Clear Skies

Soaking knowledge while observing the world.🌎🥱

[AAGHarmeetDhillon @AAGDhillon]

There is no “medical justification” for manipulating medical school admissions to match U.S. race demographics.
The @CivilRights Division of @theJusticeDept will continue investigating medical schools that admit students on the basis of race instead of merit.

[Indu Viswanathan @indumathi37]

From Examining Anti-Hindu Bias in American Public Education: The Endogenous Cycle of Hinduphobia, published in The Journal for the Council for Research on Religion in 2025.

"Intellectually honest scholarly interruption and critique of the master narrative about Hindus and Hinduism are discredited with ad hominem attacks on the Hindu scholars themselves. This phenomenon extends more broadly into the very study of Hinduism, where Hindu scholars can be methodically excluded.

As a simple experiment, I looked up the contributing authors to the following: the Bloomsbury Companion to Islamic Studies, the Bloomsbury Companion to Jewish Studies, and the Bloomsbury Companion to Hindu Studies.

One notable difference between the three Contributors sections is that the Islamic and Jewish Studies volumes include paragraph-length biographies describing the authors’ scholarship, service, and experience as they relate to the respective religions; the Hindu Studies volume only lists the authors’ names, positions, and institutions.

The most striking difference, however, is in the authors themselves.

Out of the eight listed contributors in the volume on Islamic Studies, three have Muslim names.

The Jewish Studies book includes twelve contributors, all of whom are Jewish.

The Hindu Studies book also includes twelve contributors; not a single one of them has a Hindu name.

While this is a limited examination, it is still compelling. Why are Hindu scholars uniquely excluded from a compendium of scholarly discourse about their own tradition?

While there is scholarly chatter about authority and voice in Hindu Studies, these conversations flip the script, so to speak, back onto Indian politics, claiming that the rise in Hindu nationalism threatens the academic freedom of non-Hindu scholars of Hinduism. “Who Speaks for Hinduism?” is a series of articles published in 2000 by The Journal of the American Academy of Religion, which begins with this premise. Twenty-three years later, as a callback to the earlier publication, Supriya Gandhi, a scholar with a Hindu name, extends this narrative:

[T]he succeeding years have witnessed the growing dominance of Hindutva as a cultural and political project of right-wing ethno-nationalism, which now looms large over academic inquiry into Hinduism. Today, Hindu nationalists leverage social media, capital, and the long arm of the Indian state to advance their claim of representing the authentic voice of Hinduism.

I want to emphasize that I am not suggesting that non-Hindus are disqualified from being legitimate scholars of Hinduism because of race or religion. Rather than “who speaks for Hinduism?” the more troubling question I am asking is, “Why aren't more Hindus allowed to speak for Hinduism?”

This is implicitly answered by the master narratives and evocative imagery of a looming, long arm of Hindutva reaching around the globe. Again, I am not suggesting that no Hindus are allowed to speak, but it does appear to me, a Hindu American scholar of education (not a scholar of religion or region), that the epistemic authority of Hindu scholars is recognized more readily if they espouse viewpoints that are tethered to the master narrative.

By contrast, Hindu scholars (with the requisite academic credentials and training) who seek to critique the established scholarship on Hindus and Hinduism experience visible epistemic injustice; one can only imagine the constraints faced by the broader Hindu community and their capacity to be seen and heard as legitimate narrators of their own experiences and interpreters of their cultural and religious landscapes. Hinduphobia arises from a perfect storm of all of these mechanisms, from stereotypes to epistemic injustice, securing the permanency of the endogenous cycle of Hinduphobia and creating a permission structure for the scholars and journalists at elite institutions and media houses to ignore, dismiss, and demonize Hindu Americans, a mostly immigrant community."

Download the full article here - https://t.co/glAa1WJBZM.

