#south Asian politics

[onetimetwotimesthreetimess]

TO EVERYONE OF LEGAL AGE IN INDIA

If you are a citizen of the country, I am begging you to vote in the National Elections, 2024.

In 2014, the turnout of youth (inclusive of first time voters) was at a staggering 70%. In 2019, this number decreased quite a bit.

Today, in 2024, that number has decreased drastically. Voter registration among youth currently ranges for somewhere between 17% in Bihar, 21% in NCR, 23% in UP, to around 35% in major cities with maximum youth population.

Only 38% of the first time eligible voters have registers for National Elections this time.

I understand. We are all tired. The ruling party has made a mockery of the elections. I 100% get it. But please, you all need to vote. Even if you’re tired, even if you see no hope of things changing even this time. You still need to vote.

I know everybody says it but it bears repeating, every single vote counts.

If you are a student, there’s a holiday during all the 5 phase dates. If you are a working adult, your company legally needs to allow you a holiday on the day. I travelled back to my hometown to vote today because it fucking matters.

Please vote, if you can. Please vote, if you care.

This election results should not be about which party will lead the country to the top five developing nations. This elections should be about which party will let the country breathe for another four years.

I’m sincerely requesting you all to vote. If not today, then tomorrow, things will change. But they won’t, unless, you vote.

Vote for yourself. Vote for the ones who cannot. Vote for the ones whose voices will never be heard. Vote for the ones who made noise, made themselves hurt and are suffering for their words. Vote for everyone who dealt with unimaginable pain in the last 8 years. Vote to give this country another chance.

[anono28]

a few resources on understanding the caste system (from a south asian)

texts to start with: THE ANNIHILATION OF CASTE by BR Ambedkar https://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/projects/mmt/ambedkar/web/readings/aoc_print_2004.pdf Caste, tech and resistance resource listhttps://whoseknowledge.org/resource/caste-tech-resistance

Suraj Yengde, important Dalit rights activist: Faye D’souza interviews Suraj Yengde https://youtu.be/nhBAV1XbDL8 Another Suraj Yengde interview https://youtu.be/ay6VtfNYTr8

video sources to start with: The Quint documentary https://youtu.be/lZTFV33zugM Pretty comprehensive video essay https://youtu.be/33Pw6NqH6LU

some of my favourite artists who are working with the topic: https://www.instagram.com/artedkar https://www.instagram.com/bakeryprasad https://www.instagram.com/osheen.siva

just a wiki link @ my point that the system is not limited to indian hindus (although they are the “main” culprits): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caste#In_South_Asia

*disclaimer: these are just to get you started on learning about the topic. it is not an exhaustive list of resources.*

[pebblegalaxy]

Breaking Borders: Pakistan and India Resume Cross-LoC Trade and Travel Amidst Diplomatic Shifts

Breaking Borders: Pakistan and India Resume Cross-LoC Trade and Travel Amidst Diplomatic Shifts #PakistanIndiaRelations #CrossLoCTrade #DiplomaticShift #KashmirPeace #RegionalCooperation #SouthAsianDiplomacy #CeasefireAgreement #EconomicRevival #Security

In a landmark development that has reverberated across geopolitical landscapes, the news reported by Dawn, a prominent Pakistani English-language newspaper on November 16, 2021, carries the title “Pakistan, India agree to restore cross-LoC trade, travel.” This pivotal announcement underscores a transformative diplomatic stride as the two nations grapple with the intricate and longstanding…

[shesnake]

“Monkey Man” was shot and completed in 2021, and Netflix soon after acquired the rights for around $30 million, but it’s been on the shelf for three years and they‘ve all of a sudden decided to get rid of it? What gives? It turns out, according to an in-the-know source, that it was the portrayal of a fictional right-wing Hindu Nationalist character in the film that worried Netflix about their future dealings in India. And even though they had paid more than twice the production cost, they decided to give the film back to the producers, which is what caused the long delay. Universal and Peele eventually took a particular liking to the film, so much so that they suggested possible editing changes and delayed the release until what they thought would be the right date. It’s as simple as that. In the end, it was all about politics and optics for the streaming giant, especially since India has become the current top growth market for Netflix. Co-Founder Reed Hastings has mentioned that a majority of the service's next 100 million subscribers would most likely come from India.

