Harshit Saraiya

He/Man

[Opinion Bakery @IndiaSpeaksPR]

True solidarity with Sonam Wangchuk

[Viktor @desishitposterr]

Watched Satluj last evening. An honest take, because the film deserves both its due and its scrutiny.

First, the craft. This is a brilliantly made film. Tight script, gripping screenplay, top-notch performances from almost the entire cast. On pure filmmaking merit, it delivers.

Now the harder part.

My genuine critique: the film decontextualizes Jaswant Singh Khalra and the human rights question from the bloody Khalistani insurgency that decimated Punjab. Mass murders, rapes, atrocities on Sikhs and Hindus alike, Guru Ghars hijacked for terrorist recruitment. Punjab lived through all of it. Stripping that backdrop away is not nuance, it is omission.

Two men, CM Beant Singh and KPS Gill, get most of the credit for crushing what was effectively a Pakistan-backed proxy war, and rightly so. Portraying Beant Singh’s brutal assassination as a consequence of human rights abuses under his tenure is malicious framing.

And here’s the context the film refuses to sit with: by the early 90s, Punjab was not a law and order problem, it was a war. A neighbouring state was arming and funding it. Elections couldn’t be held. Civilians were being pulled off buses and shot for their religion. No state on earth, democratic or otherwise, absorbs that indefinitely. The response was brutal, and parts of it were indefensible. Both things are true. A film that shows you the second without the first isn’t telling you history, it’s telling you half of it.

There’s more. The film’s quiet justification of internationalizing domestic issues, and Khalra’s press conference line, “chahe mujhe koi gaadi se uda de yaa goli maar de”, read to me as indirect references to Deep Sidhu and Sidhu Moosewala’s deaths respectively. That subtext is hard to unsee.

To be clear: I have complete empathy for victims on both sides, of terrorism and of the police brutality that followed. But terrorism cannot be whitewashed under the blanket of human rights abuses that occur in every conflict zone.

And beneath all of this sits a genuine grief for Punjab. This is a land that has absorbed blow after blow for more than three centuries. Gurus gave their lives defending our land, our faith. The British brutalized it. Partition tore it in half, and its people were killed, maimed, raped, and left with nothing. Then came Khalistani terror, Operation Blue Star, the assassination of PM Indira Gandhi, then the Delhi pogrom and subsequent state excesses. And today: drugs, gangsterism, deindustrialization, an exodus of its young, families hollowed out, entire generations gone as if they never existed. Few regions of India have given more and been given less. But grief is not the same as grievance. Some of Punjab’s wounds were inflicted on it, some it inflicted on itself, and the tragedy is that an industry now exists to keep those wounds open rather than heal them. Punjab deserves better than both its enemies and its self-appointed avengers. That distinction is exactly what this film needed to hold, and didn’t.

Verdict: for all its goods and bads, Satluj is a MUST WATCH. But it carries a real risk, strong potential to be weaponized by Khalistani sympathizers to justify their actions. I’m all for free speech and every kind of filmmaking. That is exactly why context matters this much.

3.5/5

[Rahul Srinivas @whizkidd]

Imagine if India can do to its municipal bodies what it did to some of its airports. This country would undergo a bigger transformation in the next 10 years than it has had in the last 70.

Imagine if municipal employees had to earn their job security every year.

...if promotions and increments depended on whether roads stayed drivable.
...if drains actually drained.
...if garbage was cleared on time, and if public spaces are usable.

Instead, our municipal bodies have today become a safe haven for slackers and a sanctuary for the corrupt.
Deliver results or don't. Show up or don't. The salary arrives all the same.

No private company could survive with that culture. Yet, we expect our cities to thrive under these exact conditions.

[Aditya Gupta @DrAditya2935]

People defending late comers now?
I have sat in 10 competitive exams - add 2 more where I just appeared for recall questions - being late is an excuse barring force majeure.

If gate closes 30 minutes before - you have to be there 1.5 to 2 hours before. Not 30 minutes before.

We defend everything which is wrong and then wonder why our country has gone to dogs.

We have people defending peeing in public. (No toilet nearby)
There was a Rj defending someone peeing in Metro.
People defending littering. (No dustbin nearby)
People defending stray dogs biting children.
People defending pigeons spreading diseases.

When general public is shameless - the politicians too are cut from the same bread. We get what we deserve.

[David Keyes @DavidMKeyes]

I, too, have decided not to build nukes in exchange for $300 billion

[Opinion Bakery @IndiaSpeaksPR]

Just 1 month ago Abhishek's men beat Congress worker Debdeep Chatterjee to death in Asansol. Kharge stayed silent - Bengal Congress members have no self-respect

[Snehesh Alex Philip @sneheshphilip]

ThePrint 50WordEdit on government planning to use IAF to transport NEET papers

[Frontier Indica @frontierindica]

India is lucky to have Zerodha. Not because it is perfect, but because it is one of the few consumer finance companies in India that does not seem to treat users like livestock to be milked.

Their published company philosophy says they do not impose internal growth targets for accounts opened, app installs, orders placed or revenue generated. For a brokerage, where most of the business model depends on making users trade more, this is almost heretical.

