Divya

[Prashant Bhushan @pbhushan1]

A heartfelt message by a parent, K Sharad Haksar to Neha Bora.
“When I got married, I knew I wanted only one child. And in my heart, I hoped it would be a girl.
I was blessed with a daughter.
The first time I held her, I made her a silent promise. You will never have to share my time. You will never have to wait for my attention. Whatever I have, you will get all of it.
I had seen families with four or five children. Parents running from morning to night, and still some child was always left waiting. I also felt our country has too many people, and nature is paying for it. One child felt right. It felt responsible.
For years, I never questioned it.
Then this year, I saw Neha Bora.
She is 29, a PhD student at JNU, a theatre artist from Khatima, a small town in the hills of Uttarakhand. When the NEET paper leak happened, she sat down at Jantar Mantar for students she did not even know. Children who had studied for years. Parents who had spent their savings on coaching and still lost.
She did not eat for 23 days.
She was 66 kilos when she started. She lost more than 7. Near the end, doctors were taking her blood three or four times a day.
The night I read that, I could not sleep. I kept seeing my own daughter in her place. On a hot Delhi road. Thin. Tired. A doctor holding her wrist again. And I knew I would not be able to stand there and watch. I would have begged her to stop.
But Neha did not stop until the work was done. And when it was over, she said her body had forgotten how to eat. It had to learn again, like a baby. Even then, still weak, she went to Bihar to meet more than 600 students who had been arrested. She did not go home to rest. She went to the ones who had stood by her.
I am a dowser. Every day I work with energy. I have learned that anger is heavy. It burns out fast. Nobody can live on anger for 23 days without food. Only love can carry you that far.
Then I read that her father was in the Army, and the family kept moving from one posting to the next.
My wife's father was also in the Army. I never call him my father-in-law. To me, he is simply Papa. My wife studied in 13 schools. Thirteen first days. Thirteen times walking into a class where nobody knew her name. Thirteen goodbyes to friends she never saw again. Army children learn to smile, pack their bags and start again. Nobody asks them how much it hurts. I see that strength in my wife every day. I saw it in Neha too.
In Ranchi, a man threw ink on her face and called her anti-national. She said she had already faced pellets and lathis in Delhi. Ink would not scare her.
Ink washes off. In energy work, we say that what people throw at you only stays if you take it in. She seems to know this without ever holding a pendulum.
Her family did not agree with her. There were fights at home. But during the hunger strike, her mother came to Jantar Mantar.
I don't know what they said to each other. I don't need to. I am a parent. I know what a mother feels when she sees her child weak and thin on a road, and still standing. Every argument is forgotten in that moment. All that is left is: this is my child.
Neha said she has not spoken to her father yet.
I don't know him. But I am a father too, and I know how hard it is for men like us to say some things out loud. So if he cannot say it yet, let me say it for him, from Chennai.
Beta, we are proud of you. Now go and eat something properly.
Somewhere in all this, a thought came to me that I never expected. I wish I had one more daughter. One like Neha. This takes nothing away from my own daughter. She is my world. She always will be. But Neha made me ask myself a hard question. We spend our whole lives keeping our children safe and helping them get ahead. Do we ever teach them to look back at who is being left behind? And if one day they stand up for someone else, will we stand next to them as Neha's mother did? Or will we ask them to come home and stay quiet. Our job is to protect that light, even when it scares us.

[Tyrion Lannister @HandOf_Queen]

@LiveLawIndia Then why are you there as judge, go home and watch some tv serial… judge of the largest democracy don’t have time to address police brutality 🤡

[Bharat Pande @PerkyPande]

@LiveLawIndia It happens only in India 🫡
July 17: SC agrees to an urgent hearing to clear the release of the animated film Mahaprabhu Jagannath. 🎬

July 22: SC refuses urgent hearing for students beaten by police because "we don't have time to watch videos." 🚫

https://t.co/oCY5L6OTSC

[B.H.Harsh @film_waala]

Everybody should watch Samdish's coverage video. The man did exactly what a journalist is supposed to do, and more.
I have never seen such anger on his face.

