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When a head lacks brains,Nature fills it with conceit;When a human society forgets the fundamentals of life; Nature fills it deceit: it’s a thought provoking write up and a must read for friends and foes of India: The so called glory of ancient India never was And plunder from northwestern Muslims was invited by the cruelty of Indian rulers : geopolitical and ethnoreligous rivalry with Pakistan will not leave One Rome intact But have two Carthage’s destroyed and never serve the purpose of RSS : India a land of love peace is more lovable with all its faults beauty diversity and insanity: modi is a icing on the RSS cake of political paralysis threatening to erupt into wider unrest : my humble one cent to Indian wisdom Make India a norm state, we Pakistanis have paid a heavy price for our false dreams of grandeur: good luck to India

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The German people post Hitler's defeat could not believe the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camp. Men and Women from the neighbouring areas wept to see what was done in the name of "The final solution" and cried out in disbelief stating "we did not know" what happened since they voted overwhelmingly for Hitler to rule over the worst part of German History. The same story is being swallowed hook, line and sinker here aka 31% in 2014 and 37% in 2019.

How did so many not get this in 2014 especially after the intervening disasters of 5 years till 2019 and even more voted for part 2. The only thing is will part III confirm the Civilizational project of rewriting to suit a blinkered approach to reality only time will tell.

A great essay Sonali. Many thanks. I only hope better sense prevails and the blinkers come off and reality takes hold of this oxymoron approach of garlanding the statue of the victim in Public while garlanding the assassin and the hands that helped pull the trigger for as well for brownie points.

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BrahminicState Terrorist organisation is exactly similar to the IslamicState Terrorist organisation, which too probably had such 'bravery' and also had nothing to do with the ethos of the religion that it propounded

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Thanks for taking a credible shot at understanding the deep support to Modi. I might add the 3rd angle to eco and duplicity-in-foreign lands - the rage buildup. The rage is constantly being built up to harness votes, but when combined with the economic desperation, it might well become uncontrollable and lead to devastation similar in S Africa last month. The the ascent of someone who doesn’t care for democracy-blah-blah like Modi will be inevitable. And Modi will look benign in comparison. Brace for it.

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Modi is not the brains behind this project. He is just one of the executioners.

And behind this project also lies the desire to control India’s resources and the workforce.

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Well written and too much study and Analysis done Sonali. One man or one ideology or myth supported is dangerous but too much democracy or not knowing vary we are heading or ignoring the threats internal and neighbours here comes a man with balls and respond them no forgein ministry did what this teawala is doing and about hindutva…. We should not be scared of them because they are feared of people who are citizens of India who don’t follow our constitutional rules but the people who get edge of minorities religious rule over const …. Never ever India should be one religion country. We should make sure the religious heads to correct their books to meet the times need including Hindus scripture. Then we can move towards. Modi is good or bad even Mahatma Gandhi is not keen on secularism in our constitution.

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This article is by far the best analysis about the phenomenon called Modi. For many Hindus this is a civilisational project and any blunders that Modi does will not matter as long as he shows himself a saviour of Hindus and restoring Hindu pride (of course by "putting Muslims in their place"). Readers here may also read my articles on similar analysis as I learn a lot from Sonali's writings. Here is the link to my Substack page https://samuelsequeira.substack.com/p/the-mind-of-a-modi-bhakt

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I liked your opening lines - if the grand Indic civilisation is the simulacrum that seduced most hindus unconsciously, it would be imperative to (a) expose this collusion in every dialogue forum possible, and (b) expose what the simulacra perverts. You have chosen to expose the economic policies at a generic level and i hope that others would join in greater details. As an Indian, i do carry tremendous hope that this perversion and distortion of reality would not last - for one cannot deny the visceral experience of the India we create. Modi, Xaoping, and Trump are icons of this movement towards creating a 'meta-verse' that looms and envelops us all.

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What is this 1000 rule we are talking about. Many parts of India like my state Odisha was independent for until 1570s and even when it came under Mughal rule finally there was enough war going on the ground to ever claim total victory. That is why Odisha today has only 2% muslim population. Look at the Ahoms how they fought off the Muslims. Just because North got conquered doesn't mean rest of Hindu India was sleeping.

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Who cares so long he can dope the ignorant masses with his hologram visions and politicise the corrupt bewildered bureaucracy and armed forces? Where there are so many people below poverty line and an over affluent middle class, any theory perceived with Bollywood imagination will prevail. But the danger is he and his cohorts are putting India in a dangerous route which may culminate in the demise of this artificial nation with so much diversity in language, culture, religion, look and thinking. If Modi and his cohorts allowed to continue for long, it seems they will, then he will be remembered in history as Hitler of India, bringing its doom. Thanks.

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very nicely articulated and love reading all your writings .. Keep it up

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Hindu Civilizational Project has been marketed as New India.