[Dr. Lavanya Vemsani Ph.D. @ProfVemsani]

Exactly! The poor Indians don’t know what they are thinking! They have to be analyzed and studied by outsiders to know what they thought about their own country and its policies. This is how Indian voices were suppressed from all narratives created about India by colonialists. #Hinduphobia then they tell us how we have to think

[Sidharth @Cloudwatch199]

Indian doctors heal.
Indian engineers build.
Indian shop owners serve.
Indian students come here believing in America’s promise.

Some are immigrants.
Some are citizens.
All deserve safety.

And right now, many are scared.

Scared walking to their cars.
Scared for their children at school.
Scared because online hate does not always stay online.

Fear is not a policy disagreement.
Safety is not a partisan ask.
Racial scapegoating is not patriotism.

America does not break because Indians succeed.

It breaks when people who worked hard, followed the rules, and believed in the system begin to wonder whether the system protects them at all.

History remembers who spoke up.
Stop the scapegoating before it is too late.

[Dr. Lavanya Vemsani Ph.D. @ProfVemsani]

Yay, cool! They use it as a pejorative against me! But in this case, I don’t mind it all! I am happy to be in that camp: I oppose British colonialism, colonialists/imperialists, and colonialist knowledge machine which still keeps spinning #ColonizedMinds

[soybean @treatyoma]

Why won’t you mention that the LEADER OF PEDIATRIC CARDIOLOGY DEPARTMENT AT SEATTLE CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL WHO FIXED THE HUMAN ERROR MADE BY THE DOCTOR IS AN INDIAN WOMAN AND SO ARE THE 9 OTHER DOCTORS IN THE TEAM?

Clearly propaganda page Libs of TikTok want to make this about race because they singled out the India fellowship part from their own screenshot which mentions how the doctor actually completed his residency with exceptional performance at Yale and Stanford?

[Sidharth @Cloudwatch199]

Fox News LIED to their audience.

They called LCAs “visas.” ( deliberately misleading)

They CLAIMED 90% of Indian H1bs are fraudulent.

They recycled a decade-old anecdote ( by a Pakistani American ) as current fraud evidence.

They dragged in unrelated fake degree cases ( that had nothing to do with H1b visas )

They turned India’s share of skilled-worker approvals into a conspiracy.

Then they used that fake narrative to blame Indians for America’s housing crisis, tech layoffs, wages, and economic anxiety.

That is a DELIBERATE smear campaign against Indians.

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire is manufacturing anti-Indian hate for ratings and India should stop treating them like a normal media business.

Review every Murdoch-linked channel, bureau, feed, access pass, distribution deal, and commercial privilege in India.

Bar them where appropriate.

You do not get to lie about Indians abroad and profit from India at home.

@FoxNews

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

That’s because fraud at scale takes time!

[Tapesh Yadav @tapeshyadav_usa]

In France and Flanders (Belgium), the Indian troops were met with much love as they were the first to arrive to die at the frontlines.

However, the British govt and elites segregated the Indians, discriminated and censored them:
Indian soldier =/= British soldier.

[Tapesh Yadav @tapeshyadav_usa]

🔥World War 1: when "Hindous" died for Europeans
... and got scammed

Vive Angleteere! Vivent Hindous! Vivent les Allies!
– French crowds, Marseilles, Sept 1914

Over 1 million Indians left families to fight for Europeans. Many never returned. A 🧵 on Indian sacrifices — and how India got scammed.

🔥When and Why did Indians get Involved?
1⃣July 1914: WW1 start. Aug 1944: Britain declared war on Germany. Troop mobilization started immediately in India. Boarded ships 4-8 week sea journey.
2⃣Sept 1914: the first Indian troops reached Marseilles (FR). Sent straight to the front lines. Among the earliest to die in large numbers in WW1.
3⃣British propaganda told them to fight for “their country,” for “dharma,” and for a better future. Posters repeated these messages until the war ended.
4⃣There is no record that the British ever told Indian soldiers or their families the true nature of the war — or who would actually benefit.
5⃣After the war, the same British told Indian and Nepalese soldiers: “Go back home to your own country. You don’t belong here.”
6⃣The mobilization was massive and widespread — from Assam and Bengal to Punjab, United Provinces, and Madras. It lasted from 1914 to 1918. More Indians served in WW1 than today's active+reserve military of France + UK.
7⃣Between 1914 and 1918, ~1.1 to 1.5 million Indians served outside India in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Inside India, the war effort directly and indirectly touched 10 to 37 million people. Nepalese Gurkhas and others also fought alongside them.

