A video from Tamil Nadu’s Villupuram district has sparked widespread condemnation after it showed a government employee from a Scheduled Caste background falling at the feet of a DMK councillor inside the Tindivanam Municipality office.
The individual, identified as Muniyappan, a junior assistant, was summoned to the office of the municipal commissioner following a complaint reportedly lodged by DMK councillor Ramya Raja concerning a financial file. In the footage, Muniyappan is seen apologizing to the councillor while multiple voices in the room instruct him to say sorry. Surrounded by several council members who insisted that his apology was not enough, Muniyappan ultimately bowed down and touched the councillor’s feet an act that has caused significant public and political uproar.
The viral video has led to strong criticism from civil society groups and activists, who are demanding accountability and disciplinary action against the councillors involved.
Reacting to the controversy, former Tamil Nadu BJP president K. Annamalai condemned the incident, describing it as a reflection of the DMK’s hypocrisy on social justice. “This is DMK’s model of Social Justice. A public servant belonging to the Scheduled Caste community in Tindivanam was cornered continuously by DMK Councillors and was made to apologise by falling at the feet of the DMK Councillor Ramya. This is not the first time DMK has humiliated public servants. This is not an isolated incident; earlier, DMK Minister Thiru Raja Kannappan had abused a government servant with caste slurs. What the DMK parades as Social Justice is, in truth, nothing more than Social Injustice.”
This is DMK’s model of Social Justice.
A public servant belonging to the Scheduled Caste community in Tindivanam was cornered continuously by DMK Councillors and was made to apologise by falling at the feet of the DMK Councillor Ramya. This is not the first time DMK has… pic.twitter.com/XrjNvtPvAN
Adding further controversy to the situation, it has come to light that Ramya Raja’s husband, Maruvur Raja, has a history of criminal activity. In April 2024, he was apprehended by the Prohibition Enforcement Wing during a vehicle inspection. Authorities seized 105 litres of rectified spirit and 5,000 litres of illicit arrack in his possession. Based on a recommendation by the Kallakurichi Superintendent of Police, who also holds additional charge for Villupuram, the District Collector ordered his detention under the Goondas Act. The order was executed while he was held at Cuddalore Central Prison.
Maruvur Raja is believed to have strong ties with senior DMK leadership and is reportedly a close aide to Minister K.S. Masthan, further intensifying allegations of political protection and misuse of power.
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A two-month span of gun violence across the United States from July to August 2025 resulted in 40 deaths and 63 injuries. Men accounted for 28 of those killed, while four elderly individuals and one child were among the fatalities. This report details 16 separate incidents that authorities are investigating, many of which remain unsolved, highlighting a continued national crisis.
#1 Minneapolis Shooting (28 August 2025)
A mass shooting at a Minneapolis church left two children, aged 8 and 10, dead and 17 others injured, including 14 children and three elderly parishioners. The attacker, identified as 23-year-old Robin Westman, fired dozens of shots during a Catholic school service before killing himself. Police say he acted alone, had no major criminal history, and left behind a manifesto. The FBI is probing the case as a possible hate crime and act of domestic terrorism targeting Catholics.
The tragedy, America’s 44th school-linked shooting this year, has reignited calls for a national ban on assault rifles amid rising gun violence.
#2 Brooklyn, New York – 17 August 2025
Three men aged 19, 27, and 35 were killed and nine others wounded when multiple gunmen opened fire inside the Taste of the City Lounge, a hookah bar in Crown Heights. Investigators recovered 42 shell casings, linking the attack to an ongoing gang dispute. The injured included six men, two women, and a 61-year-old woman. Despite the large-scale violence, no arrests were made at the time, and police launched a full investigation.
#3 Richmond, Virginia – 17 August 2025
A shooting at the Southwood Apartments on Clarkson Road left one man dead and three others injured. The incident occurred around 4 AM, with victims found both inside and outside the apartment, which was known for hosting after-hours parties. Two victims sustained life-threatening injuries, while the third was reported to be stable. Detectives processed the scene, but no suspects were identified immediately, and investigations remained ongoing.
