@tokyo_0@mas.to

tokyo_0

@tokyo_0@mas.to

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Recovering newsaholic
Focus: wellbeing, Hinduism, better social media, coding projects, climate, health, economics, security, Japan, India, Asia
Projects: #MastodonContentMover, #MastodonRetootBookmarklet
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Born at 337ppm CO₂
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Karishye vachanam tava 🙏

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18+ tokyo_0, to mastodonindians

India election question: What does Congress mean by "freedom of personal laws"?

I'm drawing on translated materials here—I don't know what was said in the original Hindi and it seems possible that what's been said is being misrepresented in some way.

From what I am able to see, though, it seems like an odd idea to campaign on—it's hard to see strong arguments for law not applied equally to all. Is there something I'm missing?

@mastodonindians

tokyo_0,

@drupler
Thank you—I appreciate you taking the time to fill me in on this background.

"Even if they do, it won't be UCC but another act of alienation for Muslims."

I think this is what I'm grappling with and what I'd missed—the idea of everyone being treated fairly and equally under a law is sound and not an unusual concept. But there's an issue in this particular context about whether the "universal" law that will be applied will treat people fairly or push an unhelpful agenda.

@haskman

tokyo_0,

@drupler

"BJP is trying hard to keep the election polarised but it's not working anymore. Don't help them... it's not even ranked in the top 20 issues around this ongoing election."

This is also very helpful—thank you. I'm surprised this is what got airtime if there are so many other things that have more public attention right now.

Is there a good way someone not in India and with limited access to local-language media can see what the top issues are? Any sources you'd recommend?

@haskman

tokyo_0,

@drupler ok, thank you — I've run across some of those before. For a while I was turning to The Hindu, which seemed to take a more balanced view than some other outlets, and The Print. But The Print seemed to take a surprisingly pro-New Delhi stance on the issue recently with Canada's accusations, so I haven't been watching their stuff so much. The Wire has done some good reporting but I think they dropped the ball with that Facebook story, and that's put me off them a little bit. @haskman

tokyo_0,

@drupler Very true! These days a lot of people don't even think to raise issues with their candidates, either — there's an illusion that if we've posted about something on social media it's somehow going to reach the ears of the right people and be taken seriously. Engagement really counts and, as you say, funding. Voting is better than not voting, but it's just the start. @haskman

tokyo_0,

@drupler I'm glad you mentioned the Indian Express—I'd forgotten them but you're right, they do some good reporting and I've found them very helpful before. I'm going to bookmark all these ones you've suggested... thank you again! Glad you're subscribing as well. No matter where we get our news it's important to pay for it—it doesn't gather itself. A lot of people seem to think it does! 😅 @haskman

tokyo_0,

@drupler That's interesting, and unfortunate. Japan is disengaged too. The PM/govt has been struggling to get a 25% support rate for months (https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/japan-pm-kishida-s-support-hits-new-lows-in-three-major-polls-1.2000846). But if you look at the detail of the polls, it's not that 75% or even 50% of the population would prefer someone else. All the opposition parties get much, much lower support. People don't like what they're getting but when it comes to election time they still vote for it. It's hard to say democracy is functioning here.
@haskman

tokyo_0, to random

"Even in recent days, the Biden administration has taken steps to contain the fallout from the assassination plot. White House officials warned the Modi government this month that The Post was close to publishing an investigation that would reveal new details about the case. It did so without notifying The Post."

https://archive.md/6Z1WY

tokyo_0,

Here's the audio, and the original WaPo url: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/29/india-assassination-raw-sikhs-modi/

tokyo_0,

"Hours after Nijjar was gunned down in his car on June 18 outside the Guru Nanak Sikh Gurdwara temple in Surrey, Yadav sent a video clip to Gupta 'showing Nijjar’s bloody body slumped in his vehicle,' according to the indictment."

tokyo_0,

"A U.S. delegation that traveled to New Delhi several weeks ago for an update on the probe, however, returned with little evidence of meaningful progress. Indian officials gave no indication that their investigation would implicate senior officials in Modi’s government, ... and pressed their U.S. visitors to supply more information supporting their allegations."

(Now we know why this WaPo story happened)

tokyo_0,

"After the plot against Pannun failed, the decision to entrust Yadav with the high-risk mission sparked recriminations within the agency, former officials said. Rather than joining RAW as a junior officer, Yadav had been brought in midcareer from India’s less prestigious Central Reserve Police Force, said one former official. As a result, the official said, Yadav lacked training and skills needed for an operation that meant going up against sophisticated U.S. counterintelligence capabilities."

tokyo_0,

"Ajai Sahni, executive director of the Institute for Conflict Management in New Delhi and an expert on the insurgency in Punjab, said BJP depictions of the Sikh threat are 'far in excess of what actually exists.' Officials have political incentive to exaggerate, he said, 'because it is useful to polarize and to keep a threat alive so the state can present itself as a guarantor of security to 80 percent of the country — the Hindus — who are supposedly in danger.'"

tokyo_0,

"In early August, the administration dispatched CIA Director Burns to New Delhi to confront his counterparts with intelligence on the Pannun plot and give Modi’s government a chance to resolve the matter internally. The United States would refrain from punitive responses but pushed India to hold those responsible accountable. The message was reinforced in subsequent closed-door conversations, including a private meeting in New Delhi in September between Modi and Biden, officials said."

