Anshuman Solanki

no hypocrisy, no hate, no judgement

[Anshuman Solanki @A_Solanki_1998]

The day has come. The king is home. Wecome back @Cristiano 😍😭

[Manchester United @ManUtd]

Welcome 𝗵𝗼𝗺𝗲, @Cristiano 🔴

#MUFC | #Ronaldo

[Hardik Rajgor @Hardism]

I once had an interview with Azeem when I was looking for my first job.

I was young, excited, wanting to become a writer.

East India Comedy used to work from a 3-BHK at the time. Sahil Shah had helped me land the interview.

Azeem looks at my CV and the first thing he tells me is - "I have blocked you on Twitter."

I thought it was a strange way to begin an interview. I had never interacted with him on Twitter. We never had even an exchange or any conversation.

So he opens my profile on his laptop, unblocks me (so he can access the Tweets) and then scrolls down and reads a few tweets till he finds one particular tweet and says - "Ah yes, it was this one."

AIB at that time had made a video where they made jokes on cows / gaumutra in the sketch. I had put out a tweet stating that it was easy for comics to make jokes on Hinduism but I've never seen them take such liberty with other religions / faiths / beliefs. And that they were not equal opportunity offenders.

I was asked to 'explain' this tweet. And so I did. And it led to a discussion and argument for over 10 minutes, where I was repeatedly told I was wrong, after which the interview ended. I had applied to be a 'writer' and I was asked nothing about it - what I had written, what I wanted to write, my skillsets and so no. Nothing.

I was too young to be confident or have strong self belief, and I walked out thinking maybe I shouldn't have put out that tweet - it cost me this job.

What I found strange even back then, was that a person much senior to me in the profession, would be fixated on some tweet, and was not open to another opinion or point-of-view that was different from his.

Surely, it would help to have people with different views writing for a news satire show?

I was naive.

The goal is never diversity of thought or opinion.

The view or angle is always pre-decided. All they need is people to further it.

[ToonHive @ToonHive]

‘Bob The Builder’ has returned to stop-motion animation for the first time in 18 years in a new commercial.

[Anand Ranganathan @ARanganathan72]

Dear @Javedakhtarjadu. I'm afraid your response is as boring and overloaded as your similes and metaphors. When countered with facts, you shift the goalpost, bring in the RSS, berate the right wing, take refuge in context, cushion the bigotry, and claim Kafirs were Colonialists not Hindus.

I know countering you again is like watering a cactus and praying for leechis, but in the hope that all that knee massaging with Doctor Ortho would have sprouted some neurons, here goes:

You asked for a source because you said the quote was “quite unlike” Azad’s “lifelong sociopolitical stances.” I gave you the source: Calcutta, 27 October 1914, published in Khutbat-e-Azad. The words are his. That should have ended the enquiry. It did not. So let us walk through your new script, line by line.

1. “The khutbats were about Khilafat and British colonialism.”

Yes. That is what I wrote. Maulana Azad was telling Indian Muslims that a Turk’s battlefield thorn must be felt in a Hindustani Muslim’s heart; that Millat-e-Islam is one body; that friendship and enmity are for the religion of Allah. Then he quoted Quran 48:29 and added his own gloss: be extremely hard against disbelievers, extremely kind among yourselves, and do not pass over this as if you had not heard it. You asked for the when and where. You received both. “It was about Khilafat” is not a rebuttal. It is the context in which he said it.

2. “To claim he was quoting this about the Hindus of India will not be true. The Kafir here was the colonialist.”

I did not say the 1914 speech was a municipal circular against the Hindus of Howrah. I quoted what Azad quoted: a Quranic verse about kuffar, and his commentary on unbelief, Tawhid, and hardness toward disbelievers. If Azad had meant “kafir = only the British officer,” he knew Urdu enough to say Angrez. He did not. He used the Book’s word, then told his flock not to skip it.

And if “kafir” in Azad’s mouth was a temporary colonial nickname, kindly explain the 1920 Hijrat fatwa, published in Ahl-e-Hadith of Amritsar, in which he said Indian Muslims had no choice but to migrate, and that those who stayed and kept connection with “the enemy of Islam” would themselves be counted as the enemy of Islam. That is not a lecture on income-tax collectors. That is a theology of the land.