🔥Who Paid for All This?
India paid. Not Britain.
1⃣From August 1914 onward, the Indian exchequer covered the cost of sea voyages, salaries, food, clothing, and daily maintenance.
2⃣India also paid for wounded soldiers, pensions, and family support.
3⃣Indian grains and supplies were shipped to Europe, causing scarcity and inflation back home. Taxes were raised across the country.
4⃣Britain only covered “extraordinary” expenses — such as machine guns, grenades, and winter gear issued after arrival in Europe. Even these costs were a small fraction (under 10%) of what India paid.
5⃣In 1917, Britain was running out of money. They pressured an already strained India to give more “to save freedom and justice.”
6⃣The British colonial government announced a £100 million “gift” to Britain. The British needed more. So propaganda urged Indians to buy War Bonds — appealing to emotion, dharma, loyalty, and the safety of Indian soldiers overseas.

👉Total WW1 financial cost to India — adjusted to 2026 US dollars: approximately $23–28 billion.

🔥The Offers!
The British used every tool to recruit Indians.
1⃣They promised land parcels in India to peasant families who sent their sons to the front. Recruitment ads offered sign up bonus, salary, pension, and other benefits to the soldier and his family.
2⃣To the elites — zamindars, nawabs, local politicians — they gave recruitment quota plus cash rewards, robes of honour, titles, and more government land if they met recruitment quota. These bribes worked powerfully.
3⃣The British combined propaganda posters, paid recruitment agents, and social pressure. Over 90% of those who signed up and went overseas were illiterate and came from poor families. They believed the promises of life-changing money for their loved ones back home.

🔥Fog of War: Truth is the First Casualty
The British allowed soldiers to exchange letters with their families in India.
👉But every letter was secretly intercepted and censored by the British authorities!
1⃣Most soldiers were illiterate, so comrades wrote their letters for them.
2⃣In Indian villages, families used local scribes.
3⃣No matter who wrote them, all letters passed through British censors.
4⃣The colonial rulers feared the truth. News of the horror, mud, gas, and heavy losses could stop fresh recruitment. It could also spark rebellion back in India.
5⃣Any letter describing real conditions at the front was suppressed.
6⃣Thousands of these censored letters were finally released nearly a century later. They tell of anxiety and pain in Indian villages, true brutality of WW1 frontlines.

🔥Did the colonial era British scam the Indians?
A scam is a deceptive scheme that cheats people out of something valuable through lies and false promises.
1⃣The British told Indians to fight for “their country.”
Reality: The battlefields of France and Flanders were not their country. After the war, they were ordered to leave Europe: "Go back home, to your own country, you don't belong here".
2⃣The campaign used urgency and emotional appeals to extract money and lives.
3⃣Zero lasting benefit came to India or the families left behind. Many soldiers died or were crippled.
4⃣The war loans were deferred, not paid by the UK. The war bonds raised in India were largely repaid by Indian taxpayers themselves.

🔥Other notes
1⃣Indian soldiers had no citizenship rights in Britain or France.
2⃣They lived in segregated camps. Except for occasional photo-ops, they were barred from social mixing with Europeans.
3⃣They received far lower pay than British soldiers for the same dangers and same work.
4⃣The British and French textbooks suppressed the role of Indians in saving "Western civilization" during WW1. Occasional footnotes and passing remarks spin the narrative to “loyal sepoys”, "demonstrated their loyalty and bravery", but in India that is not how they recruited Indians for their war.
5⃣After the war, instead of gratitude, democracy and freedom, India received the repressive Rowlatt Act that intensified colonial abuses by the British govt.