tokyo_0,

"It wasn’t until Gupta’s arrest that U.S. officials obtained evidence that an officer in India’s spy service was behind the conspiracy, officials said. Devices seized from Gupta provided a trove of new intelligence, including his extensive communications with Yadav, officials said. ...
Those assembled confronted evidence of a grave violation of U.S. sovereignty by a nation seen as increasingly indispensable in the global competition with China."

tokyo_0,

"The effort has seemed to gain little traction beyond a minority within the diaspora community. Even so, it has been portrayed as a resurgent menace by Modi and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party. Indian officials have accused Canada and the United States of harboring Sikh separatists who they say have plotted attacks and smuggled weapons into India."

tokyo_0,

"For Modi, the assassination allegations appear to have only bolstered his political standing.
Almost a year after he was feted at the White House, the Indian prime minister is poised to clinch a third term in national elections that began this month. At a recent campaign rally in Rajasthan state, Modi told thousands of cheering supporters, 'Today, even India’s enemies know: This is Modi, this is the New India.'
'This New India,' he added, 'comes into your home to kill you.' "

tokyo_0,

"There would be no expulsions of RAW officers or economic sanctions against India. A deal to sell up to $4 billion in U.S. armed drones to India, briefly put on pause, was allowed to proceed when key congressional leaders signed off. Justice Department officials opted for at least the time being not to file charges against Yadav."

tokyo_0,

Please note this thread will be automatically deleted in a few weeks.

tokyo_0,

"In Australia, two RAW officers were expelled in 2020 after authorities broke up what Mike Burgess, head of the Australian intelligence service, described as a 'nest of spies.'
Foreign officers were caught monitoring 'their country’s diaspora community,' trying to penetrate local police departments and stealing information about sensitive security systems at Australian airports, Burgess said in a 2021 speech. ... Australian officials confirmed to The Post that it was RAW."

tokyo_0,

"Police forces under Goel’s command in the early 1990s were tied to more than 120 cases of alleged extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances or torture, according to a database maintained by Ensaaf, an Indian human rights group based in the United States. Goel was so closely associated with the brutal crackdown that he became an assassination target, according to associates who said he took to traveling in a bulletproof vehicle."

FediPact, to FediPact
@FediPact@cyberpunk.lol avatar

Why Meta is looking to the fediverse as the future for social media

“You could imagine an extension to the protocol eventually — of saying like, ‘I want to support micropayments,’ or … like, ‘hey, feel free to show me ads, if that supports you.’ Kind of like a way for you to self-label or self-opt-in. That would be great,” Cottle noted, speaking casually. Whether or not Meta would find a way to get a cut of those micropayments, of course, remains to be seen.

https://techcrunch.com/2024/04/25/why-meta-is-looking-to-the-fediverse-as-the-future-for-social-media/

tokyo_0,

@FediPact We're not even a year into their involvement and they're already making statements like this out in the open. smh

davidaugust, to politics
@davidaugust@mastodon.online avatar

Worth reading.

#politics #geopolitics #president #Biden #InternationalRelations #elections #election #vote #voting

tokyo_0,

@davidaugust Mr. Stonekettle is very good at posting clout-thirsty takes. But when examined more closely, they quickly disintegrate into the tangle of fallacies they truly are. No one seems to have asked Biden to do any of the things Stonekettle's post asserts. They just don't want Biden to amplify the horrendous and nonsensical distortion that saying killing over 30,000 civilians is wrong is "anti-Semitism." Funnily enough, take boy didn't address that part.

NeuKelte, to random German
@NeuKelte@todon.eu avatar

We need , a & to in a of within 🙏

https://twitter.com/Tamara519808/status/1782053879342936118

tokyo_0,

@NeuKelte Noone's having my donuts.

tokyo_0, to india

I thought had a piece published somewhere in English that did the rounds here and elsewhere when she was forced to leave a few months ago, but I can't find it at all now. Does anyone else remember it?

(I can find lots of other stories talking about her departure, some with quotes from a statement she released, but what I thought I saw was a story, rather than a statement—though links to the statement also gratefully received!)🙏🧡

@mastodonindians

tokyo_0,

Found it! I'm pretty sure this is the article I read before: https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20240321-india-blocks-access-residency-permits-of-overseas-citizen-critics

Thank you to those who helped point me in the right direction and whose engagement encouraged me to keep looking! 🙏

#France24 #journalism #India #MastIndia @mastodonindians #pressFreedom #VanessaDougnac

tokyo_0, to random

And the internet is redeemed :laptop_parrot:

(source: https://twitter.com/TheFigen_/status/1784612215649075609)

On the left half of the screen, a woman in green performs modern dance to some smooth jazz. On the right half of the screen, a parrot also performs the same moves along with the music.

tokyo_0, to random

And the internet is redeemed :laptop_parrot:

source: https://www.instagram.com/p/C6QmOc7u9sE/ (thank you @sporksmith), found via: https://twitter.com/TheFigen_/status/1784612215649075609

On the left half of the screen, a woman in green performs modern dance to some smooth jazz. On the right half of the screen, a parrot also performs the same moves along with the music.

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