#4 Fairview, Oklahoma – 16 August 2025
Gunfire at a home near East State Road and Sylvia Street left two people dead and two others critically wounded. Police responding around 12:45 AM found four victims, including a 49-year-old man and a 17-year-old girl who were pronounced dead at the scene. A 44-year-old woman and a 13-year-old boy were rushed to hospital in critical condition. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation joined local police in investigating the attack, though no suspect was immediately identified.
#5 Austin, Texas – 11 August 2025
A 32-year-old man with a history of mental health issues opened fire outside a Target store, killing three people and injuring another. The suspect fled the scene in stolen vehicles before being captured after a crash in south Austin. He was detained using a taser. Authorities did not disclose a motive, but the incident left the city reeling. Austin’s mayor condemned the violence as a cowardly act, highlighting growing concerns about random mass shootings in public spaces.
#6 East Cleveland, Ohio – 7 August 2025
A domestic dispute escalated into a mass shooting that killed two people and injured two police officers. Responding officers came under heavy gunfire on North Taylor Road. Officer Joshua Durda was shot in the leg, while Officer Brandon Hernandez was struck in the lower body; both survived. The suspect, believed to be related to the victims, fled and was arrested the next day near Shaw High School following a large manhunt involving drones and ShotSpotter technology.
#7 Los Angeles, California – 4 August 2025
Two people were killed and six others wounded when gunfire erupted at a warehouse party in downtown Los Angeles. A 29-year-old man and a woman died at the scene. Police had earlier attempted to shut down the unauthorized gathering but returned after receiving reports of shots fired around 1 AM. Casualties were rushed to nearby hospitals. LAPD confirmed the shooting was not connected to the Hard Summer festival, but no suspects were identified at the time.
#8 Anaconda, Montana – 1 August 2025
A shooting at the Owl Bar claimed the lives of four elderly patrons, including bartender Nancy Lauretta Kelley, 64, and three men aged between 59 and 74. The suspect, 45-year-old ex-Army sergeant Michael Paul Brown, fled and triggered a massive manhunt. Brown, who had a history of mental health struggles and served in Iraq, was last spotted in the Stump Town area. Authorities deployed helicopters and imposed a lockdown, warning that the suspect was armed and dangerous.
#9 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 26 July 2025
Two men aged 26 and 29 were shot dead, while a 26-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter were injured during a quadruple shooting in Nicetown. The child, grazed on the head, was reported stable. The woman was shot in the arm but survived. Police confirmed the girl was the daughter of one of the slain men. The shooting occurred around 8:30 PM on West Hunting Park Avenue, shaking the neighborhood and prompting calls for tougher gun control.
#10 Mount Vernon, Illinois – 27 July 2025
A non-sanctioned gathering of more than 100 people turned violent when gunmen opened fire in the early hours of 27 July 2025. Two young men, Zomarrius Williams, 20, and Demonta Woodward, 26, were killed. Five others sustained injuries and were hospitalized. The attack happened around 1 AM on South 15th Street. Authorities did not immediately identify suspects, and the motive behind the attack remains unclear. Police appealed for public cooperation as the investigation continued.
#11 Midtown Manhattan, New York – 28 July 2025
A heavily armed 27-year-old man, Shane Devon Tamura, stormed a Park Avenue office tower wearing body armor and carrying an M4 rifle. He shot and killed four people, including an off-duty NYPD officer providing security, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Another civilian was critically injured. The gunman sprayed bullets in the lobby and fired on the 33rd floor before turning the weapon on himself. The attack drew sharp condemnation and reignited debate over gun access.
#12 Reno, Nevada – 28 July 2025
Gunfire erupted outside the Grand Sierra Resort in Reno, leaving three people dead and three others injured. The assailant exchanged fire with hotel security and responding police before being critically wounded and hospitalized. Authorities said there was no known link between the suspect and the victims. Sparks Police, supported by the county sheriff’s office, are leading the investigation. The motive remains unclear, adding to the growing list of random shootings that have unsettled communities nationwide.
#13 Detroit, Michigan – 28 July 2025
Two people were killed and two others injured during a shooting at a gas station on Detroit’s west side. A man in his 30s died at the scene, while three women, two in their 30s and one in her late 20s, were also shot. One of the women later died at the hospital. The shooter fled and remains at large, prompting police to urge him to surrender. The violence marked yet another blow to a city grappling with crime.