[Dr. Ruchika Sharma @tishasaroyan]

India has forgotten how to be angry at the government in power. The complete apathy of the govt should actually make people angrier but the lack of accountability of the State is slowly being normalised. From E-20 fuel to paper leak, people are wondering why the opposition isn't doing enough instead of realizing you are the opposition too! Raise hell, do something!!!

[Abhijeet Dipke @abhijeet_dipke]

Day 15 of @Wangchuk66’s hunger strike.

When will the government wake up????

[Rajdeep Sardesai @sardesairajdeep]

MORE SHAME: now the WFI stops @Phogat_Vinesh from competing in the 53 kg category trials and tells her only this morning on the day of trials that she can compete only in 50 kg category! PURE VENDETTA being carried out against a world class athlete only because she took on the ‘ESTABLISHMENT’. Will anyone from GOI, sports ministry or our sporting fraternity speak up? No wonder we can never be a great Olympic nation: too much politics, too little sport.😡

[Gabbar @Gabbar0099]

This is called true journalism 🔥

Hats off to Ravish Kumar 👏

[Rahul Pillai @imRahul31Pillai]

The fact that idiots like Premanand Maharaj are revered today shows our country’s plight. These godmen objectify women,spread poison, divide communities and drag us back decade- or perhaps they just expose the dark,regressive face of religion many refuse to see.
#PremanandMaharaj

[Rahul Pillai @imRahul31Pillai]

It is because of women like @MnshaP @dhanyarajendran @PoojaPrasanna4 and others at @newslaundry that many around me have actually realized what real journalists are supposed to do. Newsance and Let Me Explain have been a go to for friends and family alike. More power to you.

[PunsterX @PunsterX]

Before 2014: The problem is not at the border, the problem is at the centre.

Now: The problem is not at the centre. The problem is that 140cr Indians are not patriotic and nationalist.

[Abijit Ganguly @AbijitG]

Same old annoying discussions. Some video of a tourist operator comes out that we don't even take our tourists in that region and the uncle mandli latches on to it. That it's a high risk area, people shouldn't have gone. The victim blaming in this country just has no end. Kaha kaha nahi jaaye bhai, railway station nahi jaaye, Kumbh mei nahi jaaye, Hoarding ke neeche se nahi jaaye, raat ko road pe nahi jaaye, kahi bhi jao toh apni galti hai.
Sabki galti hai bhai, sabki siwae of course those in power. No no, they are best, they toh can't be questioned.
Haan bhai Hindu mare hai. Haan bhai musalman terrorists ne mara hai. Toh bachao na bhai? Yeh 11 saal se toh BJP power mei hai, toh yeh Hinduo ko khatra bade kyu jaa raha hai. Kar toh liya Article 370. Usse toh sab sahi ho jaana tha. Phir kyu nahi ho raha? Army presence kam kyu kar rakhi thi?
Isse acha toh Congress rule mei sabko sense rehti thi sarkar responsible hoti hai security ki, toh agar koi lapse ho toh inhe galiyao. Ab kuch hota hai toh marne wale gaye bhaad mei, pehle sarkar ki izzat ko bachao. Koi unhe kuch na bole. Nikalo apna gussa baaki kisi pe bhi. Social media pe har post mei kuch issue nikalo. Ladne lago ki tumhari galti hai. Bas sarkar se accountability mat maango.
Yes, all eyes on Pahalgam. And all eyes on this incompetent government and their brainwashed blind supporters. All eyes on the clear cheerleaders of this govt who are clearly on their payrolls but have managed to convince that everyone who asks anything is actually the villain. All eyes on the flight companies given complete freedom by govt to loot people for Srinagar return flights right now at 40k. All eyes on you Modiji.