Folks, sharing some thoughts on the Republic Day Parade of yesterday. Reason being that I personally found this parade to be a lot ‘different’ from earlier ones. Disclaimer: Purely my personal opinions. Feel free to disagree. Here goes ..
As I mentioned, I found this parade to be different. To me personally, it was as much a statement of intent, as it was the yearly parade. And it was also a statement of achievement. Especially in light of what has gone down over the past one year.
Tone for the event was set by the very first contingent itself – 61 Cavalry. Where they had been in their ceremonial uniforms for all these years, we now saw them in combat uniform. I may be wrong but this was perhaps for the first time ever that they marched in combat uniform.
Of course, another change if you noticed in the two screenshots above was that Lt Ahaan Kumar had now been promoted to Capt Ahaan Kumar! The young lad looked equally dashing in both types of uniforms!
Right on their heels came the very aptly named ‘Prahaar‘ Formation, carrying the flag of Operation Sindoor! THIS is what caught my eye and for the first time, it appeared that this parade was going to be much different!
And right on cue thereafter came the tanks and various other military vehicles, as they do every year. But this time, well .. ‘different’! This time not only were they more in numbers and variety, but also battle-ready, given the latest experiences of last year.
The tanks were kitted with what can be assume to be drone-protective measures, the BMPs had anti-tank missiles in addition to their guns, as well as drones. The light strike vehicles too had drones and jammers as well.
Dare I say, much of this equipment seems to have only been inducted in the past few months and operationalized just as quickly. The very aptly named ‘Dhwansak’ Light Strike Vehicle was especially a treat to watch, equipped with quite a bit of firepower!
However, the purpose of this thread is not to chronicle all pieces of hardware that marched past the Supreme Commander. What was different in this time was the innate confidence and self-assured supremacy of a military that had achieved a mighty victory just a few months ago.
It was not just about the equipment and the body language of the troops that marched with or without it, but it was as much about the guests of honour and how they viewed it. The visuals of the dais flitted equally between the President of India taking the salute, and between the two apparently very happy and very inquisitive Chief Guests interacting with the Prime Minister of India regarding the various marching contingents / tableaus.
And of course, there also was the young man who was translating for the guests whenever the need arose. He sure had a busy day at office yesterday!
The forces were NOT shy of showcasing their latest means of destruction, most of which would have made their presence felt in Pakistan during Op Sindoor, while the others would be awaiting their turn in the next round, whenever it comes by.
This was a VICTORY MARCH of the armed forces who had rained death and destruction over the enemy with cold, surgical precision. And were equally willing now to rub it in the enemy’s face all over again! Period. The tableau too aptly said ‘Victory Through Jointness’
And then there was the ‘Sindoor Formation’ flypast in the middle of the parade, which was dutifully and beautifully MISSED by the Doordarshan cameras! Don’t miss the Music Credits by the IAF in this video below!
#IAFSindoorFormation Standing shoulder to shoulder with our sister services, the Sindoor Formation on #RepublicDay2026 underscored the #IndianAirForce’s role in shaping military outcomes through precise and time-sensitive air operations.
The Bhairavs were there as well, शिव-गण in the form of Khalsas of Gobind! The same Guru Gobind Singh Ji who hailed Lord Shiv in his beautiful hymn ‘Deh Shiva Var Mohe Ehe’! Talk about symbolism, even if unintentional!
Bottomline : This year’s parade was VERY different from the past ones. It was not merely about the men and equipment on display .. it was about the sheer ENERGY that one could feel. Energy of a Nation and its armed forces stamping their mark on History, and raring to go again.
As I conclude this short thread, I will leave this ode to Sepoy Badluram that was so beautifully sung on the Kartavya Path by the young ‘Rhinos’ of the Assam Regiment! Do watch this vid for 20 seconds as they march past, saluting the Supreme Commander!
So this is what I wanted to share. Hope you find this chain of thoughts agreeable. If not, well, I can live with that as well! Of course, I look forward to seeing how Pakistan showcases its own ‘victory’ on 23rd March! Cheers and Jai Hind! :Fin:
So this tweet regarding the Global Buddhist Summit being conducted by India landed up on my TL some time back and triggered a chain of thoughts that I shall attempt to share here.
Let’s see how it goes ..
800 Buddhist monks from 40 countries to be a part of Global Buddhist Summit in Delhi on 24 and 25 January. At the time when world is seeing conflicts, India calls for peace through the teachings of Buddha. India Today's Shivani Sharma speaks #exclusively with DG International… pic.twitter.com/CWPzcdrHtx
Note : Before moving ahead, do go thru the video on the tweet above, even if in form of snippets.
I’ll begin with a disclaimer : This blog post is NOT about religion or evangelism, if at all. Instead, I intend talking a bit about our Buddhist heritage and how it has great potential in deepening ties with the near and far neighbourhood.
First & foremost, as expected, I searched for & quickly found a hashtag about the upcoming Global Buddhist Summit that seems to have been created by some good folks: #GlobalBuddhistSummit . The event is apparently being organised by International Buddhist Confederation, New Delhi.
The existence of the International Buddhist Confederation itself was a revelation for me! That such an organisation exists in the country speaks volumes about those who realized the importance of this heritage and the need to preserve and share it.
The motto of the @IbcWorldOrg itself give away the intent : ‘Collective Wisdom, United Voice’.
THIS is what holds a huge potential for the near and even far neighbourhood.
The common heritage of Buddhism directly links India with almost all its direct neighbours less East and West Pakistan. Nepal : Birth Place of Lord Buddha Bhutan : Buddhist Majority Country Myanmar : Buddhist Majority Country that is also credited with saving the practice of Vipassana in its true form as taught by Lord Buddha Himself. Sh. Goenka Ji discovered it while doing business in Myanmar and brought it back to India.Sri Lanka : Yet another Buddhist Majority Country. Tibet : The Birthplace of the current Dalai Lama, as also thought to be the custodian of a large number of priceless Buddhist manuscripts.
Then there is Japan from where a steady stream of visitors keep landing in Bodh Gaya for pilgrimage, many of whom then settle there in matrimonial bliss with Indian spouses. This is what Google tells me 👇
However, the first Global Buddhist Summit only happened in 2023. We were perhaps a bit late in realizing this common heritage. But as they say: Better Late Than Never! I’d say that we have been in an overdrive since then, ‘spreading the word’ & getting like-minded folks together!
The first inkling of the sheer GOLD that India has in terms of Buddhist heritage was the reception in Thailand of the sacred relics that were sent there by us. IIRC, it was the IAF that flew the relics to Thailand and back.
The relics subsequently travelled to Russia and Bhutan as well in 2025. In fact Prime Minister Modi himself was there in Bhutan when the relics were on display there for the faithful. Talk about Diplomacy with common heritage links!
The case of Russia is even more interesting, though. Who knew that a region in Russia would be a Buddhist majority region .. and that too in the EUROPEAN part of Russia. So technically, the relics also travelled to Europe last year!
On that note, do watch the video in the tweet below for the reception accorded to the holy relics in Kalmykia by the locals.
Buddha relics from India reaches Russia's Kalmykia, a Buddhist Majority region. Video released by the authorities in Kalmykia: pic.twitter.com/xdOtkZ0Urv
Bottomline : This common Buddhist heritage has a lot of potential to thicken the already existing bonds of friendship and cultural imprints throughout the Indian Subcontinent and even farther away.
IMO though, the acme of this shall, however, lie in not only deeper cultural linkages but also in deeper economic linkages.
Remember, it was an Indian businessman in Burma – Sh Goenka Ji – who brought back Vipassana to India after millennia. What is to say that the current ambassadors of the Buddhist heritage won’t find a way into translating this forum of Global Buddhist Summit into business partnerships as well? Especially if a gentle nudge or two is given by the GOI as well?
In any case, as mentioned in the interview in the beginning of this blog post, delegates for this Global Buddhist Summit include not only religious scholars but academics as well. Here’s to hoping that subsequent iterations will also see businessmen as well!
And as always, when it comes to the question of Buddhism, there is always the China factor as well. Especially wrt the reincarnation of the next Dalai Lama, whenever that happens. In fact here is what I wrote about that 14 years ago!
Ah, the irony. A self proclaimed atheist nation wants to control whre the next Dalai Lama is reincarnated! #FreeTibet
And true to their form, China didn’t disappoint either! This is what they did after the First Global Buddhist Summit was held in India.
Come to think of it, we weren’t the only ones who were late in recognizing the potential of the Buddhist legacy! And the Chinese just copied us!
This time round, thought, they have been a bit smarter .. they did theirs a week before the Indian event!
As I conclude this chain of thoughts, all I’ll say is that the upcoming Global Buddhist Summit might just be a much larger event in terms of eventual impact than what we think currently. This is exactly what triggered this thread after I first came across the report regarding it.
It is as much about sharing the common heritage of Lord Buddha as it is about deepening existing bonds throughout the near and far neighbourhood. And I hope this includes economic bonds as well because in addition to religion, nothing else binds more strongly than money!
True impact of events such as the Global Buddhist Summit can only be seen with the benefit of hindsight, perhaps a few years or even decades after the event. One can only hope and pray that we steer this in the right direction for common good of all.
For Europe and USA, Buddhism is truly one the most ‘popular’ religions that have originated in India, thanks in large part to the charisma of His Holiness The Dalai Lama. In fact, Richard Gere even got banned from travelling to China for talking about Tibet!
However, the question of Tibet is not triggered this thought. That will be decided in due course, probably whenever the Dalai Lama reincarnates next. That said, this unrelated event by Buddhist monks in USA is also worth following 👇
In these difficult times, a group of Buddhist monks are planting hope across America as they make a months-long march to Washington, DC hoping to inspire people to give peace a chance. pic.twitter.com/Mh8jdmOJrE
With this I conclude this chain of thoughts. I hope the Global Buddhist Summit becomes a regular event, either annually or bi-annually & that dividends shall include peace and harmony for all concerned. On that note, I’ll leave this post here as well, to tickle your brains!