#14 Milwaukee, Wisconsin – 12 July 2025
A quintuple shooting shook downtown Milwaukee near Water and Michigan Street just after midnight. Two men, including 52-year-old Antwan Hogans, were killed, while three others aged 30 to 39 sustained injuries. Police have yet to identify the perpetrators, and no arrests were made at the time. Community leaders expressed alarm at the rising tide of gun violence in the city’s entertainment districts, calling for stronger safety measures in nightlife areas.
#15 Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – 7 July 2025
Gunmen opened fire indiscriminately in the Grays Ferry neighborhood, killing three young men aged 19, 23, and 24, and injuring 10 others, including three minors. Police recovered dozens of shell casings from the scene, suggesting multiple shooters fired randomly into homes and parked cars around 1 a.m. Authorities believe the shooting was not targeted. The attack left the community devastated, with residents fearful of further violence.
#16 Chicago, Illinois – 2 July 2025
A drive-by shooting outside Artis Restaurant and Lounge in River North killed four people and injured 14 others. The victims included two men, aged 23 and 25, and two women, aged 26 and 27. Police believe three shooters targeted a large crowd gathered for a rapper’s album release party. With 18 casualties in total, it was one of the deadliest shootings of the summer. Authorities have launched a citywide investigation, but no arrests were made immediately.
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The third edition of the Defence & Technology Show, organised by the Swatantra Foundation, is set to begin on Thursday, 4 September 2025, at the Chennai Trade Centre. The event will be inaugurated by Lt. General Karanbir Singh Brar, PVSM, AVSM (Retd.), in the presence of Air Commodore Pradeep Sharma, VSM, and Col. Anurag Mathur, ADB.
Advisors to the Swatantra Foundation, including former Chief Election Commissioner T.S. Krishnamurthy, former Revenue Secretary M.R. Sivaraman (IAS, Retd.), and Commodore R.S. Vasan (IN, Retd.), will also attend the inaugural ceremony.
According to Swatantra Foundation President S. Ramasubramanian, the show is designed to connect defence-related buyers and sellers, particularly by matching the capabilities of MSMEs with the requirements of larger defence buyers. The three-day event will feature more than 400 stalls, focused one-on-one B2B meetings, and day-long seminar sessions led by subject matter experts.
The organisers said that past editions of the event facilitated over 500 B2B meetings, leading to business deals worth more than ₹1,000 crore. This year’s edition has reportedly seen strong participation, driven by growing interest in India’s defence sector following the successful Operation Sindoor.
The Defence & Technology Show is being co-hosted by the Southern India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, one of the country’s oldest trade bodies, and the Federation of Industry and Management Association (FIMA). Delegations from the armed forces, Ministry of Defence, DRDO, defence PSUs, defence attachés of foreign countries, large corporates, and hundreds of MSMEs are expected to take part.
Organisers anticipate over 20,000 business visitors across three days, along with participation from select educational and research institutions.
Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu on Tuesday, 2 September 2025, said that any reforms in the Goods and Services Tax (GST) structure should not undermine the state’s revenue receipts, stressing that collective decisions with safeguards are essential.
Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat, the minister said Tamil Nadu had managed to achieve double-digit economic growth despite limited support from the Centre. “In the absence of adequate central funds, we have relied on our own tax revenue. Those who point to loans must also recognise that we have stayed within the borrowing limits set by the Finance Commission, and that these borrowings have translated into tangible economic development,” he said.
He noted that the state had been reducing both revenue and fiscal deficits and emphasised that the focus should be on the effective use of borrowings. “What matters is how we spend. Loans have been used to fuel growth and improve key indicators,” he added.
On GST reforms, Thennarasu said Tamil Nadu was not opposed to restructuring but cautioned that the process should be carried out only after thorough examination. “Around 50 percent of Tamil Nadu’s tax revenue comes from GST. Any restructuring could create a major financial shortfall for us. The Centre must ensure that reforms do not deprive states like Tamil Nadu of vital revenue,” he said.
Highlighting the state’s spending priorities, he said Tamil Nadu was committed to investing in infrastructure and social welfare programmes. If revenue streams were cut while projects were underway, he warned, development works would be seriously affected.
“Our demand is clear – the Centre must safeguard our revenue sources while undertaking GST reforms so that the benefits reach the common man without causing financial losses to the state,” the minister said.