3. “When Ataturk took over, Azad called it a closed chapter and condoned the secular government.”

Men change. Texts do not. If later Azad made peace with the death of the Caliphate, good for the later Azad. It does not unsay 1914, nor the Khilafat years, nor Masala-e-Khilafat, nor the call that any government hostile to Turkey was hostile to Islam, not the belief in the Quranic verse damning the Kafirs. You began by saying the paragraph was unlike his lifelong stances. Lifelong includes the years he spent as a pan-Islamist firebrand. Evolution is not an eraser. It is a timeline.

4. “Read his Calcutta High Court statement. An honour no member of the Mahasabha or RSS was ever given.”

Sedition charges from the Raj are not a unique family heirloom. Tilak got them. Aurobindo got them. Savarkar was given two life terms and sent to Cellular Jail, where the honour included the oil mill, the lash, and years in a cell the size of a cupboard.

And of course, knowing your pitiful knowledge of Indian History, I guess you would not know legendary RSS names like Devipad Chaudhary, Jagatpati Kumar, Anna Saheb Deshpande, Ramakant Keshav, Vasantrao Oak, Narayan Singh, Chandrakant Bhardwaj, Dada Naik Chimur, Baburao Begade, Lala Hansraj, Balaji Raipurkar who participated in our freedom struggle and were jailed or shot.

5. “Azad was in British jails for nine years. Name one from your right wing who can match that.”

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar: roughly a decade in Kala Pani, further years in mainland jails, then thirteen years of internment in Ratnagiri. Sentence on paper: fifty years. Conditions: not Ahmednagar Fort with time to write Ghubar-e-Khatir.

By the way, you might know that your great-great-grandfather Fazl-e-Haq Khairabadi was also incarcerated at Kala Pani. What you might not know, or would want to hide, is that he wrote a grovelling mercy petition to the British, pleading to be released.

6. “In 1946 Jinnah refused to shake Azad’s hand. He hated Azad for his patriotism.”

How does this turn “be severe against the kafirs, merciful among themselves” into a sonnet about communal harmony? A man can spend 1946 refusing Partition and still have spent 1914 telling Indian Muslims that their first body is the ummah. Fairness is holding both pages open. What you are doing is hiding the 1914 page and waving the 1946 one like a flag.

7. “Your reference to Rahul Gandhi was unnecessary, I expect decency and class.”

And I expected you to have some sense of humour. The PS was a reminder that this is the second time I have had to fetch your hero’s paperwork. Last time it was Nehru’s India: books banned, editors sacked, films blocked, Majrooh jailed for a couplet.

You lecture me on class after moving from “this cannot be Azad” to “it is Azad but you must read kafir as colonialist” to “anyway he went to jail” to “Jinnah was rude to him” to “please don’t mention Rahul.” That is not class. That is a guided tour of every exit except the text.

Look, Javed sahab, let us end this here. I like you. Doubtless a lot of your work is incredible, truly it is. So in that spirit, permit me to pen an ode to you:

Javed Akhtar ko dekha toh aisa laga, jaise chhal ka nawab, jaise jhoot ki kitaab, jaise dhong ki kiran, jaise adambar ka van, jaise kapton ki baat, jaise pakhand ki raat, jaise janpath mein ho ek jalta diya.

Alvida, Shabba khair. WDTP

[The Jaipur Dialogues @JaipurDialogues]

JAVED AKHTAR - "People opposing Uniform Civil Code in India want to send their kids to USA, UK where there is Uniform Civil Code"

"They even want green card for them" 😳

[Nike @Nike]

It was all going to plan until instincts took over…

Rip The Script

[Wayne Barton @WayneSBarton]

It’s Best, Law and Charlton in England by a million miles mate.

All three won the Ballon d’Or playing for the same team at the same time and three of the greatest individual players in history.

[Rohit @Iam_Rohit_G]

US Airforce: We had to bomb two C-130s, but we got our pilots back from Iran.

US People : Our Military is Great, Strongest. We don't care about how many C-130s, F15s or F35 gets destroyed in the mission.

Indian Airforce: We bombed 9 Terrorist Sites, 12 Airbases and All our Pilots are back home safely.

Indian Journalist: We don't care about your mission, Your Terror Sites, Pak Air bases, Just Tell us how many Jets we lost during the mission.

[Ashley Young @youngy18]

AWAY DAYS 🤘🏾YANITED YANITED YANITED👹👹

[Nikhil saini @iNikhilsaini]

Heres the video from the Raulane Mela of Kinnaur Himachal . Raw culture untouched traditions and a spiritual vibe you can literally feel through the screen. Sanatan is the most mysterious and most aesthetic religion in the world and moments like these show its timeless beauty.

[Sidharth II सिद्धार्थ @sidharthgehlot]

Himachal Pradesh poster is here 🙏

[Narendra Modi @narendramodi]

#OperationSindoor on the games field.

Outcome is the same - India wins!

Congrats to our cricketers.

[America News Times - ANT @ANewsTimes]

May I count on your support?
#ReleaseSharmistha

[Cristiano Ronaldo @Cristiano]

This chapter is over.
The story? Still being written.
Grateful to all.

[Prakhar Gupta @prvkhvr]

To Friends in the West and to the people of Pakistan,

Jai hind 🇮🇳

[Anshuman Solanki @A_Solanki_1998]

Bharat MATA ki Jai🇮🇳 Jai Hind

[ADG PI - INDIAN ARMY @adgpi]

OPERATION SINDOOR

Indian Army Pulverizes Terrorist Launchpads

As a response to Pakistan's misadventures of attempted drone strikes on the night of 08 and 09 May 2025 in multiple cities of Jammu & Kashmir and Punjab, the #Indian Army conducted a coordinated fire assault on terrorist launchpads, pulverizing & razing them to cinders.
The terrorist launchpads, located close to the Line of Control, were a hub for planning and executing terror attacks against Indian civilians and security forces in the past. The Indian Army's swift and decisive action has dealt a significant blow to terrorist infrastructure and capabilities.

#IndianArmy
#PahalgamTerrorAttack
#JusticeServed
@DefenceMinIndia
@SpokespersonMoD
@HQ_IDS_India
@NorthernComd_IA
@Whiteknight_IA

[Gaurav Lal @goraavlol]

Karan Thapar and his crew are nothing but vultures. Those who think banning The Wire is wrong need a serious reality check on how developed their brains actually are.

#IndiaPakistanWar #TheWire

[Treeni @treeni]

Hello @VictoriasSecret, your employee Afnaan Yousuf, Senior Product Manager in Bangalore, India, is posting anti-India content while supporting Pakistan.

She earns a salary in India while advocating for Pakistan. Terminate her immediately.

[Goa Villas @Goavilla_]

Due to Turkey's non-cooperative stance in the current global scenario involving India and Pakistan, we’ve decided not to offer any accommodation services to Turkish citizens in Goa. We stand firmly with our nation.

Jai Hind 🇮🇳

[Ministry of Defence, Government of India @SpokespersonMoD]

All media channels, digital platforms and individuals are advised to refrain from live coverage or real-time reporting of defence operations and movement of security forces. Disclosure of such sensitive or source-based information may jeopardize operational effectiveness and endanger lives. Past incidents like the #KargilWar, 26/11 attacks, and the #Kandahar hijacking underscore the risks of premature reporting. As per clause 6(1)(p) of the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2021, only periodic briefings by designated officials are permitted during anti-terror operations. All stakeholders are urged to exercise vigilance, sensitivity, and responsibility in coverage, upholding the highest standards in the service of the nation. 🇮🇳

Read more: https://t.co/bHscgUBMEV

#MediaAdvisory #NationalSecurity #MIBIndia #ResponsibleReporting

@rajnathsingh
@DefenceMinIndia
@SethSanjayMP
@HQ_IDS_India
@adgpi
@indiannavy
@IAF_MCC
@PIB_India