They even warn users about risky trades, illiquid stocks and how few active traders actually make money.

We need more companies like this in India. Companies that understand that consumer goodwill is also an asset, not just something to be strip-mined the moment there is a chance to improve margins.

[sushant sareen @sushantsareen]

They were banking on useful idiots like you to laud this move. Before you go all bonkers ask if the state of minorities and the crimes against them have stopped? Have they stopped forced conversions? Have Hindu girls as young as 13 stopped being kidnapped, forcibly converted, raped and married to their kidnappers without any recourse to law or any relief from courts. But let’s congratulate them for brining back old names and play into their propaganda. Like I said, useful idiots.

[Pune Mirror @ThePuneMirror]

Nearly two years after the deadly Pune Porsche crash that killed a young IT engineer, the victim’s mother has once again expressed frustration over the pace of justice in the case. Speaking emotionally, she said her family “lost everything” in the tragedy while claiming that no real consequences have been faced by the accused so far.

The high-profile case had sparked nationwide outrage after a 17-year-old allegedly rammed a Porsche car into two IT professionals in Pune. The juvenile accused, along with both parents, was later granted bail by the court. The victim’s mother said legal proceedings are ongoing, but the family still feels helpless and uncertain about the future of the case.

#PunePorscheCase #Pune #Justice #RoadSafety #Punetimesmirror

[sushant sareen @sushantsareen]

PM needs to stop virtue signalling. Convoys and security protocols and arrangements should be based on threat perception. PM and HM are in high risk and shouldn’t compromise on security. All other ministers can make do with even one vehicle. State ministers and babus should not get more than one vehicle. These people should not travel with an army of attendants and hanger ons. Put an end to that even if there was no austerity.

[Rahul Raj @x_rahulraj]

Huge population, lack of prosperity, and deep social fault lines are certainly major reasons for economic stress in India.

However, the BJP cannot run away from the fact that it has also spent enormous amounts on freebies, made sections of society complacent through welfare-driven appeasement, and done too little to meaningfully control corruption.

[THE SKIN DOCTOR @theskindoctor13]

“Why are you crying about the re-exam? It’s not like you’ll forget everything you studied in a few weeks. If you are a good student, you can study again and still score well.”

Well, that’s not how things work. Competitive examinations are not merely tests of knowledge, but also tests of timing, mental conditioning, emotional stability, and peak performance achieved after months or years of disciplined preparation. Serious students structure their entire routine around one examination date, carefully managing sleep, revision cycles, stress levels, mock tests, and mental sharpness to perform at their absolute best on that particular day.

When an exam is cancelled despite their honest effort, they are forced to recreate the same level of focus and intensity again, which is mentally exhausting and usually impossible with the same efficiency.

The hardest-working students are affected the most because they invest the greatest emotional and mental energy into preparation. After the first exam, many experience burnout, fatigue, reduced concentration, emotional numbness, and loss of momentum. Even if their knowledge remains intact, their sharpness may decline during the re-exam.

Most damaging of all, paper leaks weaken a sincere student’s faith in merit itself. When students realize that even years of hard work cannot protect them from systemic failures caused by others’ dishonesty, it creates frustration, helplessness, and distrust toward institutions.

This is why a leak-proof exam is non-negotiable, the bare minimum that can be done for hard working students.

[anand mahindra @anandmahindra]

The results of the recent state elections have been dramatic by any measure.

But for me, this image will remain the most unforgettable outcome of the elections.

More than 166,000 votes were cast between the two leading candidates in this constituency in Tamil Nadu.

And history was changed by just one vote.

This image should be shown in every school in the country & perhaps around the world.

So that every child understands that when they grow up, the greatest power they may possess is the Power of One.

The power of their one vote.

[THE SKIN DOCTOR @theskindoctor13]

"Bengal me sarkar banane ke liye sirf 147 seats hi chahiye, lekin BJP 180-200 ki taraf badh rahi hai. 40-50 seats zyada laakar aap kya karenge kam se kam yeh bhi to bataiye."

[Mao Shichigan 🦋 @weAllGonnaDye]

South India is like a different world bro they don’t want the ₹1500 like the rest they elect their CM based on who pinches the navel of his co-actor the best😭

[Arjun* @mxtaverse]

There is now a double engine govt in West Bengal, Assam and Tripura. Police and BSF are in their control. There are no more excuses remaining. Illegal infiltration along the Bangladesh border must stop.

[Jahazi @Oye_Jahazi]

Madrasi gaali de rhe. Hindi me likha tweet sab samjh gye. Good going, keep learning 👍

[Aditya Jakki @adityajakki]

Only reason why Southern and Western regions of India are more prosperous than Central and Eastern parts of India because politicians from South and West realised much earlier that there is more money to be made in corruption by being pro business than being against business

Now gradually UP is also realising this

Soon Bihar and Bengal will also realise

[Nirmalya Dutta @NonsensicalNemo]

There was a time when Pakistani youngsters could just drop into Mumbai and visit the Taj and CST. Still remember watching it on TV.