India gave everything to help Europe.
It received almost nothing in return.

---
Sources:
- Kaushik Roy, Indian Army and the First World War
- Ian Cardozo, The Bravest of the Brave
- S Das, India, Empire, and First World War Culture
- Morton-Jack, The Indian Army on the Western Front
- Official records including Hansard (UK Parliament)

[Sidharth @Cloudwatch199]

Anshul Kuncha was 28.

An Indian man in Pennsylvania, working late at night, delivering pizza , trying to build a life.

He was lured to a vacant apartment with a fake order.
The pizzas were left untouched.
He was followed.
Then he was shot dead.
And the silence is DEFEANING.

If this were any other community, politicians would be holding press conferences, media panels would be running nonstop, and every activist account would be screaming his name.

But because he was Indian, people want to file it away as “just another crime story.”

No.

Say his name: Anshul Kuncha.

An Indian immigrant was murdered while working.
His life mattered.
His family deserves JUSTICE.
And America needs to stop treating violence against Indians like background noise.

[Sanjeev Sanyal @sanjeevsanyal]

One more borderline racist opinion piece from @TheEconomist ...... here making fun of the Indian "uncle". Now, north Indians like making fun of the proverbial "phuphaji" - the bane of every family wedding. In Bengal, it is the eternally annoyed "pishi". I am sure other parts of India have their equivalent. However, the Economist is trying to convert this into some sort of political Gen Z thing by mocking the older generation. This is a serious cultural misunderstanding. We make fun of "phupha-ji" as a default - and this was true of all previous generations. Even phuphajis make fun of phuphajis. The journalist at Economist is trying to force fit their "angry, white male" stereotype that is a staple of the Western Left in their home market; tone deaf and contrived when applied to India.

[Dr. Lavanya Vemsani Ph.D. @ProfVemsani]

The way they manipulated India related information on @Wikipedia should be reason enough to suspend its use as an authentic resource. Educational institutions must question@Wikipedia on inappropriate information and definitely not use it for any educational purposes. @Wikipedia is becoming a dangerous defamation machine. They should be taken to court

[Hindu American Foundation @HinduAmerican]

PRESS STATEMENT | A new investigative report by @NPOVMedia raises serious questions about how HAF's Wikipedia page was manipulated and vandalized.
Wikipedia is supposed to be a trusted public resource. Instead, it appears to have been weaponized against HAF.
Our statement 👇https://t.co/QPukOIcThY

[Aravind @aravind]

It was not an "incorrect story", it was a fake news article to create panic in Indian markets to cause economic & political issues within India. And this is not the first such "incorrect story." Bloomberg, Reuters, FT, CNBC, WSJ, etc are all being used to hit India continuously.

[Robert Wilkinson @robertwlk]

40 years ago today, l asked my childhood sweetheart, my best friend and the most gorgeous woman l know to marry me.

All three said no.

[Dr. Lavanya Vemsani Ph.D. @ProfVemsani]

Correct, they vandalized my page and eventually deleted it. They did that to many India related subject pages and also profiles of many Indians and Indian origin folks. Some @Wikipedia editors treat it as their private property and not a neutral free resource.

[Dr. Lavanya Vemsani Ph.D. @ProfVemsani]

@Wikipedia pages are so manipulated in connection with India related subjects. They did that to my profile also- manipulated it before deleting it.
@Wikipedia should be ashamed of itself marketing itself as a free service. Its bias makes it hardly usable.
They recently held a webinar on using it for education with @AHAhistorians which is really interesting in view for f how badly the subjects are manipulated on @Wikipedia according to the agenda of a few editors who are not qualified in any subjects of humanities or social sciences which they edited and control the narrative.

[Clear Skies @DisdainfulSam]

RT @ProfVemsani: Hahaha! How many errors she had to perpetrate to keep her title? Some eminent historian!
She doesn’t know Sanskrit she ju…