Universal/Jordan Peele's "suggested possible editing changes" in question:

[ichverdurstehier]

Save Korean women

[popculty]

“There was a point where everyone in town had said no to Polite Society, and it really knocked my confidence.” She even remembers people telling her: “‘My influences are too male.’ I’m like, ‘Who has been making cinema?!’”

The film was greenlighted thanks to the success of We Are Lady Parts, which premiered in 2021. She wrote the show after feeling demoralized by some of the offers she was getting, like being asked to co-write a project with a white male writer “and just be the brown person who can give that point of view and the rubber-stamping of his stuff.” Similarly, she was demoralized by the one-dimensional portrayals of Muslim women on screen, such as stories with “a misery porn vibe,” which bore no resemblance to her life. “I’d just been asked to do lots of really annoying shows, being asked to write dramas about Muslim women being oppressed, long-suffering,” she said. “The annoyance of having been asked to write all this stuff that wasn’t my experience of being a Muslim woman made me create Lady Parts.”

As with Polite Society, when she started pitching We Are Lady Parts, she met a lot of resistance. “We Are Lady Parts got turned down basically everywhere, except for one place, and that was Channel 4 and then Peacock,” she said. “It was a lot of people being like, ‘I don’t think we can do this. Is this offensive? Are people going to get upset?’... I’m like, ‘This is just a Muslim woman expressing joy!’”

[millionsofbooks]

something about the tiktok ban that i haven't really seen people here talking about is the experience of tiktok users not from the usa, which was, as far as i can tell, on the whole, very positive. it was actually really nice to, for a short period of time, be on a major social media network and able to interact with people across the world without usamericans constantly inserting themselves into every conversation.

usamericans kind of take over people's fyp regardless of where you're from. this is partly to do with the fact that the creators fund is only available to usamericans so most of the shitty content farms are from the us. then there's also the cultural aspect of the fact that being a citizen of the most powerful empire in the world is a significant privilege, and also a privilege that 99% of usamericans are seemingly unable to acknowledge, plus the us centrism and exceptionalism, plus the constant need to cast themselves as the underdog, and, well. it's annoying.

so, like. everything of what i've seen (which is not to say that other opinions don't exist, just that i haven't seen them) is that it was really nice when the usamericans were gone, and it kind of sucks that they're back.

[glowwormsmith]

Yeah, yeah, don't stan politicians, they're supposed to be public servants and no pedestals, kamala isn't the best, blah blah.

But we could very well have the first female president tonight (hopefully, dear god please not the Rotting Pumpkin and his goons again).

I think that's very cool that we can finally clear this barrier when a lot of other countries have already had female leaders. Not many are talking about this (maybe they're too cynical at this point?), but I just think it's neat.

[troythecatfish]

[alex51324]

It appears we've learned nothing

Serious, left-leaning news outlets are covering Trump's deranged comments on Harris's racial background with think pieces and fact checks, rather than going, "How weird is it that Donald Trump doesn't know mixed-race people exist?"

[onetimetwotimesthreetimess]

There will never be anything more despicable than building and celebrating, and forcing a nation to celebrate on the taxpayers money, a temple build on the mass graves of Muslims. The Hindu nationalist state, has proved again that this nation belongs to only Hindus.

Babri Masjid, 1992

Ram Temple, 2024

A bit of context for those who don’t know about the issue:

Babri Masjid, was a mosque in Ayodhya, India. It was built in the 16th century by the Mughal Empire. Babri Masjid was a holy place for the Muslims in the country. There’s a history of communalism (created by the British Empire) between Hindus (the majority religion) and Muslims (the minority) in the country.

