India’s youthful protests have defanged the ruling regime’s primary tools of governance: fear, alienation and division “They’re training us that when they commit mass murder in this country, everybody is so afraid that nobody can speak for the other. But what has been trained can be untrained. It can be unlearned. And every moment that… Read More Cockroaches, Modi and the death of fear
The Ram Mandir donations theft and Modi’s men who should answer for it ‘Aham Brahmasmi’ – The Grandiose Self Dhirendra K Jha, Amrita Singh August 1, 2026 FIVE MONTHS AFTER Narendra Modi began his second term as prime minister, the Supreme Court delivered his government a momentous gift. On 9 November 2019, it settled a land dispute in… Read More Trust Issues
When corruption does not make a political noise (July 9, 2026) Today, the fear is not simply that political power is being used to extract rents, but that it is being used to create and protect quasi-monopolies, selectively rewarding favoured firms while disadvantaging rivals. The political pillars have collapsed even more. The BJP and RSS… Read More Pratap Bhanu Mehta: When corruption does not make a political noise / The Return of Corruption: What Changed Under Modi?
Indian families invest in higher education, trusting it will deliver good jobs for their children. But with jobs growing scarce, work that is available matching neither qualifications nor aspirations, and graduate earnings stagnating, this bargain has broken down. Krishna Priya; Rosa Abraham For nearly four decades, Indian families have invested unprecedented sums in higher education,… Read More The Failed Promise of Higher Education
Abhijeet Dipke Exclusive Interview 94,000 Government Schools Closed in India Over Past Decade Last updated Aug 4, 2026: A NITI Aayog report reveals around 94,000 government schools closed across India in the last decade, leading to a 2.26 crore drop in enrolment and slashing their share of total students from 71% in 2005 to 49.24%… Read More Abhijeet Dipke Exclusive Interview: सरकारी स्कूलों में शिक्षा व्यवस्था पर दीपके ने उठाया बड़ा सवाल
Pravin Sawhney on the collapse of Indian diplomacy NB: Many of us still don’t understand that this is an RSS government (the Sangh has many faces); and that it has no politics except (1) the rectification of history (i.e. defeating the Mughal Empire three centuries after its demise); and (2) grabbing control of public funds… Read More Pravin Sawhney: India Is No Longer Useful For America Geopolitically, Strategically & Militarily (June 18, 2026)
Unpacking Trump’s End Game in Latin America with William Callison and Verónica Gago Source: PATTERNS by Naomi Klein Naomi Klein, William Callison, and Verónica Gago Jul 30, 2026 Several readers of this newsletter have asked us to cover the attacks on democracy in Latin America. With that in mind, this week, I am thrilled to share Patterns’ first… Read More The Goal is a Fascist Continent
The Cockroach movement protesters used memes, mockery and collective action to cut through mainstream media’s refusal to tackle problems plaguing the country’s politics Niha Masih Hello! Welcome to This Is India from the Guardian. I’m Niha Masih and I’ll be writing to you every week about the stories, ideas and news makers of modern India. I’ll do… Read More How gen Z exposed India’s prime-time propaganda machine
How the NEP’s killing of the public university brought Gen Z out on the streets… According to the National Crime Records Bureau, student suicides have jumped eighty percent in the last decade—more than a hundred and twenty thousand over ten years—and over two thousand students die annually due to exam failures भारतीय ज्ञान परंपरा या… Read More Teaching a Lesson
Bharat Bhushan With little in the Gen-Z campaign that the Modi government could turn against it, a State-ordered take down of content seemed the only option to limit reputational damage How women protesters became targets after the Jantar Mantar protest Bharat Bhushan A highly curated image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as the supreme leader of… Read More Why Gen‑Z’s satire will outpace State control
After the truth-shower 