India the Perennial Soft State
The decision to let American covert operative Matthew VanDyke and six Ukrainian drone specialists quietly leave India is more than an isolated legal reversal. It belongs to a long and uncomfortable tradition in which New Delhi invokes its tough criminal laws and then retreats when geopolitical pressure builds up.
VanDyke, a veteran of covert wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, was arrested in March alongside six military-trained Ukrainian partners. According to Indian court filings, the group belonged to a larger international network that smuggled drones into India before routing them onward to Myanmar. The National Investigation Agency initially invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, India’s premier anti-terrorism statute.
Then came the dramatic climbdown. After U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio personally raised VanDyke’s detention with New Delhi, the NIA dropped the UAPA charges. VanDyke and all six Ukrainians have now been released on bail and permitted to return home.
The episode recalls a familiar pattern. From the Bhopal gas disaster and the Purulia arms-drop affair to the Enrica Lexie Italian-marines case and Ottavio Quattrocchi’s escape in the Bofors scandal, India has repeatedly seen high-profile criminal proceedings against foreign nationals or entities diluted, abandoned or rendered inconsequential under diplomatic or strategic pressure.
Different cases, different Indian governments, but the same question endures: What makes India such a soft state that it so often fails to enforce accountability when powerful foreign interests are involved?
US has released full agreement with Denmark
Denmark surrendered 98% of its land (Greenland) to US
US can set up any base anywhere, US will decide who can invest there
Danish govt did not resign
Danish media not asking questions
Because Denmark is No. 4 in press freedom
😂
HAD ISRAEL CARRIED OUT THESE AIRSTRIKES, THE WORLD WOULD HAVE CRIED “GENOCIDE”.
But these are videos of Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, with Afghan authorities reporting civilian casualties in refugee shelters set up to house Afghans kicked out of Pakistan.
The irony? The strikes come hours before PM Shehbaz Sharif is expected to lecture the world on Kashmir "situation" and Gaza.
CNN NEWS18's Manoj Gupta and @shawansen accesses FOOTAGE FROM AFGHAN REFUGEE CAMPS, AS PAK-AFGHAN TENSIONS ESCALATE.
There is CCTV proof, literally, yet they don't want to believe it.
But they believe every fake story that supposedly happened 5,000 years ago.
There is simply no medicine for hypocrisy !!
I think it was a bad decision to come back to India. It's time to go back to the US.
There is nothing left in India for the GCs, especially males.
I don't want my 5 year old son to face the harsh realities of the reservation, acts and laws, when he grows up.
If one day, he asks me, why can't he get into the top IIT, but his SC/ST friend can, even with half his marks, and the same economic status, I will have no answer. I guess I will just have to say, it's because we don't care about merit, but representation.
In the last few months : 3 students including Sahil have committed suicide at IIT.
The other 2 were GC students. Have u apologise for their deaths ? No kids should die ...maybe the fault is with IIT BOMBAY?
No professor should be falsely implicated!!!
Afghan Govt releases fragment of what is part of the guidance kit on a General Purpose Mk82 bomb used by Pakistan to strike Afghanistan earlier today. MK82s are American general purpose bombs.
I strongly oppose the charges against Prof. Suryanarayana Doolla of IIT Bombay under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
My background: I belong to the Devendra Kula Vellalar (DKV) community, classified as SC. I grew up in deep rural poverty and witnessed the suffering of my people first-hand. I was educated thanks to broad-minded people from many communities.
I studied Electronics at NIT Tiruchirappalli, worked at C-DOT Bengaluru, and then at Intel in India and the US, where I rose to Engineering Director and Senior Silicon Architect, responsible for high-speed interconnects vital to modern CPUs and GPUs. I hold multiple patents in this field.
I share this to make clear that I know what it means to come from an SC community and rise through hard work and commitment.
Our DKV community has taken a principled, voluntary stand not to file SC/ST cases against anyone. We have seen how cases under this Act are weaponised, and how that deepens enmity on the ground.
On that basis, I oppose the misuse of this Act in this case. The case against Prof. Doolla must be withdrawn. This matters for the future of SC/ST students and for our nation.
Jai Hind 🙏
@AmitShah@Dev_Fadnavis
Imagine coming back to India after studying in top global University to serve nation.
Then get jailed because you didn't let "3000 saal se pani nhi Piya" cheat in exam
Woman tears off her clothes to accuse TT of molestation when he asked her to show ticket
Neither Indian Police Nor Indian Judiciary knows how to handle such women
Men in all such services should be provided bodycams to save themselves from false cases
PM Modi jokingly predicted that opening nuclear energy to private players could soon turn people into “environmentalists” heading straight to the Supreme Court.
The best part? CJI Surya Kant was sitting right there on stage 😂🔥
RAM TEMPLE DONATION SCAM: NATIONAL HEADLINES FOR WEEKS.
BUT A Rs 50-CRORE TEMPLE LAND LOOT ALLEGATION? STRANGELY IGNORED.
An FIR has been filed against N. Ram Kumar, a DMK functionary from Srirangam, TN. Police allege he encroached on Ranganathaswamy Temple land worth ₹50 crore and built a DMK office on it.
Would the political and media response be the same if the alleged encroachment involved a temple associated with any other political ideology?
And why does the “Brahminical oppression” argument so often become a shield when Dravidian politics collides with the sanctity of temples or Sanatana itself?
Imagine This Was India. The Headlines Would Be Endless. 👀
Japan’s Asian Games are already facing accommodation, food and transport chaos:
17,000+ participants, container huts, no traditional Athletes’ Village, athletes complaining about beds and rooms, EVACUATIONS after torrential rain.
.... And now TYPHOON concerns.
South Korean officials even called the accommodation “worst ever.”
But when India hosts a global event, every muddy patch gets a camera.
Funny how the standards change depending on the host country.
यूपी अलीगढ़ में युवा क्षत्रिय करणी सेना के जिलाध्यक्ष सचिन राघव की सरेराह सड़क पर पिटाई की गई।
करीब 100 लोगों की भीड़ ने सड़क पर उनका जुलूस निकाला। उन्हें थप्पड़ मारे और बेल्ट से पीटा, आरोप है कि उनसे जबरन "जय भीम" के नारे भी लगवाए है।
अलीगढ़ में "जय बीम" के नारों के बीच 150-200 की "नीले जातंकवादियों" की भीड़ ने करणी सेना जिलाध्यक्ष सचिन राजपूत की मॉब लिंचिंग की।
उसके बाद उन्हें जबरदस्ती अंबेडकर की मूर्ति के सामने मुर्गा बनवाकर माफी मंगवाई।
सोते रहिए, BJP प्रेम में डूबे रहिए।