Folks, sharing some thoughts on the recent developments in Bangladesh in the aftermath of killing of Osman Hadi. Let’s see how it goes. At the outset, I’ll share this tweet from almost exactly 1yr ago. Things happening almost exactly as mentioned
One way to avoid that would be to trigger an incident or a chain of events that would divert public attention, right? It could vary from an internal disturbance within Bangladesh to even threats / attacks on Indian diplomatic missions in Dhaka and elsewhere. (^^ Disclaimer: JMTs)
Moving ahead, let me introduce Osman Hadi to those who do not know him. Here he is, yapping about Indian hegemony. Do watch.
Mind you, this is not about celebrating his death. But instead, this is to highlight the idiotic and utopian idea of Bangladesh being equal to India that he harboured .. something that is still being chanted by yahoos on the streets.
That said, I would take you back to the tweet quoted in the beginning of this blog post. Hadi’s death is merely a trigger. Even if it had been someone else in his place, there would still have been outrage and violence on streets of East Pakistan, regardless of the trigger event.
If you noticed me mentioning ‘East Pakistan’ instead of Bangladesh, kudos to you! Let me explain why I refer to the current day neighbour as East Pakistan. But that would need for us to go back to the breaking apart of erstwhile Eastern Wing of Pakistan in 1971.
Trigger for breakaway of East Pakistan in 1971 was incompatibility of Bengali identity of East Pakistan with the dominant Punjabi identity of West Pakistan. If you think current day Paakis are any less racist towards Bengalis, then you might be ‘pleasantly’ surprised with this 👇
That East Pakistan was NOT compatible with their Western masters was quite apparent as early as 1952 when the Language Riots broke out over imposition of Urdu upon East Pakistan. 21 Feb is still observed as Language Movement Day / Martyrs Day in Bangladesh : Bengali Language Movement
Then came the Bhola Cyclone of 1970 that killed nearly 500,000 East Pakistanis. To add insult to injury, the Central Govt in West Pakistan just brushed it aside and only offered token relief efforts in the days immediately succeeding it. Why? Because .. well .. Bengalis. Period.
And then when the first and only truly free and fair elections happened in December 1970, Yahya Khan and Bhutto refused to honour the verdict that would have meant a Bengali Prime Minister for Pakistan, ie Mujibur Rehman. Heck, Bhutto even called them ‘Suar ke Bachche’ in a public rally in East Pakistan and cursed them to go to Jahannum! Of course, he himself would soon reach there .. perhaps to prepare a welcome speech for them maybe?
Then came the events of 1971, commencing with Operation Searchlight wherein the Pakistan Army directly got involved in rape, genocide and targeted killings of Hindus in particular and Bengalis in general : Operation Searchlight
They raped, they killed and they burnt. Just being a Bengali was enough of a crime, regardless of religion. Being a Hindu only added to the gravity of the crime. Yes, those were their fellow citizens from the Eastern Wing.
A short documentary on the women that were raped and a memorial in Mujib Nagar to etch the atrocities suffered by the daughters, mothers and sisters of East Pakistan at the hands of their fellow citizens from West Pakistan Army was produced immediately after India created Bangladesh.
Throughout this orgy of rape and murder, the Jamaat ‘e Islami Pakistan was at the forefront with their brothers in West Pakistani Army. They fought tooth and nail to oppose the creation of Bangladesh in 1971, only to fail.
And then, in 1979, the Bangladeshi Govt of their military dictator Zia ur Rehman, Jamaat ‘e Islami was permitted to establish itself once again in the same country that it had fought tooth and nail to oppose the creation of!
What was happening was abundantly clear, esp with the benefit of hindsight as well as events in current day East Pakistan. The Bengali identity was slowly and surely subsumed by the religious identity on the basis of which India was partitioned in 1947.
In fact, Jamaat ‘e Islami was a part of the govt of Begum Khaleda Zia in 2001. Such was the turnaround, partly due to political expediency and partly also due to the growing radicalisation under the radar.
It is the same Jamaat ‘e Islami that was working furiously behind the scenes during the Aug 2024 ‘revolution’ & is working furiously today in forefront of the latest ‘revolution’. Needless to say ISIS flags too have become part & parcel of this latest iteration of ‘revolution’.
And what is the currently popular opinion in today’s East Pakistan? Well, they are blaming Sheikh Hasina. Yes, more than 15 months after her ouster, the current NON-ELECTED govt of East Pakistan blames Awami League and Sheikh Hasina for their failure to ensure peace!
This only reinforces my belief that seeds of ‘revolution’ are mostly bitter! Once the dust settles, u realize that while breaking apart a system was very easy, building it again actually takes a LOT of hard work .. something that you may not be capable of!
Doing a 'revolution' is relatively easy. What is NOT so easy is to resume nation-building as the 'excitement' wanes & time to put words into actions begins. Coming weeks and months for #Bangladesh are going to be extremely interesting to watch. Shall revisit this tweet in a year! https://t.co/wvHBSR32rv
Dear Leader of current day East Pakistan, Nobel Laureate Yunus, who incidentally calls himself as the Chief Adviser to the Government of Bangladesh, has proved his incompetence to govern with a bang .. literally! Of course, he never had the mandate to govern in the first place.
That is also why I feel that the supposed elections in East Pakistan that were to happen ‘very soon’, will not be happening at all .. atleast not in the near future. Power without accountability is the best. Yunus today .. perhaps a Military Dictator tomorrow?
Which of these will have their elections first :#JustAsking
Which brings me to the question of what happens next. Well, in a nutshell, a LOT depends upon how Govt of India decides to act. On that note, I agree with the yahoos of East Pakistan that it is a civilizational war. They have already chosen religion over their Bengali identity.
Now what remains to be seen is the response of the GOI. Don’t get me wrong .. I know there are a LOT of other interested actors fuelling the fire in East Pakistan today. But the end aim for most of them is to have Indian attentions and resources diverted there, even if partly.
As @TrulyMonica mentioned in her tweet screenshotted above, the masks are well and truly off. Debating the reason for their animosity at this point in our history is moot. What needs to be seen is what do we do (or don’t do, for that matter).
So far, by NOT doing much since the Aug 2024 ‘revolution’, GOI has ended up giving enough rope to current rulers of East Pakistan to hang themselves, figuratively of course. And then there is the dead body of the radical Osman Hadi buried six feet under with full State protocol.
Btw, THIS is how they treated the mortal remains of their own soldiers not so long ago. Make of it whatever you will.
Bottomline is that East Pakistan has once again reared its ugly head on our eastern borders. The only consolation is that they don’t have nukes, thanks to 1971. But they do dream of a nuke umbrella from their West Paaki brethren! This is a retired Colonel of Bangladesh Army giving words to his wet dreams!
Of course, they are permitted to have their delusions. But Indian Visa is something that they will surely and sorely miss, thanks to the violence directed at Indian diplomatic missions. Just like last year, right after the ‘revolution’!
Meanwhile, the yahoos are now begging for Indian Visas! With this, I conclude this short thread. Hope this chain of thoughts made some sense. :Fin:https://t.co/TT94pJz8rr
Whether they like it or not, survival of East Pakistan without India is virtually impossible, thanks to the curse of geography. They still owe more than a billion dollars to Adani for the electricity, for one. Not to mention the tonnes of other imports from India.
The only thing somewhat in favour of East Pakistan is their relatively large army that is still capable of restoring peace if push comes to a shove. And this is a military that has directly ruled East Pakistan after killing the Father of the Nation, Mujibur Rehman in 1975 itself.
But would they have the stomach for it? Or for that matter the UNITY within their ranks for it? What are the odds that the current generation of Brigadiers & Generals of Bangladesh Army MIGHT get inspired by the relatively recent Border Guard revolt of 2009 & join the other side?
Remember, they are already acting very coy with their West Pakistani brethren ever since the Aug 2024 ‘revolution’. Might it be because some of them actually see them as their fathers? Especially those born in 1971-72?
What happens internally in East Pakistan now depends upon how the military acts, or chooses to look the other way. Yunus has unleashed a monster that he won’t be able to control for much longer, especially when IMO he doesn’t hold much power beyond being a figurehead ‘advisor’.
He will, in all probability, be the sacrificial pawn as a new regime assumes power in Dhaka within the next few months, perhaps even earlier. And then the cycle of rhetoric and reality check and chaos will be unleashed all over again.
What happens next? Well, for one, let this be YET ANOTHER lesson for the ‘liberals’, esp those within India. Do go thru the three tweets quoted below, about how the sheep kept rooting for the wolf because he promised he had changed.
1/3 On the first anniversary of the 'Revolution' in Bangladesh, replugging some media tweeted in the immediate aftermath. Sheep cheering for the Wolves that had promised to keep their interests safe 👇https://t.co/DfMiU1bKUZ
As far as India goes, the biggest concern currently should be yet another refugee influx in case situation in East Pakistan deteriorates further. Impact of such a chaos on the looming elections in West Bengal and Assam too cannot be emphasized enough.
But then, it was a similar refugee crisis that gave the pretext and justification for hacking off East Pakistan in the first place. Thus, herein lies an opportunity as well. Of course, the potential for exponential increase in chaos exists too.
But if the chaos can be contained within the current borders of East Pakistan, then I personally wouldn’t mind it very much. This was tweeted just hours after the initial reports of ‘revolution’ / ‘coup’ in Bangladesh last year 👇
In view of folks talking about a potential refugee crisis from Bangladesh border, I'll just replug this tweet here without any further comment. Take care of the refugees, but on their own lands. Period. https://t.co/xey66G1hYx
Once again, with the benefit of hindsight, one can say that one mistake that we committed in 1971 was in not retaining some territory from East Pakistan in order to overcome own geographical vulnerabilities. Perhaps destiny is giving us another chance?
At this point, I would like to reiterate the phrase 'Pig's Neck' that was tweeted not too long ago!https://t.co/bvkuuK4kjD
No wonder the yahoos in East Pakistan feel that it was they who defeated West Pakistan in 1971 and India unfairly took all credit and the 93,000 Brown Panted Ones. No wonder they think that they also can choke off India’s North-East with ease and capture Kolkata as well!
Btw, it is the same East Pakistan which covers broken railway tracks with jute bags and hopes for the best! More power to them, I’d say!
Coming back to the issue at hand, India has been far too benevolent a neighbour to such people for far too long. I have a hunch that this might be about to change soon. Whether the first manifestation comes across East Pakistan or West, needs to be seen.
Might this chaos be a trigger for a change of heart amongst them? Or might it be a trigger for a 'benevolent strictness' on part of India? भय बिन होए न प्रीत, right? I wrote this about 10 years ago in context of Pakistan. It just underscores my point abovehttps://t.co/BrBdBzQUw2
Committing Indian military along East Pakistan might give a breather to the Brown Panted Ones to the West, as also an opportunity to one again try and import some more Brahmos and other munitions from India free of cost.
Reeling as they are under grossly ‘unpredictable’ water inflows in Jhelum and Chenab, they might just try something under the (yet again) mistaken assumption that India will be restrained due to events in East Pakistan.
And what about East Pakistan, you asked? Well they are still just as expendable for West Pakistan and their friends in the USA as they were in 1965 and 1971 Wars. So long as West Pakistan lives, anything good or bad happening to East Pakistan is fine.
In any case, East Pakistanis are very confident that India will soon come begging to them because without their money, India cannot survive! Of course all those lines of credit that GOI has extended to East Pakistan be damned! This is NOT a joke, mind you!
The video features DUCSU leader Musaddiq speaking in Bengali. Translation: "If the flow of money from Bangladesh to India stops, Indians will starve to death." This matches reports from multiple sources like X posts and YouTube.
All said and done, I don’t see any easy way out of this mess for India. Sooner or later, we WILL see blood spilled – In our lands and beyond. Thankfully, Operation Sindoor saw mostly only Pakistani blood spilled, but don’t let that fool you. The next round will be far bloodier.
Sooner or later, we will be left with no option but to bite the bullet. I say this as a lay person with access to only open source info. The Govt has access to not only far greater information but also far greater resources. I shall wait to see what they do, or don’t do.
But when the dust settles, I would not only want to see atleast ‘some’ land getting added to the Union of India, but also atleast the East Pakistani Army cut down to a size of not more than 30,000.
Let us see the motto of the Bangladesh Army to see what they want to use those 1,60,000 troops for. The motto says: In War, In Peace, We are everywhere for our Nation.
A very impressive motto, I must say. Kudos to whoever came up with it!
So blinded are they in their hatred for imagined Indian hegemony that they even forget the brutal rapes that their ‘found-again’ best friends inflicted upon their mothers & grandmothers We all know what happens to those who forget their own history, right?
Talking about history, I wrote this just a few days after the Aug 2024 ‘revolution’ in East Pakistan. Slow and steady turn the wheels of history. The lands of Mahishasur Mardini Mata demand more blood. That is the only way to cleanse this scourge, I’d say.
I will start by saying that If you STILL cannot hear the drums of war, you must be deaf indeed! The wheels of history seem to be moving with increasing urgency lately, getting greased with more and more blood. Sad, as it may be, it is just history repeating itself.
Osman Hadi was just an excuse. I don’t care who killed him. For all we know, it was West Pakistan that got him killed just to sow chaos along India’s Eastern Borders. Or just a jealous girlfriend. And if it was Indian agencies, well, Boo .. Fucking .. Hoo to the bleeding hearts.
But regardless, fact remains that India continues to be a benevolent giant next door to most of its neighbours. It is in East Pakistan’s favour that things go back to as they were. Else, they might just unleash a genie that will eat them up and not even burp.
As far as West Pakistan goes, well, they have already had a taste of things throughout their history right from 27 Oct 1947 all the way till May 2025. THAT is the reason why they are now looking to sacrifice East Pakistan all over again, just so that their part of Punjab is safe.
I don’t foresee Yunus in power beyond March 2026. In any case, there will be no elections in East Pakistan in the foreseeable future. So whosoever comes to power next will do so either at the point of a gun or thru street power or both. This will NOT end well for the country.
All I can say in the end is that history has indeed come a full circle for East and West Pakistan. But remember, it ended with a massive orgy or rapes and killings in East Pakistan and utter humiliation for West Pakistan. Dare I say, it is headed much the same way all over again.
I will close this thread with my favourite phrase : ‘Brace Yourselves, Folks!’ The coming weeks & months won’t be easy. Remember, Sagar Manthan threw up ‘Vish’ before ‘Amrit’ came by. These days too are days of immense ‘Manthan’ the world over. Let’s wait and watch how they go!!
In the end, I will just add the past few Blogs on East Pakistan that I wrote since Aug 2024.
(This chain of thoughts was first shared on Twitter on 14 Dec 2025)
Finally watched the movie late last night. Sharing some thoughts on it. At the outset, a hearty ‘Well Done’ to @AdityaDharFilms, @AdityaRajKaul, @RanveerOfficial, @ActorMadhavan, @yamigautam and all others associated with the film. It is indeed a MUST WATCH.
Before anything else, I’ll share this recording from 26/11 Terror Attack which was uploaded to Youtube by @shiv_cybersurg. If u think the Red Screen in #Dhurandhar was shocking, you are sadly mistaken.
At 4:00, Woman: “Pl don’t kill me” Then AK-47 shots 👇
And if you think the scenes of ecstasy in the ‘Control Room’ in Karachi as shown in the movie were exaggerated, then there is a white coloured building in Agra that I am willing to sell to you at a massive discount.
Coming on to the movie as such, it was indeed a treat to watch and that too with the Missus and both kids. Then entire hall was engrossed in the movie. The best part, bulk of the crowd was from a generation that would have been kids at the time of Kandahar Hijack and 26/11.
That it had an impact on them was quite apparent during the intermission and at the end of the movie. The conversations amongst the movie goers were almost like whispers and the tone suggested that they were shocked at what they had seen.
Yes, SHOCKED. Why I say so, you asked? Well, because for one, they have never been told about Pakistan in its true colours. As told to most of them, Pakistan is just another country with some misguided terrorists who keep on attacking India. And of course, a large number of sincere & good-hearted ISI personnel who are working tirelessly to prevent those terrorists from harming us! Well, isn’t that what most of the Bollywood ‘Spy-Thrillers’ of the past few decades have been showing: Good Pakistanis fighting with Good Indians against Bad Indians?
Of course, none of them would dare to show this part of the actual Pakistan to us hoi-polloi. Because that would go against their ethos .. of sleeping with the enemy. Because .. maybe .. they want to CONTROL what we think of Pakistan perhaps?
Here is a Paaki comedy show where the word 'Hindu Kutta' not only comes out matter of factly but also elicits a wholehearted laughter from the audience. Once again, DO WATCH this 15 second video before moving ahead pic.twitter.com/lx8nEOnxIz
No wonder some of them are so upset at not just the fact that #Dhurandhar is doing very well in theatres, but the very fact that someone DARED to make such a movie in the first place! Thankfully, their opinions only matter in their own echo-chambers and not in the real world!
They are quick to critique. And they are equally quick to run away when their own critiques get critiqued! You see, they are only willing to criticize, because well .. it is their job! But when they start receiving honest feedbacks, they hide their critiques and run away!
And then they bring out the highly important sounding ‘Guilds’ to sermonize! What is left unsaid is the fact that these ‘VERY IMPORTANT’ Guilds are, in fact, they themselves!
BREAKING: Critics Guild Headed By Critic Anupama Chopra Condemns Criticism Of Anupama Chopra In Response To Her Criticism Of Dhurandhar
What is also left unsaid is the fact that they belong to an ecosystem which seeks not just money but also love from Pakistan. Yes, the same Pakistan that would gladly call them Kaafirs, take their money and not blink an eye before taking their very lives.
A Ghulam Ali, talented as he might be, making money off you and me, will pump most of it in Pakistani economy, ultimately putting it to use to kill my countrymen. Of course, he will keep calling you and me Kafirs and yet, lust after our money.https://t.co/gDBbpDKOXMpic.twitter.com/MjmUBuH5tR
But then, so blinded are some people that they are willing to even stake their very reputations on something as absurd and as idiotic as ‘Human Rights for Terrorists’
Of course, they being ‘blind to the obvious’ is a very charitable explanation, because I do get the feeling that atleast a few of them are in fact, actually rooting for the other side even as they live and thrive within our borders.
Before moving ahead, I will also leave this tweet here. Make of it whatever you will.
Coming back to the movie as such. Much of what Aditya Dhar has shown in the film is actually open source knowledge, provided you were actually open to seeking it. This includes the Kandahar Hijack, the FICN racket including the dyes and paper for Indian currency notes and even 26/11. What has been shown in the movie is Pakistan in all its ‘glory’ wherein even sworn enemies unite when it comes to harm India. There is no fiction in it, mind you. TTP had promised to halt ops against Pak Army and fight WITH them in case of a war against India.
Still don’t believe me? Well, let me offer you a photo of a former Chief of ISI sitting at the feet of Hafiz Saeed, head of Lashkar ‘e Taiba at a rally called for ‘Difa e Pakistan’, i.e. Defence of Pakistan. Yes, terrorists are just Paaki soldiers in mufti.
Refer a couple of tweets above. Here's the same Hamid Gul, who used to be the top man of the ISI of Terroristan, sharing the stage with 'world famous' terror leaders, including Hafiz Saeed of the Lashkar 'e Taiba that executed the 26/11 Mumbai Attacks pic.twitter.com/pwDZP7xL89
This is the part of the thread where I once again offer kudos to the #Dhurandhar team, including @AdityaRajKaul, for the brilliant research done by them. I would specifically mention the getup of the ISI guy played by @rampalarjun who is unmistakably modelled after Ilyas Kashmiri.
For those who don’t know who Ilyas Kashmiri was, here is his wikipedia page : Ilyas Kashmiri Wikipedia. Do browse this a bit before moving ahead.
In case you missed it above, he was personally felicitated and rewarded by Musharraf for bringing the severed head of an Indian soldier as a gift for him. What is to be noted is not the mutilation, but the fact that he had access to Musharraf himself.
6 Btw, it was the same Musharraf who had PUBLICLY felicitated terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri for bringing the head of an Indian Army soldier from the LoC not very long ago. It was the same Musharraf who has been repeatedly humiliated by the Indian Armyhttps://t.co/h8qFJrF2VA
Coming back to 26/11, only an idiot would refuse to see that it was done by the govt of Pakistan. High-ranking Pakistanis themselves have acknowledged this. But some bleeding heart bastards here still cry at the ‘unfair’ depiction of Pakistan in the film!
Former caretaker CM of Paaki Punjab unabashedly saying that the Paaki Security Establishment did 26/11. Plus the remarks on nuke strike at 2:00. Don't Miss.#MumbaiTerrorAttackpic.twitter.com/lJx1Xl0eTK
The gore and violence depicted in the movie has very rightfully earned it an ‘A’ Certificate from the CBFC, but then, I doubt it would have come as a surprise to the makers. Dare I say, the violence depicted in the movie was actually necessary, thanks to its very theme.
However, what is amusing to note is that it caused atleast one adult-age actress to feel so threatened that she is now scared to have babies in this country. Well, it is purely her choice, I’d say, just like the kind of movies she chooses to do. However, I would definitely say this 👇 to her & to all others who are HORRIFIED by the violence depicted in the movie. My message to them is fairly summed up in the tweet quoted below. Violence is as old as human history, whether or not you like it. Period.
Fact is that we need MANY MORE such movies – Movies that don’t shy away from showing reality without need to sugarcoat it in any way, or add typical commercial ‘formula’ of song and dance. The audience is changing. Film-makers who refuse to see that will soon become irrelevant.
What I wrote above is not merely an opinion. It is, in fact, borne by the fact that people are actually spending money to watch #Dhurandhar. So much so that almost all shows are running houseful. I myself was lucky to get tickets yesterday!
BTW, if you noticed in the screenshot above, two of the three highest grossing films of the year 2025 are those that gave immense pain to a LOT of folks of that subscribe to a particular way of thinking. It only goes on to show their growing irrelevance in the larger scheme of things.
This is what I wrote after watching #Chhaava, btw. #Chhaava and #Dhurandhar remain the only two films that I have watched in a theatre this year.
Do read the blog post linked in the paragraph above about how Bollywood has been a tool for influencing minds & thoughts. There is nothing wrong in it, mind you. But for far too long, far too much content was influencing minds & thoughts in a wrong direction.
Main Hoon Na Badal Chakravhuya Dhokha Khakee Kurbaan New York My Name is Khan Parzania Firaq Diljale
As far as those who are aghast at negative portrayal of Pakistan in #Dhurandhar go, I am yet to see them provide any specific instances of what is wrongly depicted about Pakistan.
For them I have a simple advice:
Step 1 : Take a Deep Breath Step 2: Now hold it for 2611 seconds!
As I wrap up this chain of thoughts, I will paraphrase a dialogue that the character of Mr Sanyal as played by @actormadhavan says in the movie: “The beauty about time is that it changes”
THAT hits the nail on the head, IMO. Time is cyclic. So is the cycle of Karma.
Here I will talk about Javed Khanani and the really authentic-looking FICN printing that went on in Pakistan, apparently with help from many of our own. Firstly, once again, the actor playing Javed Khanani bore as much resemblance to the actual bastard as was possible.
Unsurprisingly, he ‘committed suicide’ less than a month after India announced Demonetisation! Very convenient, no?
Fact is that even though Demonetisation was a bitter pill, it still had to be taken by us all because there was no other way to STOP the high-quality FICN printing presses of Pakistan. Here’s a report from India Today : Pakistan officially printing fake Indian currency notes. Last para just about sums it all up.
Here’s one more report about FICN ops by Pakistan. The bastards were even using Diplomatic channels to smuggle FICN into India. Just like they smuggled weapons on board the IC-814 in Kathmandu, btw. Google it if not aware.
Manufacturing fake Indian currency – yet another major industry of Pakistanhttp://t.co/cnVxgN64
Here is one more resource on the impact of Demonetisation. The ‘suicide’ by Khanani was just a small part of the actual impact on Pakistan terror machinery in particular, and their worthless economy in general. Do watch this video in the tweet below if you have time!
As I conclude this chain of thoughts, all I will say, even if at the cost of repetition, is that there are a thousand such stories that remain untold due to various factors. These are the very history of our Nation & deserve to be told so that we don’t suffer over and over again.
Here is a short thread I had written on the topic some months ago. Must go thru it. It is quite doable. And I am glad to note that it is already happening in some respects, both by the film industry as well as by the NCERT. Need to be unabashed in doing so.
:Thread: This tweet below had landed up on my TL some months ago. So here's a thread on the need to tell the stories of our heroes to our kids as part of their school curriculum. This is a thought that has been on my mind for a while now. Jotted some random thoughts. Here goes .. https://t.co/2P8kkpzvfL
As far as the bleeding-heart liberals and their really genuine tears about the well-being of Pakistan goes, all I will say is ‘Cry some more!’. Especially since atleast one of the perpetrators of today’s terror attack in Australia seems to be a Pakistani : Link
(Disclaimer: Apparently, he was not a Pakistani. Instead he was an Indian from Australia whose son (i.e. the other attacker) had his driver’s license photo taken wearing the jersey of Pakistan Cricket Team)
In the end, I will just leave a couple of tweets on the issue of #Dhurandhar that deserve to be seen far and wide. This one echoes my sentiments perfectly. Now they cry as they are aggressively sidelined.
Much as we have ignored it for too long, the Mughal‑e‑Azam fantasy is embedded deep within a section of our society, thanks to Bollywood’s slow braise of adaab, tehzeeb, qawwalis, nazakat, poetry, and wispy shararas that it even continued seamlessly into Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s…
This one about how #Dhurandhar is actually being celebrated .. not just for the fact that it is an excellent and watchable movie, but also for the fact that it has caused severe heartburns in many columns.
You know what’s the most fascinating thing about Dhurandhar? Log isse movie ki tarah nahi dekh rahe… challenge ki tarah dekh rahe hain. Defiance mein jaa rahe hain. Ekdum prove-a-point attitude ke saath….. 🤷♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷♀️ Aisa lag raha hai ki audience bol rahi…
Heck, even as some on our own side are crying about the true depiction of Pakistan in #Dhurandhar, Pakistanis themselves are thrilled at seeing their shithole of a country being the setting for an Indian film!
I will also add this thread here that talks about films and influence operations.
Some thoughts on Cinema & The shaping of minds Cinema is one of the most powerful methods of communication. Correct storytelling is a subtle to obvious method of creating narratives. Cinema is also a great soft power projection tool.
In the end, all I’ll say is that #Dhurandhar is a really really well made movie and a MUST WATCH, especially for the younger generation. I look fwd to the next part. Hoping to see Khanani get ‘suicided’ in that one! And I will leave thistweet here!
(This chain of thoughts was first shared on Twitter on 23rd October 2025.)
Btw, yesterday marked six months since the #PahalgamTerrorAttack. The world in general and the Indian neighbourhood in particular, has seen drastic changes since then. Yet, one thing remains constant – The terror factory nurtured by the Brown Panted Ones of Pakistan.
It is a fair assumption that the tight slaps administered during Op Sindoor have caused much discomfort to the Brown Panted Ones. Their intense sucking up to the Americans and the Defence Pact with Saudi Arabia is to be seen in this light.
That India would react militarily to Pahalgam would have been rightly assumed by Pakistani security establishment. Dare I say, they might even have been counting on it, because nothing unites that country like the ‘greatest’ enemy – India.
Of course, as always, what those idiots hadn’t counted upon was the sheer ferocity of Indian response, starting from the withholding of the Indus Water Treaty, right upto the death and destruction over Bahawalpur and other terror HQs.
This time, collateral damage too, seemed acceptable to Indian planners, though they still tried their best to minimize it by timing the initial strikes in the middle of the night.
Pakistani bluff was called out yet again.
And they had nowhere to run.
Of course, they just had to respond. This was no surprise. Too much loss of face would ensue otherwise.
So the Pakistanis launched retaliatory strikes, with spectacular failure to achieve anything worthwhile.
In fact, Majority of Indian casualties resulted from Pakistani shelling of civilian areas in Kashmir.
And then they lost nearly a dozen airbases to Indian retaliation. As always, their DGMO begged for a ceasefire and was granted one.
And .. as always .. Pakistanis went to town celebrating their latest and most ‘fantastic’ victory over their most evil enemy! Their awam too swallowed the bombastic claims hook, line & sinker. Going by them, majority of Indian defence establishments in North India were destroyed!
If this is what makes them happy, so be it. What makes me happy as well is the fact that even the Brown Panted Establishment, over time, starts believing their own propaganda and thus, set themselves up for yet another round of slaps from India, as always.