In 1992, Babri Masjid was attacked and demolished by Hindu extremists who believed that the mosque was built on the site of birthplace of Ram (Hindu god). Thousands of people lost their lives. Thousands of Muslims were killed in cold blood by a hyper-nationalist state.

In 2010, after decades of Muslims fighting for justice, the Allahabad High Court upheld the claim that the mosque was built on Ram’s birth place. Muslims were also awarded one-third area of the site for the construction of a mosque. However, thr decision was subsequently appealed by all parties to the Indian Supreme Court, wherein a five judge bench heard a title suit from August to October 2019. On 9 November 2019, the Supreme Court quashed the lower court's judgement and ordered the entire site to be handed over to a trust to build the Hindu temple.

Today, 22nd January, 2024, marks the inaugural of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. On a site that is so deeply entrenched within a community’s blood, pain and trauma. While these Hindu nationalists celebrate, every Muslim in the country feels more scared. Muslims in India have always been unlawfully detained, persecuted, punished and killed throughout the past seven decades but it has only worsened ever since BJP, the ruling party came in power. Celebrities, sportsperson, politicians and millions of people travelled to Ayodhya to celebrate this tremendous failure of the state.

Today, the Indian constitution lies under those thousands grave.

If any one of you celebrated, I hope you understand the gravity of your actions. I hope you understand what you all set in motion. I hope that one day, you understand and that there is no redemption for you after that.

I hope you all rot in hell.

Here’s a short poem by Rabindranath Tagore about an old god, a new temple, an arrogant king and many hungry and homeless ordinary people.

[thashining]

Hindu priests performed fire rituals and prayed for #KamalaHarris' success ahead of the US election.

During Diwali

[relaxedstyles]

[britneyshakespeare]

The first woman president will be a racist white Republican, I'll put 100 dollars on it. And the GOP will be so proud of themselves about electing a woman who ran on a platform of their usual fear-mongering dirty tricks, waxing poetic about how it proves they're superior to Democrats for not being able to beat Trump with two female candidates who were more than qualified for the job.

[ponyboi-69]

I live in America. I’m scheduled to have top surgery in February and I don’t know if that is going to happen. I just got my testosterone prescription filled because I don’t know if I will be able to get it after January. Care about mine and my trans family’s rights and need for healthcare and resources.

[therukurals]

The reclamation of such images appears to be Patel’s goal—one he shares with numerous Hindu leaders who have continued to battle Hindu nationalism. But the use of Hindu imagery as a call to violence, reminiscent of the Hindutva project, is central to Kid’s mission, resulting in narrative dissonance. In comparison, the movie’s villains only use Hinduism as a façade for violence and financial gain, rather than as a sincere fixture of their fanaticism. They represent Hindutva only in the abstract, echoing its power structures without its ideology. Kid, meanwhile, perhaps inadvertently, embodies it in both belief and action. In a key flashback, Rana—acting on Shakti’s orders—clears out Kid’s forest-adjacent village so the land can be used for industrial growth. This bears a striking resemblance to the Indian government’s recent attempts to evict thousands of Muslims along India’s Eastern border and millions of indigenous people from tribal lands. The BJP’s political opponents believe these land seizures are an attempt to transfer tribal resources to corporate allies, not unlike Shakti’s plan for Kid’s village. However, the metaphor is muddled. Rather than framing Kid’s community as an oppressed caste, religion, or tribe, the only visible culturally specific moment involves the villagers enjoying a marionette re-telling of the Ramayana, which is interrupted by incendiary violence. In the movie’s purview, Hinduism is under attack from something non-Hindu, or falsely Hindu, rather than from dangerous factions of Hinduism itself. This grants Kid permission to weaponize it freely, sans conflict or spiritual reckoning—a thematic tension the movie never reconciles.