THIS IS NOT MY NEW INDIA.

Freedom fighters sacrificed their live and not asked others for sacrifices

Victory of selling the sizzle by politicians is Not My New India.

Social harmony needs spirit of law & order and not blowing of dog whistle

Victory of mask of MKGandhi-Amabedekar is Not My New India.

All Indian are equal before constitution and not some higher or lower

Victory of policy of unequal Indians as natural by politicians is Not My New India.

Future of India needs forward steps and not backward rearview drive

Victory of return to past as inevitable reality is Not My New India.

Politics should be based on spiritual traditions and not inversion of all moral values

Victory of garb of secularism by majoritarianism is Not My New India.

India needs rule of compassion of Ashoka the great and not legacy pyramids of Pharos

Victory of only talk about ideals Buddha by politicians is Not My New India.

Jawans signed up for dangerous job for country and not for failures of govt

Victory of taking credit of jawans by politicians is Not My New India.

Namami Gange means cleaning up of rivers and not coloring of ghats

Victory of decoration of ugliness by politicians is Not My New India.

Clean air & water are basic human rights and not pollution in the name of development

Victory of false dilemma of "either-or” by politicians is Not My New India

Everyone is for elimination of corruption and not just selective probing of some

Victory of touting unequal hand as long arm of law by politicians is Not My New India.

Indian economy needs rule-enforcers and not institution-abuser

Victory of vendettas dressed as virtues by politicians is Not My New India

Joblessness and farmers suicide are reality and not figment of imagination

Victory of illusion of economic growth by politicians is Not My New India

Vikas means development of all and not promotion of casino economy for few

Victory of crony capitalism by politicians is Not My New India.

Governance is about solving current problems and not anger about past

Victory of assigning blames by politicians is Not My New India.

Transparency is about accountability and not obfuscation in the name of security

Victory of grand symphony of noise by politicians is Not My New India.

Dialogue builds trust for all and not monologue of dreams in digital age

Victory of echoes of projected reality by politicians is Not My New India.

Problem solutions needs spirit of inquiry and not unexamined assumptions

Victory of peddling mythology as science by politicians is Not My New India

Elections are about people’s issues and not limitation of democracy

Victory of diversion of attention by politicians is Not My New India.

Democracy means people’s power and not concentration of power in a duo

Victory of suppression of rights by politicians is Not My New India.

Every Indian is a patriot and not just members or supporters of the ruling party

Victory of branding dissenters as conspirator is Not My New India.

Foundation rising India is inclusion of all and not discrimination based on religion

Victory of backward walk with forward talk by politicians is Not My New India

Millennials are for equal opportunities in growth and not socio-economic chaos

Victory of creating fault lines in country by politicians is Not My New India.

Unity in diversity is true religion of man and not narrowness of assumed purity

Victory of turning man against man by politicians is Not My New India.

Two third of Bharat is under thirty-five & young and wearing shorts is not their identity

Victory of out of touch & old dumb over idealistic young blood is Not My New India

The pursuit of truth is a great Indian tradition and not post-truth for justification

Victory of hacking of truth by politicians is Not My New India.

Jai Hind!

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Precise & pointed analysis. The bloopers of god ji stays hidden behind the obfuscation of extreme nationalism.

True in every aspect.

However the entire matter of Hindutva has also been helped by the adept (man)handling of the rise of ISIS & the attempts of ISIS to get a toe- hold on indian soil.

The entire issue of ISIS attempts had been adroitly handled. Hence the public sentiments were built in favour of excusing the extreme mismanagement of demonetization and most other things.

Just my two pence 🙏🏻

Peace 🙏🏻

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Modi is not a simulacrum of India's popular aspirations or its long-held idea of victimhood, CE 1001. Where is a civilisation that was never plundered? His arrival in the national scene was one where the state was deeply delegitimised in the popular mind. His era has purloined the idea of a civilisation that was always struggling to find its feet in the terrafirma of history. How many Gupta era stories do we know apart from grand monuments and religious spread? But yet, that was a golden era. The sense of hurt comes from a sense of belonging which Modi never had beyond Gujarat. Hitler was popular. Ask the socialists and communists and liberals of 1933 Germany. He is an aberration and like all aberrations, he needs to be fought with constitutional tools and his idea of civilisation needs to be countered with ideas. The bubble will burst.

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This is a brilliant article! Living in the US, I can see how India is unfolding! We have destroyed the progress we had achieved in the 1990’s, in pursuit of a mirage that is Modi’s mirage! Even Bangladesh has beaten us! That is thanks to Modu and his disastrous policies!

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I just think Sonali is jsut trying to catch the attention of Shashi Tharoor with some English Mumbo Jumbo ........smells of pseudo intellectualism, urban naxalism, false sense of inebriated liberalism....

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