Propaganda is fine, but when you start believing your own lies is when a stalemate of 1965 turns into a rout of 1971! pic.twitter.com/WarLowTjZq
Meanwhile, Afghanistan too let off some steam across the Durand Line.
Once again, so fantastic was the Pakistani ‘victory’ that they had to agree for mediation by Qatar to get the Taliban to agree for a ceasefire.
Even in ‘victory’, they couldn’t convince the ‘losers’ of Taliban to agree to a bilateral ceasefire.
And somewhere in this duration, the total number of dead of Pakistani security forces crossed the 1,000 mark even before India celebrated Diwali.
Some victory, this!
Btw, the ‘Attack on Pakistan will be considered as an attack on Saudi Arabia’ clause of the much celebrated defence pact never went into action as the Taliban brutally and systematically depanted the Brown Panted Ones!
Talking about de-panting, I’ll just leave this tweet here before moving on with this chain of thoughts!
Glad to note that the phrase 'De-panting' of the Brown Panted Ones is gaining more and more traction! I hereby claim copyright for both these phrases in perpetuity! 😂🙏 pic.twitter.com/Y0G0l38Q9Y
Meanwhile, the Brown Panted Ones & their democratically elected puppets were going ‘Kabhi Haan Kabhi Na’ on their fantastic contributions to the Gaza Peace plan. What they achieved was getting their PM treated like a servant by Trump and called upon to publicly grovel before him!
Btw, Don’t miss that disgusted expression on the face ot the Italian Prime Minister in the video above.
Also don’t miss the slimy smile on the face of the Bhikharistani Prime Minister in this video below!
Meanwhile TLP continues to burn Pakistan in protest of the same Gaza Peace Plan that Shehbaz Sharif so proudly endorses with President Trump.
So where do we go from here?
Well, expect yet more provocation from Bhikharistan, either directly or indirectly, possibly even from the direction of Bangladesh. Why I say this? Because a snake just cannot NOT bite, regardless of the consequences.
The only thing holding them back is the uncertainty over the likely Indian response. The Brown Panted One might consider themselves to be ‘warriors’, but at the end of the day, they also want to stay alive.
And during Op Sindoor, Indian missiles landed far too close to them.
Recent statements from highest echelons of Indian Govt, right from Prime Minister to the Chiefs have been greatly indicative of even more death and destruction in Pakistan during the next round. In fact, they seem even be daring Pakistan to do something!
Here’s a chain of thoughts shared on that some weeks ago :
:Thread: Glad I didn't write on this topic last Sunday as originally planned, because a LOT has happened since. Sharing my thoughts on what might happen in the coming months. Let's see how it goes .. https://t.co/FnxFzXLy7W
And knowing Pakistan, they will soon give us another chance to do what needs to be done.
All I will say is Brace Yourselves, Folks, for this time it will be bloodier, including for own side. All that remains to be seen is the how, when and where of it.
This chain of thoughts was shared on Twitter / X on 10-11 Oct, just before the Afghan-Pakistan border heated up.
Army Chief said it as bluntly as it can be said :
Do watch the one-minute long video of the Chief addressing his troops before moving ahead. Do note the key words that he mentions.
Now the reason this short clip of the Army Chief piqued my interest was the fact that he wasn’t the first one or the only one from the highest echelons speaking thus. In fact, the first such instance was Prime Minister himself when he promised the Navy their dues in next round!
What has followed since are similar statements: EAM : PoK is an integral part of India and will return to India. CAS : Manohar Kahaniyan (Don’t miss the part about planning for next round!) And Raksha Mantri : Road to Karachi goes via Sir Creek.
Here are the videos :-
Feel free to disagree but IMO, this is as good an announcement of what has already been planned for the inevitable next round as and when it happens. When does it happen, is something only the ‘powers that be’ would be privy to. All I can guess is that it is a matter of mere months.
And dare I say, the Brown Panted Ones too have gotten the message.
Of course they had to reply.
And reply they did .. in impeccable English & near-perfect grammar.
However, they were still not done patting themselves on their backs when the bleddy Indians outed their FANTASTIC trick!
Talking about impeccable English, they have indeed come really far since this fiasco of March 2022 when they ‘won’ a similar engagement against the Indian Brahmos launched at them mistakenly!
With a silent pat on his own bumpy, the current Propagandu-in-Chief went about drafting a new outraged message to India. WE WANTS A JOINT PROBES, his staff drafted. He did a facepalm, corrected the grammar and issued the grammatically correct statement – WE WANTS JOINT PROBES!
Of course the alacrity with which the Bhikharistanis acted to secure moral and diplomatic support for their otherwise bankrupt country and its Brown Panted Aand Forces was yet another giveaway of the very real anxiety.
Let me plug here a couple of ‘candid’ photographs of Shri Field Marshal Saheb with Shri Nobel Aspirant Ji during his recent visit to the US of A! The first one is what he wanted to be seen as doing. The second one is what he actually did over there!
Btw, this is the same Donald Ji who is now their latest Baap!
Truly made for each other – Bhikharistan and Amreeka!
‘We have rare earths‘, said the Brown Pants Chief to POTUS Ji during that meeting. Seeing the orange head bob up & down in excitement, the Brown Panted One continued .. ‘So rare are they Janab, that even our old Abbu, the Chinese were not able to find them!‘ ‘In fact we too are still searching Ji‘
They offered not just a shipment of tonnes of ore to Amreeka, but also a whole new port at Pasni to do that. Of course, the Amreekis would be expected to develop that port by their own money because .. well .. BHIKHARISTAN doesn’t have any!
‘So happy is our Dearest Newest Pitaji that they are also supplying us the latest AMRAAM Missiles’, said the Brown Panted Ones to their awam that was still lining up for free atta!
‘NOW let us see how ‘Endia’ will administer the next slap in Sindoor 2′, they crowed to themselves!
However, the next slap started not with a fresh volley of Brahmos Missiles, but with a tweet by the Indian Prime Minister to his friend President Trump, congratulating him on the Gaza Peace Plan!
Incidentally it was the same ‘Peace Plan’ for which Bhikharistanis were patting themselves on their backs for their ‘immense’ contributions! Even POTUS thanked them.
Ironically when ppl saw their ‘immense’ contributions & questioned them, they were quick to run away .. as always!
America has betrayed us .. AGAIN, they cried!! And as if to prove them right, the same day the US Embassy in India let out a statement that there was never any question of providing any missiles to the Bhikharistani Aand Forces!
Btw, talking about the Brown Panted Ones, here is a really inspirational story about how they fought in Erstwhile East Pakistan in 1971, in the words of one of their own! Not to be missed!
Btw, Here’s the report citing the proposal by Shri Asmi Munir’s advisors about the wonderful ‘once in a lifetime’ proposal to the US to come and sit in Pasni!
Believe what you want to, but all I will say is that it is par for the course for Bhikharistan!
What I personally believe is that the most valourous Brown Panted Ones are desperate for an American military presence in Bhikharistan in order to use that as a leverage / insurance against the inevitable next round of slaps from Indian Armed Forces, this time including the Navy!
Why else would they want yet another port for purely commercial purposes when Karachi and the much vaunted Gwadar are already available fairly close to each other in any case?
Food for thought, right?
Then came the latest blow to Bhikharistan .. it actually commenced with PAF striking Afghanistan, including Kabul in response to ‘terror’ emanating from Afghanistan!
If ever there was a back-handed endorsement of the Balakot Airstrikes of 2019 and Op Sindoor Airstrikes of 2025, it was this!
Of course, shortly thereafter landed the Foreign Minister of Afghanistan in India for a SEVEN day official visit!
Bhikharistanis went crazy with indignation!
HOW DARE, HAINJI?, they shouted!
You see, Afghanistan was supposed to be Bhikharistan’s ‘strategic depth’!
India is engaging with Taliban, some from Bhikharistan shouted. Upon hearing this, Irony tied a suicide vest to itself and exploded in the middle of Durand Line out of sheer disgust!
Why, u asked?
Well, because Pakistan was one of the only three countries that had formally recognised Taliban before 9/11!
Of course, the moment USA said ‘With Us or Against Us’ & threatened to bomb Pakistan back to stone age, they promptly handed over Taliban Ambassador to Pakistan, Abdul Salam Zaeef, to USA who then equally promptly, put him up in Gitmo! This is what he says about Bhikharistan, btw 👇
Btw, the Pakistani role in global terrorism in general and the 9/11 attacks in particular has never truly been explored, atleast publicly. Do go thru this thread on that topic. I insist!
Of course when Shri Ramzi Yousef above failed to bring down the twin towers, his uncle and fellow Packie, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ended up masterminding the 9/11 attacks! Yup, give them free access to your lands, you infidels! pic.twitter.com/w1L2lcjccn
Bottomline: Pakistan has played this duplicitous game for far too long. Their chickens are finally coming home to roost. However, just like a scorpion cannot NOT sting, so it is with Pakistan as well. They will never back down from using terror as a state policy.
It continues even as I write this thread.
But for the time being, let us come back to the issue of the Taliban Foreign Minister’s visit to India.
I would say that it is partly a result of the FANTASTIC pact with Saudi Arabia thru which the idiots of Pindi have, in all probability, forced Iran & Afghanistan to come together for the sake of their own security wrt Pakistan.
Feel free to disagree, but I shall hold on to this thought.
Btw, an interesting aspect about Afghanistan – Pakistan relationship is that even at its weakest & while under the thumbs of the Pakistani State, Afghanistan still did not recognize the Durand Line as its border with Pakistan. The Pashtuns even did this 👇
That said, the IEA Foreign Minister’s visit to India is not just a living proof of the Raj Mandala Theory of Acharya Chanakya, but also a manifestation of really warm linkages with the Afghans and the goodwill that India has traditionally enjoyed in Afghanistan.
As the weeks & months progress, Afghanistan will move from being a strategic depth for Pakistan to being a strategic nightmare! In a way, it has already commenced, notwithstanding these delusional fools that supposedly represent the BEST online Paaki defence experts!
Strategic Depth Explained:
Churchill – We will fight on the beaches, on the seas, in the oceans etc etc
Major General Titanium of @defence_pk – We shall run away from Lahore, we shall run away from Islamabad. We shall run away to Afghanistan!!
Remember those wildly cheering Bhikharistanis as they celebrated the withdrawal of USA from Afghanistan some years ago? No? Well here is a quick snapshot to refresh you!
Incidentally, this former ISI Chief, drinking the Fantastic Tea, is now removed and under court martial!
Those cheers at having defeated USA, are rapidly turning into howls of pain as the Pashtuns rise once again to reclaim their lands east of the Durand Line. Whether or not they succeed, is not a matter of concern to me personally. What matters is that PA continues to bleed.
And this is what I wrote on the issue of ‘Strategic Depth’ about a decade ago.
To that end, I'd rather say that Afghanistan is indeed a strategic depth .. but for India! Yup, feel free to read that again. An Afg that sucks in Packie energies and resources is always good for us. It will continue to be so for atleast another year or so, if not more.
If the Afg Foreign Minister is here in India on a SEVEN-DAY long official visit, one can only imagine the kind of unofficial engagements that would have been going on between India and Afghanistan.
And then there is this 👇 as well!
Add to that this V.E.R.Y interesting choice of words by the Indian Foreign Minister who calls Afghanistan a CONTIGUOUS Neighbour! Is that really so? Currently, no. In future .. who knows! All I’ll say is that at such levels of GOI, each and every word is very well measured.
It would be thus a fair assumption, IMO, that Afg will open up on Durand Line/KPK whenever the next round of pounding of Pakistan from India starts. This time they won’t be just able to move their forces from their Western Borders towards India .. definitely not via Jaffar Express!
As I close this thread, I shall attempt to answer a question that some folks might have – ‘Should We Feel Sorry for Pakistan?’ Answer is a BIG NO! They have made their bed. They might as well sleep in it now. In case anyone feels sorry for them, they too are free to join them there.
Why do I say so, you asked? Well, because a stable Pakistan will only seek to cause harm to India .. to You .. and to Me. It is in their very upbringing. And this is why they are so frustrated .. because they are dying at the hands of Afghans instead of being able to kill Indians.
To them, India will ALWAYS be an enemy, including the dumb Indians who are actually sympathetic to Pakistan as well.
THIS is what they teach their kids in schools.
Must see this and then form your own opinion.
We talk about madrassas as incubators of hate, right? Well, here is what the state sanctioned school curriculum teaches little children in Pakistan. These are a couple screenshots from the blog post linked in previous tweet. pic.twitter.com/5uSAlGbYEc
In a fitting case of Karma, while India hosts the guest from Afghanistan, this is what Bhikharistan is going through. The very snakes that they reared to use against India are now threatening to swallow Pakistan itself.
More power to them, I’d say!
I still remember our own folks wallowing in self-pity when the US had withdrawn from Afghanistan earlier this decade. To them, all that I will say is that ‘Wheels of History Keep Moving .. slowly but steadily. However, they do need blood .. a LOT of it.’
All I will say, folks, is to BRACE YOURSELVES as we head out towards even more ‘exciting’ days up ahead. The next round is inevitable and SOON. How and when it starts is the only thing that needs to be seen.
(Note: This chain of thoughts was initially shared on Twitter / X on 08 Oct 2025)
Folks, yesterday was the second anniversary of the largest ever terror attack by Hamas on Israel. Sharing some thoughts on how things have panned out since then. Before moving ahead, I will leave this short thread chronicling some of the worst atrocities visited upon the citizens of Israel by Hamas on 07 Oct 2023, that led to this latest conflagration:
The world has moved a great deal in the last two years since the first Hamas terrorist crossed the border into Israel. This is what I had written on the day of the attack. A LOT of blood – other than Israeli or Palestinian – has already flowed since then.
And of course, a LOT of collateral damage within Gaza itself. You would be an idiot if you thought that such actions by Hamas wouldn’t lead to collateral damage. But where they went wrong, IMO, is at the sheer scale of it all.
Israel has seen far worse in 1973 during the Yom Kippur War when so many combined Arab armies attacked them out of the blue. It was the closest that the Arabs ever came to wiping Israel off the map of the world. Yet, they failed.
Why?
Because Israel had nowhere else to go. Period
Btw, here is a chain of thoughts on Yom Kippur War too. What changed since this is that Assad of Syria too is no longer in power. The ONLY winner in this along with Israel was Egypt .. because they combined military power with pragmatic political process.
1/10 Today is 51st anniversary of what must be one of the most audacious attacks that saw Egyptians cross Suez and return to Sinai! And this, barely 6 yrs after a humiliating rout. What a campaign it was! Sharing some thoughts on the #YomKippurWar in the succeeding tweets ..
Coming back to Gaza, what has happened over the past two years is that Israel has (rightly) visited extreme violence upon Hamas, not just in Gaza but going upto Qatar as well. What went along with that was the brilliant and devastating Pager attacks on Hezbollah too.
Bottomline : Israel did whatever it could to secure itself all over again.
I would say this was not just a result of a course correction after the events of 07 Oct 2023, but also due to the planning and preparations that go on 24/7/365 regardless of internal politics of Israel.
As I mentioned earlier, Israel has nowhere else to go. They have absolutely no choice but to meet violence with even more violence. It is a matter of their very survival as a civilization. Hence, I personally was not the least bit surprised at what they have achieved since 07 Oct.
Talking about civilization, I will also replug this tweet that was posted on the day of the 07 Oct attacks. While it may be a HUGE event in our lifetimes, later generations will only see it as a couple of pages in their history books.
However, where this particular series of events has been different, is the way the Loonie Left have sought to run away with the narrative of ‘disproportionate’ Israeli retaliation on the ‘innocent’ Gazans.
Of course, when 07 Oct is mentioned, they either deny or shift goalposts!
We have seen rabid protests against Israel, particularly in educational institutions and media, mostly without factual basis. A prime example is this absolutely fake story published by NYT.
The carefully cultivated ecosystem of misinformation and propaganda warfare that had been so successful in so many ‘colour revolutions’ finally came home to the US and Europe as well.
Heck, even the UNRWA chose to delete tweets that showed Hamas in their true colours!
However, the idiots forgot one thing – A lie may run fast, but it can never run far! This little video and remarks at the end – ‘You’re a fucking idiot’– just about sums it up.
A lot more water has flown down the Jordan River since 07 Oct 2023. The amount of bloodshed that the world has seen since then is also indicative of not just the times that we are living in, but also the times that await us. Let me delve on that a bit more.
Ukraine, Iran, Qatar, Lebanon, Yemen, Pakistan, India have seen bloodshed by state actors in various forms.
Western Europe and USA too are suffering from rapidly increasing instances of violence, thanks to their own policies and politics of the past so many years.
All in all, I can only foresee even more increasing levels of violence in the years to come, as the world heads towards a major reset in the distribution of power. On that note, ‘Clash of Civilizations’ is a good book to read now.
The more you see the world today, the more it seems that Huntington was right after all!#JustSaying
As the balance of power inevitably shifts from the West to the East, we will only see more bloodshed.
All I can at this point in time is that these are really ‘interesting’ times indeed, and far more ‘interesting’ days await us.
Sad as the loss of life & limb may be, but I am of the firm opinion that this latest Hamas-Israel conflict will ultimately prove only to be one of the many theatres that would see death & destruction before the dust finally settles I still stand by this :
If we are lucky enough to live till the end of the next decade, we will in all probability, die in a world that is vastly different from the one that we were born in. Whether it will be 'good different' or 'bad different', remains to be seen.#JustSayinghttps://t.co/Ogp7OxlbBR
One thing that I would say worked in Israel’s favour was the US Presidential Election result of 2024. However, I am sure even they would be aware that the pendulum may yet swing the other way in future & an even more challenging administration may yet come to power in Washington.
Thus, it wouldn’t be wrong to hypothesize that Israel too would want to see an end to the current war before that happens. The only thing pending thus far is the release of the hostages by Hamas, who, I’d say are not too keen on doing it due to two factors – Leverage, and .. well .. EGO.
Handing over of the remaining hostages under the intense military pressure of Israel will only be seen as a loss of face for an entity in a culture that sees it as the ultimate humiliation.
That said, they might still do it under the threat of their very lives.
But I’ll hold on to my opinion till the time it actually happens. BTW, I hope folks are aware that Hamas are actually the OFFICIALLY ELECTED representatives of Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. They came to power with a lot of public support. Small wonder then, that there was so much jubilation inside Gaza by all men, women and children as their ‘heroes’ brought back hostage after hostage from Israel on 07 Oct 2023. And when the inevitable bombs and bullets came, they cried GENOCIDE!
Yup. They started this ‘war’ with great cheer and fervour and undid all progress that had been achieved in Gaza over the past few decades.
Why?
Because, they want to eliminate the State of Israel from the world map and that includes each and every Israeli as well. With help of the Loonie Leftist cheerleaders, they have made this into a zero-sum game without having the hard power to actually do anything to withstand the relentless pounding from Israel that they are getting day in and day out.
Why I call them Loonies, you ask?
Here’s why :
However, the alarming thing is that these clueless, brainwashed idiots are far too many in numbers and will only grow over the years, thereby adding yet more layers of challenge to the already fucked up situation in Palestine / Israel. Thus, it is quite logical to assume that Israel would consider it imperative to make tangible gains and create an irreversibly favourable situation on ground before these folks grow and attain a critical mass in terms of political power.
So where do we go from here?
Well, all I can say is .. More Bloodshed, and that too in many more parts of the world.
It is just a sign of times that we are currently living in. The Leftist Brigade may be idiots, but they are unabashed in their pursuits.
Time is running out fast. At the cost of repetition I’ll say that all we can do is to ‘Brace Ourselves’ for what is to come .. much sooner than we think. The world is only going to get crazier, brief respites from violence notwithstanding.
All I'll say as I end this thread, folks, is 'BRACE YOURSELVES'!
It is blood which moves the wheels of history.. Given the current situation, I bet the wheels are moving faster and faster each passing day.
Thanks for your patience. I think I will end this thread here 🙏
In the end, I’ll just leave this chain of thoughts here. I tweeted these a day after the 07 Oct 2023 attacks, i.e. exactly two years before today’s date. Dare I say, nothing has changed since that day. Do go thru it.
:Thread: Folks, sharing some thoughts about the ongoing events in Israel. Let's see how this thread goes ..
Folks, sharing some thoughts on recent and current events in near and far neighbourhood. A lot of thoughts entangled in a web .. let me see how it goes
This report from some days ago is a good start point: US Centcom Chief very enthusiastically licking Pakistan’s unwashed backside!
🔴"Pakistan is a phenomenal counter terrorism partner"- US top General said.
Ironically, this came on the day #FBI chief Kash Patel announced that a Pakistani citizen (an ISIS terrorist involved in planning an attack against America) has been extradited to US. pic.twitter.com/9BmTS5BNt5
Whenever such a news comes by, the first thought that goes through one’s head is, what are they planning! In this case, it was quite obvious that Iran was the target, as events proved within days. But I will come to that in a while.
My first thoughts on hearing this latest wooing of Pakistan by the Americans were about the ‘confidence boost’ that Pakistan would get! Confidence boost to do what, you asked? Well, this 👇 is what I wrote in one of my DM Groups a couple of days ago.
I have good reason to believe what I wrote above. Parliament Attack, Kaluchak Attack, 26/11 .. they all happened under the cover of US Operations in Afghanistan wherein India had to hold back own military response due to American pressure. Why else would an Indian PM call for Aar-Paar Ki Ladai after the monstrosity perpetrated by Pakistan backed terrorists in Kaluchak, and yet not do anything?
Btw, do check out the time of the message in the screenshot above. The message was shared just minutes before the Air India Crash in Ahmedabad.
Mind you, I am NOT saying it is an act of sabotage / terror. But I did say this that evening on the same DM group 👇
Of course, the unfortunate Air India Crash may still turn out to be for reasons other than terror, but then with such Paaki sponsored terrorists saying on the record that they would target Air India flights does call for a tonne of skepticism.
But like I said .. it might just have been a terrible accident after all. Yet, knowing Pakistan, they may yet try something inside India, possibly even outside of J&K in order to test the limits of their new-found ‘friendship’ with America.
Hence the need to keep our powder dry.
Coming on to the attacks on Iran, let me start with quoting this 13 year old tweet here. In all probability, it was amongst the first few dozen tweets by me after creating this handle. Seems quite prescient now ..
"Would they have still attacked him if he had nuclear weapons?" – Ahmedinejad on Gaddafi
For Israel, it is an existential threat and hence, it came as no surprise when they launched their attacks on Iran. How that plays out is anybody’s guess. I don’t intend talking much about that in this thread. But then, this question still remains 👇
Just a random thought:
When and by whom will the world see the next nuclear test? (North Korea excepted!)#JustAsking
Really interesting times these, that we currently live in.
The KaalChakra grinds slowly but surely. Given the way the world is warring currently, all major powers except China and India are already directly involved, even if being geographically detached from physical violence like Europe and USA.
All I'll say as I end this thread, folks, is 'BRACE YOURSELVES'!
It is blood which moves the wheels of history.. Given the current situation, I bet the wheels are moving faster and faster each passing day.
Thanks for your patience. I think I will end this thread here 🙏
The wheels of history are moving faster and faster indeed. IMO, there is no running away from what awaits us over the coming few months and years. In our case as well, it is pertinent to note that Operation Sindoor has not yet been called off.
If we are lucky enough to live till the end of the next decade, we will in all probability, die in a world that is vastly different from the one that we were born in. Whether it will be 'good different' or 'bad different', remains to be seen.#JustSayinghttps://t.co/Ogp7OxlbBR
Coming back to our own neighbourhood, the imminent attack on Iran explains why Pakistan suddenly got a booster dose of alms through IMF / ADB etc right after Pahalgam Terror Attack / Op Sindoor. But what these bombastic idiots don’t realize is that these good days would not last long.
Long after the Americans are gone, the loans will continue to remain .. until they can whore themselves out all over again, that is!
Mind you, the CENTCOM Chief General Michael Kurilla, who talked so highly about Pakistan (see the beginning of this blog post) himself is a veteran of the US War in Afghanistan. He should be, in all probability, quite aware of the perfidious role of Pakistan in Op Enduring Freedom.
And just in case he might have missed out the sanctuary for Taliban across the Durand Line, the idiots of Pakistan spared no efforts in telling him and anyone else that was tuned in! This interview of a former ISI Chief is just one such example.
An Absolute MUST WATCH!
PS: Don’t miss the fawning applause from the highly impressed audience in the above video!
I think at this point it is important to highlight that Pakistanis are themselves ‘kafir’ to those who are not really big fans of the Islamic Bomb! Here is Netanyahu talking about it some years ago.
All in all .. the world is in a pretty fucked up situation right now.
And this is merely the beginning, I’d say. Much worse is yet to come as we move ahead.
Events that take decades to build up, suddenly happen in a matter of weeks. We are rapidly approaching that point now, IMO.
And where does that leave us in India, you asked? Well, our position with respect to Iran is still exactly the same as it was 13 years ago, for one!
On Iran. US : "Are you with us or against us?" India : "Yes." US : "Huh?" India : 🙂
Never mind the idiots in the US of A who are trying their best to piss off a large country in near neighbourhood of Iran / Israel .. a country that genuinely stands with Israel at that. Just because we don’t see Russia the same way as they do!
Btw, since Senator @LindseyGrahamSCJi was crying about legal advice on the use of force, here is what came to my mind. I am sure she will agree with me!
I agree. Legal advice on use of force is best sought from the USA who have been the pioneers in the use of legal force the world over! 🤣 https://t.co/HszHGZxji1
That said, ramblings of US Senators make no marked difference in India standing up for its own interests. It never has, even though at times we have been forced into inaction as mentioned in the beginning of this blog.
Coming closer to our borders, what I foresee is a Pakistan increasingly desperate at not getting waters from Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej at the time and in quantities they desire, as was the case till they perpetrated the Pahalgam Terror Attack. This is a far more dangerous situation for them than even what was handed over to them from 07-10 May 2025 via Op Sindoor. The cacophony on Indus Water Treaty never quite died down in Pakistan. Because they know the real implications of this.
When their crop yields drop, or fail altogether, then they will realize the true import of the heartfelt call by the great visionary ZA Bhutto when he said ‘We shall eat grass’. Sadly, he was hanged shortly thereafter, else he would have been happy to see his dream come true!
Water is one thing that can bring Pakistan to try desperate measures, including more terror provocations. Thankfully, they have mitigated it to some extent by hacking into our dams and controlling the release gates remotely!
Phew! The world is saved by Paaki Genius .. AGAIN!
All said and done, the only thing that can be said with reasonable amount of surety is that we are headed for even greater chaos in the world in the coming weeks and months.
I’m just waiting to see if America directly gets involved in the latest Israel-Iran spat. Because if they do, it will open up windows of opportunity / threats in many different geographies of the world to take decisive action in their own neighbourhoods as well.
By the time the dust settles on this cycle of destruction and regeneration, not only grass but a lot of giants too would have been trampled to death.
When 2 elephants fight, it's the grass that gets trampled Ukraine is just the latest pawn in the fight amongst superpowers .. a WILLING pawn I foresee no honourable way out of this for Ukraine. They would be lucky to just retain land they currently controlhttps://t.co/4kpowgv1rJ
Folks, sharing some thoughts on the recent statement by the CDS in Singapore regarding potential losses of IAF aircraft during Op Sindoor. Here goes ..
At the outset, I offer my heartiest congratulations to Paakis for their spectacular victory in Kargil where they brought down three IAF aircraft and for the even more FANTASTIC victory of 1971 wherein they shot down anywhere between 45 – 65 IAF aircraft! There’s a video as well!
In the same vein, I also offer my heartfelt commiserations to my fellow Indians who are beating their chests and doing R@ndi Rona about having lost Op Sindoor because IAF lost some aircraft!
Before moving ahead, I will offer a simple, two-step advice to such folks who cannot digest the loss in Op Sindoor. Here it is :
Step 1 : Take a deep breath.
Step 2 : Hold it for 29 minutes!
Must try it!
It will help you find eternal peace. Sachchi!
Moving on, never mind the death and destruction visited by the IAF and IA on Bhikharistan without any pity or remorse over the course of those 88 hours!
Never mind the utterly destroyed and humbled terror headquarters at Muridke and Bahawalpur!
Never mind the dead Squadron Leader Usman Yousuf of PAF who was actually killed in a road accident instead of the Brahmos Strike at Bholari where he was working on a Saab Erieye AEW&C platform of the PAF.
Never mind the explosions at Kirana Hill because IAF never knew about it and absolutely NEVER bombed it!
Never mind the fact that during Op Sindoor, IAF addressed dozens of targets as far as 300km inside Pakistan with possibly a hundred or so IAF aircraft in the air together at the same time while overwhelming PAF and PA air defences!
