Abhi Janamanchi, he/him

Unitarian Universalist-Hindu minister; interfaith activist; lover of Life. #blacklivesmatter. #poorpeoplescampaign

[Abhi Janamanchi, he/him @revabhi]

When I was a young child, my maternal grandmother would often tell me stories of our rich cultural heritage. One of her favorites was about the divine Krishna, whose name means "the dark one."
“Black is beautiful," she would say, her voice soft yet firm.

[Pratik S Patil @Liberal_India1]

21 मिनिटांचा हा व्हिडिओ वेळ काढून नक्की बघा.

इरफान फक्त अंगणवाडीपर्यंत शिकला. त्यानंतरचं त्याचं विद्यापीठ म्हणजे Google, YouTube आणि स्वतःची जिज्ञासा.

त्याच्या बोलण्यातला अभ्यास, समाज-राजकारणाची समज, भाषेवरची पकड आणि कष्टकरी माणसांविषयीची संवेदनशीलता पाहिली की एक गोष्ट स्पष्ट होते—प्रतिभेला महागड्या पदवीची गरज नसते; संधीची गरज असते.

आणि लल्लनटॉपचा पत्रकार रजत पांडे… त्याने घेतलेली ही मुलाखत म्हणजे केवळ प्रश्नोत्तर नाही, तर एका दुर्लक्षित भारताला आवाज देण्याचा प्रयत्न आहे.

देशाच्या झोपडपट्ट्यांमध्ये, छोट्या गावांत आणि दुर्लक्षित वस्त्यांमध्ये असे कितीतरी इरफान आजही आहेत. प्रश्न त्यांच्या क्षमतेचा नाही, तर त्यांना व्यासपीठ मिळतं का याचा आहे.

[Dipankar @Dipankar_cpiml]

One of the most sensitive voices heard at Jantar Mantar. Listen to Mohammad Irfan. Babasaheb Ambedkar will call it constitutional morality.

[The Quint @TheQuint]

Nine years ago, S Anitha became the first victim of NEET in Tamil Nadu, and one of the most prominent faces of Tamil Nadu’s fight against NEET.

In 2017, the 17-year-old from Ariyalur had scored 1,176 out of 1,200 marks in her Class 12 Tamil Nadu State Board exams. Her medical cut-off score was 196.75 out of 200 — marks that would have placed her among medical aspirants under Tamil Nadu’s earlier admission system.

But that year, NEET became mandatory for medical admissions. Anitha, who had prepared through the state-board syllabus, could not secure a medical seat through the national entrance exam. She became one of the earliest voices opposing NEET in Tamil Nadu, arguing that a common entrance test would disadvantage students from rural areas, government schools and marginalised communities.

Anitha’s brother S. Manirathnam, who has now joined the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) protest in Delhi, says her fight was deeply personal.

He says Anitha was raised by their father, a daily wage labourer, after their mother died when she was seven. He recalls that Anitha wanted to become a doctor because their mother’s death due to an illness had shaped her dream of entering medicine.

“She wanted to become a doctor because she had seen the suffering caused by the lack of medical care,” Manirathnam said, recalling his sister’s journey.

Anitha joined the legal battle against NEET and became one of the petitioners before the Supreme Court, seeking relief for Tamil Nadu students. The Court did not grant the exemption sought by the state, and days later, on 1 September 2017, Anitha died by suicide at her home in Ariyalur.

Speaking about the impact of NEET on his family, Manirathnam said, “NEET has destroyed my family.”

Years later, he has joined the CJP protest, saying Tamil Nadu’s opposition to NEET began with students like Anitha, who questioned whether a single national entrance exam could account for the inequalities faced by students across the country.

@hey_eshwar reports.

[The India Talkies @TheIndiaTalkies]

Even Small Cockroaches have Joined in. BJ party is having a hard time 😂

[Hindus for Human Rights @Hindus4HR]

Our Advisory Board member Rajmohan Gandhi reminds us that a hunger strike is an appeal to conscience and an opening for dialogue. India’s students have taken extraordinary risks to be heard. The government must now meet them with seriousness, respect and action.

[Ihtesham Ali @ihteshamali]

A Stanford student got reported for academic misconduct last semester.

His research paper was so good his professor assumed he bought it.

The academic integrity hearing lasted 3 hours.

Here's what happened in that room.

The panel asked him to explain his methodology from scratch. He opened his laptop, pulled up https://t.co/7NsPvmOCXF, and started rebuilding the entire paper live in front of them.

First he fed it his raw notes and asked: "You are a research methodology expert. Here are my raw notes. Identify the 3 strongest arguments buried in this data, rank them by originality, and show me exactly where each one challenges or extends existing literature."

The professors went quiet.

Then he ran: "Now simulate a hostile peer reviewer with a PhD in this field. Generate every serious objection they would raise against my thesis. Then tell me which objections actually have merit and which ones I can dismantle."

One professor leaned forward and asked him to stop so she could write down the prompt.

He kept going. "Take my weakest argument and steelman it harder than I did. Show me what it would look like if it were airtight. Then tell me what I'd need to prove to get it there."