Photos and videos from the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit in Tianjin, showing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s camaraderie with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, have gone viral worldwide, including in the United States.
The US media framed the display as a deliberate show of unity against American dominance, driven largely by US President Donald Trump’s aggressive trade policies.
Prime Minister Modi and President Putin walked to Chinese President Xi and the three leaders shook hands and shared a conversation marked by smiles and laughter. Major outlets like ‘The New York Times’ called it a “smiling manifestation of a troika” projecting an alternative to US global leadership, noting how PM Modi’s last-minute ride in Putin’s limousine highlighted the warmth.
The CNN emphasised the summit’s heavy focus on optics, with Xi rolling out the red carpet for PM Modi and Putin, while portraying the SCO as a counterweight to a US-led world order. Fox News described Modi’s meetings as a “clear rebuke” to Washington, following Trump’s 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods over its purchase of Russian oil, tariffs he defended as a national security move tied to the Ukraine war.
Jeremy Chan of the Eurasia Group on CNBC said Trump’s tariffs had “breathed new life” into the summit, giving China room to court the Global South and pushing India away from the US.
The Washington Post also criticised Trump in an editorial titled ‘Trump’s white-knuckling with India could backfire‘. The newspaper asserted that tensions with India “don’t supersede shared interest in countering Beijing”. The Wall Street Journal spotlighted that the “display of unity” was aimed in part at President Trump and that “underscores the challenges faced by his unorthodox approach to world affairs”. Trump on 1 September reacted on social media, calling US-India trade “one-sided”, hinting at India’s tariff-cut offers, but warning it was “getting late“.
-IANS
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Over a decade after being arrested in multiple sexual harassment cases filed by students, Professor Anand Viswanath, a retired academic who once headed the Economics Department at Government College, Munnar, has been acquitted of all charges. The Thodupuzha Additional Sessions Court, in its ruling, observed that he was falsely implicated following an incident in which he caught students committing malpractice during an examination.
Viswanath (61), who also served as the additional chief superintendent of examinations at the college, had been chargesheeted in four separate cases in which women students alleged he sexually harassed them during the M.A. Economics second semester examinations held between August and September 2014.
In 2021, the Chief Judicial Magistrate Court at Devikulam sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment in two cases, while acquitting him in the other two. He was subsequently suspended from service. Challenging the conviction, he approached the Thodupuzha Sessions Court, which has now overturned the verdicts and acquitted him in all cases.
Court’s Observations
Judge Laijumol Sherif, who delivered the verdict, said the testimonies of the four students were riddled with contradictions, omissions, and embellishments. These inconsistencies were not corroborated by evidence from independent witnesses. The court held that while the testimonies were insufficient to prove the allegations, they were strong enough to demonstrate that the professor had been falsely implicated.
The court also noted that “no action was taken on the malpractice of the four students, and instead there occurred a conspiracy at the party office of the CPI(M) to rope in the professor.”
The Malpractice Incident
According to court records, Viswanath had caught five students, said to be activists of the CPI(M)’s student wing, the SFI, copying during the postgraduate examination in 2014. He reported the matter to the invigilator and handed over the seized manuscripts. However, his complaint was allegedly suppressed following political intervention. One month later, the same students lodged complaints with the Education Minister and the State Women’s Commission, accusing him of sexual harassment.
This led to the registration of four separate FIRs, resulting in four charge sheets and four trials, with the same group of students alternating between roles as victims and witnesses in different cases.
Defence Arguments
Advocate S. Ashokan, appearing for Viswanath, pointed out that the prosecution failed to produce any independent witnesses and did not even examine the invigilator present during the exams. “In all the cases, the same girls were the witnesses. If one of the girls was listed as a victim in a case, the others were made witnesses. In the other cases, their roles were interchanged. The court has rightly found that these cases were politically motivated,” he said.
The Professor’s Ordeal
For Viswanath, the acquittal comes after more than a decade of personal and professional turmoil. “For the last 11 years, I had to face humiliation. I was forced to send my daughter and son for higher secondary education in Tamil Nadu due to these cases. After the FIRs were registered, I went into hiding for a month fearing arrest, and returned home only after getting anticipatory bail,” he said.