Never mind the fact that .. well .. never mind .. please keep minding all facts because the IAF lost some aircraft in doing so!
Also, never mind the fact that the CDS himself mentioned that lessons were learnt and IAF didn’t suffer a scratch thereafter!
Many years ago, during my Facebook days, I got an opportunity to be a ‘content writer’ for some months for a popular defence/geostrategy page with nearly a million followers. What I realized was that many of us have a habit of looking for a dark cloud behind every silver lining!
Just like we did when we overtook Japan to become the world’s fourth largest economy & idiots started breaking their bangles crying that our per capita GDP was still lower than Japan! Of course it was and it will continue to be for a long time! But our GDP still surpassed Japan and that too would remain a fact!
On that note, I will just leave this tweet here before moving on!
Bottomline is that what we achieved in those 88 or so hours in Operation Sindoor is something that all leading militaries of the world will be studying for a long long time. As far as Paakis and some folks within our own borders go, they can keep laughing/crying about IAF losses!
Their latest Field Marshal can keep orgasming over the beautiful photograph of the Chinese military exercise presented by him to that joker appointed as the Prime Minister of Bhikharistan by himself some years ago!
Why I call Shehbaz Sharif a joker, you asked? Well here is the reason 👇😂
A military that has lost each & every war that it has ever fought, cannot help but resort to lies and misinformation and in this case, bombast .. to keep itself relevant amongst its own people. Hence Paakis will keep on crowing about downed IAF aircraft while staying mum over this 👇
I have no issues with this. I, in fact, wish them many more such FANTASTIC victories over India in the days, weeks and months to come! Seriously!
May Allah keep granting such victories to Pakistan each and every time they engage with Indian armed forces! https://t.co/h7AxEPkupa
However, what gets me ‘amused’ is the sheer R@ndi Rona in some sections of my own people at loss of a few airframes! India can easily afford to make up for the loss of all airframes lost during Op Sindoor!
But as far as Bhikharistan goes .. well .. they will have to eat grass!
Mind you, we achieved all this without the Indian Navy having to fire even a single round!
Just imagine the next round when Karachi and Ormara and all such get bombed from the seas!
I didn’t say it .. my Raksha Mantri said so himself!
To conclude, I would say that I can live my life while accepting the loss of a couple of airframes, especially when the pilots are all fine!
As for those who are still beating their chests .. well .. Peace Be Upon You!
As far as Paakis go, it warms my heart to see them go ecstatic in their celebrations!
They did so in 1965 as well. Unfortunately, they lost half their country a mere six years later!
This is what happens when you start believing your own propaganda – a MASSIVE victory of 1965 turns into a rout in 1971! Magnificent Delusions indeed! https://t.co/XUhoC6owPJ
However, in their own eyes, they still DID NOT lose in 1971! Don’t believe me? Here is what a young child of Bhikharistan is taught in her school in Pakistan Studies .. she believes that Pakistan GIFTED independence to Bangladesh!
I say that such fools deserve to be cheered on!
And when they find taps in their airports running dry, they can go hunting for leaves from nearby trees .. because waters of Indus, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi and Sutlej will henceforth only flow into Pakistan as and when India desires!
Also, let us keep cheering their FANTASTIC victory in Feb 2019! What amuses me, however, is the fact that after such a FANTASTIC victory, they couldn’t do anything at all when India cancelled Article 370!
Might this 👇 have been the reason?
In the end, I will just leave this tweet here without any further comment! Yes, Paakis won and we lost!
ब्रह्म मुहूर्त में श्री ब्रह्मोस जी ने साक्षात दर्शन दे दिए भिखारिस्तान में! https://t.co/jHLyvC48wa
With the maturing of Social Media and Mainstream Media’s inability to counter their (well-justified) image of biased / agenda-based reporting, MSM is rapidly losing credibility with increasing speed since the past many years.
Despite millions of followers on popular social media sites such as Twitter, posts by most mainstream media houses hardly get any engagements, which is a sign of their irrelevance in current social media landscape. (I shall share some examples of that in a while)
Instead, their space has been taken over by individual social media handles or new consortia / news aggregators that have emerged over the past few years. These voices not only command more credibility but also get many orders of magnitude greater engagements on social media.
Thus, I’d say that it is time for us to take a call whether Legacy Media (a more appropriate name for MSM, since traditional media houses are no longer mainstream) is relevant any more as compared to new-age content creators who disseminate news as well as views on social media. Let me start with the drawbacks of Legacy Media.
(Let me qualify this by saying that what I say is purely my personal opinions. Feel free to disagree)
Biggest drawback of Legacy Media is that they are finding it very difficult to adapt to new reality, with advent of Social Media.
Firstly, they are accused of having their own biases, whether to the Left or to the Right, whether pro or anti govt, and also as being more considerate towards the points of view of a particular country even if at the cost of own national interests. Sharing one example here 👇
Secondly, despite millions of followers on their Twitter handles, most of their tweets get barely a handful of engagements (a few tweets do go ‘viral’ once in a while, but these days, they are more an aberration than a rule). Here are a few examples: (Screenshots as on 2300Hr, 25 May).
India Today – 6.3Mn Followers and ZERO engagements on this tweet. Views are also a mere 1845 in number.
Hindustan Times : 8.6Mn Followers. Just 1 RT and 1 Like on this tweet. And only 1970 views.
TOI Sports Tweet (1Mn Followers), retweeted here by Times of India Main Handle (14.8Mn Followers). Yet it has just 1 Retweet (that too from the Parent TOI handle) and 01 Like. Moreover, only 6104 views
The Indian Express (4.2Mn Followers). Two Replies (both spam!), Four Likes and One Bookmark. And only 3495 Views.
^^ Btw, since I have QT’ed the above tweets as part of my twitter thread on this topic, the number of retweets on them has now gone up substantially by a figure of 1!
Thirdly, while legacy print media groups were mostly a product of pre-internet / pre-cable TV era, most legacy electronic media houses of today that came up in the past 2-3 decades were centred, atleast in their initial years, around the personalities of their founders and as such, acquired a distinct bias based on their owners’ political / ideological orientation.
Even the legacy print media houses had their own editorial biases based on political / ideological orientation of their editorial boards. I will not take any specific names here for my own reasons, but I am sure folks will be able to relate to atleast 2 or 3 such legacy media houses.
Mind you, I say it from a purely neutral pov and not to point fingers at any individual media house.
The above three points are sufficient enough to show the limited reach of such legacy media houses on social media. On electronic media, i.e. TV News Channels, they still have some relevance due to ability to ‘break’ news in near-real time. However, even there they are playing catch-up to Social Media.
As far as newspapers are concerned, relevance is even lesser due to the news being printed being obsolete already, thanks to social media and electronic media.
Instead, what is fast emerging is that a large number of individuals have become more credible source of information / news than the legacy media. They offer not only news but also views that are often a result of deep understanding of such topics. Being individuals who are (mostly) sharing news / views without any monetary returns / expectations, they generally stay on a small ‘bouquet’ of topics for most part, leaving out the ‘trivial’ news for legacy / vernacular media to handle.
At the same time, some of them have moved on to establish online portals of their own after getting together.
Such ‘influencers’ share their news / views either via the medium of their twitter handles or via podcasts which is becoming another important medium these days. While many of them have a pan India followership, there are some that are more local to a particular geographical area as well, for example thischannel. I’ve been following this since long and have seen it grow rapidly over the past six months.
Twitter as such, has become equally important as a source of news in addition to its traditional role as an important social media platform. Instead of google, most people search twitter for any particular news, be it a breaking news or an update on a long running event!
In the above scenario, such influencers command a dedicated following and are often the first ones that people reach out for. Further, by the very nature of the medium, they far outnumber the handles of legacy media outlets and dominate the news cycle, often even being quoted by legacy media in absence of their own bytes / analyses. Thus, they themselves become source of news for legacy media.
Heck, I myself have experienced this on one occasion!
Going ahead, it is very likely that the continued downfall of legacy media in terms of credibility and absolute viewership / eyeballs captured will result in them growing even more irrelevant over the next five to ten years. Major media houses may still survive, but they will not be able to add much value to the news cycles that keep evolving rapidly.
Their continued relevance as ‘trusted’ sources of information too will keep getting eroded as has been the case since the past so many years. The example of the tweet against The Hindu as quoted in the beginning of this paper may once again be seen in this light. Another example is that of NDTV under the previous ownership wherein it was assumed that NDTV would cover even neutral news with their own ideological bias.
This tweet from the era of NDTV under previous owners too is relevant in the above context!
On the above note, I think it is appropriate to plug in this thread of mine on NDTV here all over again. The engagements on this thread have been phenomenal, to put it very mildly!
1 Folks, here's a thread on the 'motivated' journalism by #NDTV. First noticed a distinct 'tilt' some years ago. Chronicled some, missed ..
In the end, all I will say is that in due course, the legacy media might still survive but more as publications of advertisements interspersed with old, irrelevant news. Over time, however, even that will not be sustainable.
What we have been witnessing right before our eyes over the past few years is the end of the era of newspapers and TV news as we knew it.
Do I feel sad?
I’d say no.
I too grew up feasting on two and at times even three newspapers each day. But that time is now well and truly gone. Going ahead, it is going to be the average person with a smartphone to whom will be attributed the death of Legacy Media.
Does that mean that it will be the end of journalism?
Far from it, I’d say.
Good journalists will still stay relevant as we go ahead. The change that I foresee is that they will become brands by themselves instead of needing to be in the employ of Legacy Media Houses. THAT would be the next ‘coming of age’ moment for MSM, as and when it matures I’d say.
With this, I conclude this chain of thoughts. I just had to put it out ever since I first realized the pathetically low engagements that Legacy Media handles were getting on social media. I will just leave this thread here as I finish!