Then the one that ended the hearing. "You are my thesis advisor. I have 24 hours before submission. Read this draft and tell me the single change that would move this from a B+ to an A. Be brutal."

He walked them through how he'd used that last output to rewrite his conclusion three times until it held up under every objection in the room.

What took most PhD candidates 6 months of back-and-forth with advisors, he was doing in real-time inside a single workflow.

The panel didn't just clear him.

They gave him the highest grade in the department's history and asked him to present the workflow to faculty.

The irony is beautiful. The paper looked too good to be human because he'd found a way to think harder than most humans bother to.

That's not cheating. That's the new ceiling.

[Nature 🦜and Music 🎶 @GuGi263]

What a dream to sing a baby elephant to sleep...❤️

[Filastin Files™ @FilastinFiles]

🇵🇸🎵
Dalal abu-Amneh singing Palestinian folksong "Ala Dalouna"

[The Wire @thewire_in]

‘Iran is Not Gaza’: Acclaimed Writer Arundhati Roy

Arundhati Roy stirred the audience in Gurgaon on March 9 when she spoke of the travesty of the war in West Asia, imposed by US and Israel on Iran, threatening to engulf the region, and the world.

[The Protagonist @protagonist_xi]

Did you know that the composer of the famous Game of Thrones soundtrack is Iranian?

This is a cover of the iconic piece on the Iranian Daf, arranged by Reza Sajjadi and the original composer of this music is Ramin Djawadi 🔥

Notice who is playing it?

[Ishaan Tharoor @ishaantharoor]

I’m on holiday in India. This is a facile observation, but Americans have barely scratched the surface in understanding how the rest of the world is reacting to this war. It’s more than well on its way to becoming an Iraq War-style disaster in the global imagination, underscored by the perceived thuggishness and caprice of the Trump approach

[Abhi Janamanchi, he/him @revabhi]

A tremendous loss for the WP and for all of us.

[Ishaan Tharoor @ishaantharoor]

I have been laid off today from the @washingtonpost, along with most of the International staff and so many other wonderful colleagues. I’m heartbroken for our newsroom and especially for the peerless journalists who served the Post internationally — editors and correspondents who have been my friends and collaborators for almost 12 years. It’s been an honor to work with them.

I launched the WorldView column in January 2017 to help readers better understand the world and America’s place in it and I’m grateful for the half a million loyal subscribers who tuned into the column several times a week over the years.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen]

Trump's lawless ICE & CBP have killed 2 Americans in the last 3 weeks & are tearing apart our communities. Now Senate Republicans want to give them ANOTHER $28 billion blank check.

We can't support another dime for this lawless operation. https://t.co/rjuj2zN6NT

[Senator Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen]

Violent settlers in the West Bank are burning Palestinian villages & beating residents with impunity.

These attacks have been met w/ silence from the Trump Admin & Netanyahu govt.

US taxpayers shouldn't be giving the Netanyahu govt an annual $3 billion blank check for weapons.

[Brian Krassenstein @krassenstein]

BREAKING: Music legend Bruce Springsteen just released this incredible song that will be sure to piss Trump off beyond belief.

“Streets of Minneapolis”.

He wrote this song about Alex Pretti and Renée Good Saturday and recorded it yesterday.

Share it far and wide and play it as loud as you can

[Hindus for Human Rights @Hindus4HR]

"Democracy rarely collapses in one dramatic moment. More often it is thinned out through exceptions – a permanent emergency where law becomes a costume for force."

Our Executive Director @SunitaSunitaV writes for @scroll_in about lessons from Minneapolis.
https://t.co/ZPqBXqtxs3

[Qasim Rashid, Esq. @QasimRashid]

Much love to Alex Pretti and Renee Good—but remember—ICE has killed 9 people in 2026. You know the names of the 2 white people they've killed.

ICE has also killed a Black man named Keith Porter, a Cambodian named Parady La, and five Latinos named Heber Sanchaz Domínguez, Victor Manuel Diaz, Luis Beltran Yanez-Cruz, Luis Gustavo Nunez Caceres, and Geraldo Lunas Campos.

ICE is on pace to kill more than 100 people this year. Abolish ICE. Impeach Noem. Prosecute those who committed these crimes.

[Hindus for Human Rights @Hindus4HR]

Writing from Minneapolis, HfHR ED Sunita Viswanath argues that faith today means bodies, risk, and non-cooperation—not distance or symbolism.
https://t.co/TW8nV0vFzG

[Abhi Janamanchi, he/him @revabhi]

Thank you @ChrisVanHollen for reminding us that Dr. King was never meant to make us comfortable. He would be calling us to act, not adjust or comply.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen]

Dr. King repeatedly reminded us that the inaction of good people was the greatest threat to the pursuit of justice.

Today, in the face of a lawless and tyrannical president, inaction isn't an option. We must continue to stand up, speak up, & fight back.

[Senator Chris Van Hollen @ChrisVanHollen]

Trump and his cronies can try to dress this up, but it is an illegal act of war to replace Maduro and grab Venezuela's oil for his billionaire buddies.

Full statement below: