ashoka Emblem carved on the marble plaque marking the foundation stone of a new structure within the shrine, calling it anti-Islam.

Islamists claimed that carving of the national emblem on the foundation stone is a blatant disregard for Islamic traditions. National Conference leader Tanvir Sadiq claimed that it goes against the fundamental Islamic belief of Tawheed, saying that that idol worship is strictly forbidden in Islam.

In a post on X, he said, “Sacred spaces must reflect only the purity of Tawheed, nothing else.”

On the other hand, BJP leader and Jammu and Kashmir Waqf Board Chairperson Dr Darakhshan Andrabi condemned the attack, calling it a terrorist attack. She urged the Prime Minister and the union Home minister to order their immediate arrest of those responsible for the vandalism.

Andrabi alleged that political elements were behind the incident, accusing them of attempting to damage both the dignity of the Dargah and the sanctity of Kashmir.

Without naming him directly, Andrabi hit out at NC MLA Tanveer Sadiq, who had objected to the emblem’s placement at the shrine. “A leader tweeted about it. I don’t think he deserves to be called a leader. These people don’t even know what religion is—they fed militants in their homes,” she alleged. She also alleged that goons of the ruling party in Jammu and Kashmir did the attack.

Tamil Nadu CM unveils portrait of Periyar, who was called criminal and lunatic by Nehru, at Oxford University: Know about the organisers and speakers of the event

OpIndia Staff
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Tamil Nadu CM unveils portrait of Periyar, who was called criminal and lunatic by Nehru, at Oxford University: Know about the organisers and speakers of the event

On Thursday (4th September), Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin unveiled the portrait of anti-Hindu activist Periyar at the campus of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

During the event, Stalin was heard saying, “Periyar’s thoughts should reach every part of the world. All existing forms of oppression should be removed. From collective rights to individuals rights, all rights must be protected.”

While Periyar is revered by the likes of Stalin’s Dravida Munnetra Kazagham (DMK), the genocidal views of the anti-Hindu activist forced even a ‘liberal’ PM Jawaharlal Nehru to brand him a ‘lunatic’ and a ‘criminal with a perverted mind.’

In a letter [pdf] to Madras Chief Minister Kumaraswami Kamaraj on November 5, 1957, PM Nehru stated, “I am much distressed by the anti-Brahmin campaign continuously carried on by E.V. Ramaswami Naicker.’ I wrote to you I think about this some time ago, and I was told that this matter was under consideration.”

“I find that Ramaswami Naicker is going on saying the same thing again and calling upon people at the right time to start stabbing and killing. What he says can only be said by a criminal or a lunatic,” he pointed out.

PM Nehru told the Madras Chief Minister, “I do not know him adequately to be able to decide what he is, but one thing is clear to me that this kind of thing has a very demoralizing effect on the country. All the anti-social and criminal elements imagine that they can act in this way also.”

The first Prime Minister of India was of the view that anti-Brahmin ‘activists’ such as Periyar should be placed in a mental asylum, meant for treatment of ‘perveted minds.’

Letter of PM Nehru to Kamaraj

He had reiterated, “I suggest, therefore, to you that there should be no delay in dealing with this matter. Let him be put in a lunatic asylum and his perverted mind treated there. I do not understand anyone telling me that the law does not allow us to take action unless actual killing takes place.”

“The law is often very foolish but it is not quite so foolish as to permit a campaign of incitement to murder,” PM Nehru said in his letter dated November 5, 1957.

He had written the letter to the Madras CM after Periyar organised a convention in Tanjavur to demand removal of constitutional provisions that guranteed Right to Freedom of Religion.

The Dravida Kazagham, under Periyar’s leadership, had called for the killing of Brahmins and the destruction of their residential properties on November 3, 1957.

Periyar and his hate for Hindus

Periyar was a vehement advocate of anti-Hinduism, anti-Brahminism and a pro-British.  Many EVR apologists today indulge in the propaganda that EVR never advocated racial hatred against Brahmins. However, EVR was explicit in his agenda.

The magazine Periyar edited published articles praising the ascendancy of Adolf Hitler and warned Brahmins in Tamil Nadu that they should learn from the plight of Jews in Nazi Germany and opt for course correction.

Periyar’s dislike for Brahmins was so deep-rooted in him that he was almost blinded by his intense hatred and anger directed at Brahmins. He reportedly used to tell his followers that if they ever encountered a Brahmin and a snake on the road, they should kill the Brahmin first.

He has, in his lifetime, spread numerous canards about the Ramayana. All his lies were directed towards slandering the God who is considered Maryada Purshottam by Hindus. His lies ranged from accusing Shri Rama of being casteist to claiming that he killed and mutilated women.

Periyar not only claimed that no ‘North Indian Brahmin’ died in the war against Ravana but further propagated that Lord Rama had married women other than Sita for his sexual pleasure. He had also claimed that Lankan King Ravana was, in fact, a Dravidian King from South India.

Periyar had also burnt pictures of Lord Rama, who is one of the most revered Hindu gods. This is not all, Periyar is notorious for organizing a procession in Salem in Tamil Nadu with big cutouts of “Ram”, “Sita” and “Hanuman” garlanded with slippers.

Apart from his hatred for Lord Rama, Periyar also broke statues of Lord Ganesha. In fact, all his deeds reflected the virtual hatred that he harboured towards Hindus and Brahmins.

The event on ‘Periyar’ at Oxford University

While the DMK ecosystem has left no stone unturned to browbeat about the event held at Oxford University in ‘honour’ of Periyar, the reality is starkly different.

The event titled ‘The Self-Respect Movement and Its Legacies’ was not an official event of the esteemed varsity.

It was a small-time conference, organised within a department of one of the 39 autonomous colleges under the University of Oxford.

While the event was a ‘departmental seminar’ at best, it was propagated by the DMK ecosystem as Oxford University ‘honouring’ anti-Hindu activist Periyar.

The overarching objective of the event is to lend credence to the ideology of Periyar and grant legitimacy to the divisive, Dravidian politics of MK Stalin.

OpIndia found that the seminar on Periyar and the non-permanent unveiling of his portrait at the University of Oxford campus was organised by one Faisal Devji.

The so-called ‘historian’ has published derogatory material targeting MK Gandhi. In his book ‘The Impossible Indian’, Faisal Devji compared MK Gandhi to dictators Joseph Stalin, Adolf Hitler and Mao Zedong.

“For in many ways, Gandhi belongs in the same group as his contemporaries, Lenin, Hitler and Mao, and should not be seen as a moralist detached from the mainstream of twentieth-century politics,” he discredited the champion of non-violence movement.

Faisal, whose ideology is as vicious as that of Periyar, has written several articles (here, here and here), painting a doomsday picture about the state of democracy in India under the Narendra Modi government.

Besides MK Stalin, the so-called ‘historian’ also hosted another speaker for a departmental seminar titled ‘Dravidian Geography and the History of Respect.’ The speaker was a ‘anthropologist’ by the name of Arjun Appadurai.

In 2021, Arjun compared ‘nationalism’ in India under PM Modi to ‘genocidalism.’ In one paper, he tried to pass off abrogation of Article 370 in the erstwhile State of Jammu and Kashmir as anti-Muslim policy-making.

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