Murli Menon

Writer, ex-Editor and Publishing Director, self-appt. analyst on sports, politics and TV. I was not on Twitter, but June 14, 2020 changed that.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@JhaSanjay You must know how that is done.

So stop your garbage when out of power.

The Congress DNA is about DIVIDE AND RULE.

Sorry Congis. Truth hurts .

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@dhruv_rathee FU!

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@sabeer Never happening!

And don't blame us Indians for whatever happens in future.

Get a life man.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@Portfolio_Bull This man - who thinks he is a comedian - is employed by Salman Khan by all reports in public.

So we shouldn't expect him to do reviews of any patriotic or nationalistic.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@aquibmir71 🙏🫡 We thank him for his sacrifice and service.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@LevinaNeythiri Stay safe Levina.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@JayantBhandari5 Of course! And someone like you knows all about it.

Expose it on national TV instead of hiding on X.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@thehawkeyex @ParineetiChopra The guy married to her is already on the fringes of the party.

He is a persona non grata in the Kejruddin scheme of things.

Good luck to the adoring couple!

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

Cowardice is a negative state of mind.

Not a policy.

[Nirupama Menon Rao 🇮🇳 @NMenonRao]

There is a certain genre of writing that substitutes accusation for argument. It begins by assigning motive, then arranges facts,real, distorted, or imagined, to fit that conclusion. The recent commentary on my views on India-Pakistan relations follows that familiar script.

Let me state the essentials clearly. To argue that India must combine deterrence with engagement is NOT to diminish the reality of terrorism, nor to excuse it. It is to recognise how serious nations manage adversaries. India has, across governments and decades, done precisely this, responding firmly to terror while retaining channels of communication where necessary to prevent escalation and miscalculation. This is not sentimentality. It is statecraft.

The suggestion that engagement grants “impunity” rests on a false binary, that one must either talk or act. In practice, states do both. To collapse that complexity into a moral accusation may make for forceful prose, but it does not make for sound policy.

The caricature of a women’s caucus is equally misplaced. It is not proposed as a substitute for national policy, nor as a solution to entrenched conflict. It is a modest Track II initiative, one of many possible avenues, to widen dialogue, reduce hostility, and explore areas where cooperation may still be possible. Such efforts do not require approval from those who see every form of engagement as capitulation.

Invoking the suffering of victims of terrorism to argue against any form of dialogue is particularly troubling. Their loss demands seriousness, not rhetorical deployment. Accountability is not strengthened by narrowing the space for thought.

The claim that an idea is discredited because it is welcomed by a Pakistani voice is also a curious standard. If the merit of an argument is to be judged by who agrees with it, then independent judgment itself is surrendered. Ideas must stand or fall on their own logic.

Beyond the rhetoric lies a more fundamental question: what is India’s end game with Pakistan?

If it is to reduce Pakistan to rubble, that is fantasy dressed up as toughness. It is not going to happen, and any attempt to move in that direction would risk catastrophe for the entire region, not least for India. Nuclear geography is a stern schoolmaster. It does not indulge chest-thumping.

The real end game has to be containment, deterrence, internal strengthening, and selective engagement.

In plain words:
India’s objective should be to make Pakistan’s use of terror too costly to sustain, while preventing the relationship from sliding into permanent uncontrolled escalation. That means four things.

First, raise the cost of terrorism. Through intelligence, border management, diplomatic isolation where warranted, calibrated military response when necessary, and relentless exposure of the infrastructure of proxy violence. No illusions there.

Second, deny Pakistan veto power over India’s future. We should not let our growth, our diplomacy, our regional ambitions, or our internal confidence be held hostage by a single hostile neighbour. The greatest strategic answer to Pakistan is a stronger, more cohesive, more prosperous India.

Third, manage the conflict, not romanticise it. There will be no grand reconciliation in the near term. But neither can every interaction be reduced to rage. Ceasefire mechanisms, back channels, water safeguards, crisis hotlines, and limited functional engagement are not signs of softness. They are instruments of control.

Fourth, keep open the possibility of a different future without betting on it. That is where dialogue belongs. Not as wishful thinking, not as “aman ki asha” balloon releases, but as disciplined statecraft. You talk not because you trust, but because you must understand, signal, warn, probe, and occasionally de-escalate.

So the end game is not rubble.
It is a Pakistan that is deterred, constrained, denied easy success, and unable to derail India’s future.

Fury is a mood. It is not a policy.

[Wisdom Walk @wisdom_walkss]

When a group of girls from Meghalaya sang "Maa Tujhe Salaam" together inside a packed stadium, the moment turned deeply emotional and unforgettable. Their voices rose in perfect unity, echoing pride, gratitude, and love for the nation, proving that patriotism speaks every language and lives in every corner of India.

Dressed simply yet confidently, they transformed the stadium into a symbol of unity, reminding everyone that India's strength lies in its diversity and shared respect for the motherland. The performance wasn't just a song -it was a powerful message of harmony, belonging, and national pride that left the audience moved and inspired.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@BabonesBhai Garbage as usual.
Not cheking it out.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@ColDiptangshu @ShefVaidya @KanchanGupta @NMenonRao What a loser!

Not the "lady" BTW.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@ShefVaidya @anupamachopra @khanumarfa @dhruv_rathee This movie franchise is going to go over 3,500 cr!

Nothing can stop it.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@sanket Always the original NDTV product.

Not your fault...

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@TheEconomist Please watch Hindi movies like Pathaan, Tiger and War.

They will thrill you since countries most responsible for global terror, are shown as victims and martyrs.

How come you haven't done reviews of those movies?

Pathetic!

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@paranjoygt So what exactly is your point?

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@RShivshankar Forget about the Western media. What about our own that lauds films like Pathaan and the Tiger Franchise?
The Bollywood lot is essentially promoting ISI and Pakistan while degrading our own agencies and armed forces for audiences across the globe.
So we sure are a leaking ship!

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@Sanju_Verma_ Fact is that today, the world is aware of what a loser this scion of the so-called first family really is!
He's an embarrassment to his own party.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

@JaipurDialogues 'Fattu Fathaan' is total garbage peddled in the name of cinema.

It is also the last bit of pro-Pak propaganda being peddled by the losers in Bollywood.

Their collective futures are now in jeopardy.

[Murli Menon @MurliMenon6]

You may have created Hotmail but you're a fraud.

We did defeat the "enemy" as you put it - 1965, 1971, 1991 and 2025.

Also, after all the colonization efforts by foreign powers like the Mughals and the British, Bharat is the 4th largest economy in the world.

Eat that reality for your next breakfast.