Following his suspension, he was transferred first to Malappuram and later to Chittoor in Palakkad. He retired from service in 2021 but continues to receive only 75% of his pension due to the departmental inquiry initiated against him in connection with the cases.
Viswanath also filed a complaint against the college principal, alleging that he had conspired to falsely implicate him and suspend him from service. While an FIR was registered, the police later closed the matter. He has now challenged the closure report in court.
The BJP has intensified its attack on the Congress party on the issue of ‘voter theft campaign‘. After revealing Congress national spokesperson Pawan Khera’s two voter IDs, the BJP on 3 September 2025, targeted his wife, also a Congress leader, for also holding “two active EPICS”.
BJP leader and its IT cell chief Amit Malviya on social media platform X, stated that Pawan Khera’s wife Kota Neelima, who contested from the Khairatabad segment in Telangana, also holds two active EPICs one in Khairatabad and another in New Delhi. He also shared the details of the two cards EPIC Number: TDZ2666014 Assembly: 60-Khairatabad, which was active in 2023 and 2025; EPIC Number: SJE0755975 Assembly: 40-New Delhi. Malviya questioned Rahul Gandhi’s silence over the issue.
“Rahul Gandhi held a press conference and, without adequate due diligence, targeted and tarnished honest voters – even putting them at risk by revealing their identities without consent. He doxxed young, upwardly mobile professionals and poor daily wagers who had moved cities in search of better opportunities,” he said on X.
While attacking Rahul Gandhi, Malviya said that it was quite obvious that Congress leaders hold multiple EPIC numbers and are registered voters in more than one place, which was no coincidence. “Those indulging in Vote Chori are the very ones maligning common citizens for exercising their democratic rights and weakening our institutions. The rot isn’t limited to Pawan Khera and family. It goes back to the top – when Sonia Gandhi, an Italian, managed to get her name included in the voter list in 1980,” wrote the BJP leader.
Malviya said, “No wonder Congress and the INDI Alliance go out on a limb to defend illegal migrants and non-Indians while castigating our own people. This is not about defending democracy. It is about defending their vote bank – which should not be on the Indian voter list at all.”
The BJP leader said that Rahul Gandhi “cannot extricate himself from these acts of criminality within his own ranks, particularly involving people aspiring for public office and members of his inner coterie”. Malviya demanded that Rahul Gandhi speak on this, and the Election Commission of India (ECI) must investigate. The fresh attack by the BJP comes after poll authorities in Delhi issued a notice to Pawan Khera on Tuesday for allegedly getting himself registered in the electoral roll of more than one constituency. The district election officer of the New Delhi district shared a copy of the notice issued to Khera on X.
The Congress leader has been directed to reply to the notice by 11 a.m. on 8 September. After Malviya’s revelations, Khera said in a post on X, “… Yet another confirmation of how the @ECISVEEP functions to support the ruling regime. While our complaints of Vote Chori are disregarded, the EC rushes to act against opposition members.”
-IANS
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Tianjin bonhomie could rejuvenate RIC amid tariff tensions with US. The Russia-India-China (RIC) initiative is rooted in former Russian Prime Minister Yevgeny Primakov’s ideas and vision of having a powerful troika. He detested the United States’ unipolarity in the post-Cold War era. The US viewed Russia as a declining regional power, especially when compared to its primary strategic competitor China. It is relevant to point out that Primakov was the first top-ranking leader among the P-5 nuclear weapon states to visit India in December 1998, since Pokhran-II in May 1998. While Russia maintains attributes of a great power, such as a large nuclear arsenal and permanent United Nations Security Council (UNSC) membership, its status as a global competitor has significantly diminished in the eyes of US officials.
The modern Russian Federation positions itself as a great power that seeks to protect and promote its interests in the international arena, unlike the former Soviet Union, which aimed to cast the world in its own image. In June this year, Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov highlighted the importance and potential of the Special Privileged Strategic Partnership with India and the role played by former Primakov. “The legacy of Yevgeny M. Primakov is also well known. It was he who many years ago came up with the initiative to form such a non-bureaucratic ‘troika’ – RIC (Russia, India and China). Since then, it has met regularly over the past few years. Now we are on a break. First, the pandemic intervened, and then the escalation on the border between India and China served as a ‘brake’. Now, given the reports that these escalations are easing, we expect that the work of RIC will be restored,” Lavrov stated in Moscow.
RIC grouping has had at least 18 meetings of its Foreign Ministers and held three informal leader-level summits, the last of which took place in June 2019 in Saint Petersburg. The group occupies 19 per cent of global landmass and contributes 33 per cent of global GDP. All three countries are members of the BRICS, SCO and G-20 groupings. All three countries also oppose unilateralism and support the idea of a multipolar global governance model thereby offering an alternative perspective on global issues, advocating for equity and reforms in global institutions.
Additionally, RIC acts as the voice of Global South transforming the Western-dominated world through South-South Cooperation. At the SCO Summit in China’s Tianjin on Monday, the three major world powers cemented their strategic partnership and presented a unified image notwithstanding all three having some sort of friction with the US. Each country has its own perceptions and approaches to critical issues, such as multipolar world order, counter-terrorism and cooperation. The three countries are likely to solidify their ties based on mutual trust. Further, the three regimes serve national interests based on pragmatism and flexibility. All three countries are also responsible nuclear powers with Russia and China being permanent UNSC members. On connectivity and integration projects, this troika has noteworthy competence and expertise. As three leaders huddled and mingled at the Tianjin SCO Summit, President Putin’s words, “We three friends…” has delivered a definite signal to the world of modification and reshaping of RIC.
The combined population of these three countries exceeds three billion people, representing nearly 37 per cent of the world’s population. India has surpassed China to become the world’s most populous country. India’s share of global GDP in 2025 is estimated at 10.0 per cent, and it’s projected to reach 11.3 per cent by 2030. Relations between the US and India have experienced a significant downslide over Trump’s tariffs of 50 per cent on goods to penalise Delhi for buying Russian oil and weapons. Simultaneously, a thaw, including discussions on border de-escalation after the violent 2020 Galwan Valley skirmishes, has been initiated in the Sino-Indian relations though underlying territorial disputes remain.
This shift could be a strategic move by China to limit India’s alignment with the US or a hedge by India against US unpredictability. However, this pivot may not be absolute; it is a tactical rebalancing reflecting India’s pursuit of ‘strategic autonomy’ amidst a topsy-turvy geopolitical landscape. For the RIC to mature, a successful reboot of the RIC format would require substantial efforts to rebuild a foundation of mutual trust, respect, and sensitivity between China and India to allow for meaningful cooperation on regional and global challenges. China and India must overcome a fundamental trust deficit rooted in unresolved border disputes, strategic rivalries, and competing regional interests. While recent bilateral talks show a willingness to reset relations, historical suspicions continue to constrain the RIC’s potential.
In Tianjin, Prime Minister Modi stated to the Chinese President that both countries are development partners and pitched for improving trade and investment amidst global tariff ambiguity. PM Modi underscored that India will address the burgeoning bilateral trade deficit of USD $99.2 billion and emphasised the need to maintain peace and tranquility at the disputed border. India’s engagement in the RIC will further strengthen its policy of multi-alignment and its bargaining power with the US. As a ‘swing power‘ within the RIC, India needs to leverage its position to advance its own interests in the Eurasian heartland, particularly by balancing Beijing’s influence.
However, India’s path is fraught with both significant opportunities and deep challenges due to competing interests among the three nations. In other words, RIC should reaffirm and intensify conflict-free cooperation in the world of competitive authoritarianism. The Trump administration’s activities have caused confusion and disorder in the international geopolitical arena which urgently requires attention particularly in energy coordination, climate policy, regional connectivity and non-disruptive supply chains.
-IANS
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Umar Khalid, one of the main accused in the 2020 Delhi riots case, was denied bail by Delhi High Court yet again. However, the leftists and their media channels portray it as if the problem is with the courts – documents show otherwise – that it was an intentionally engineered tactic to delay facing trial.
His “comrades” have tried to paint Umar Khalid as a victim, a harmless academic persecuted by an authoritarian state. Petitions, op-eds, and international platforms have repeated the same script: Khalid is an “innocent” voice of dissent silenced by the government. But when we step away from the propaganda and examine Khalid’s own speeches, especially his 2016 address on Kashmir, a very different picture emerges.
This is not the voice of an innocent. This is the rhetoric of a man who openly challenges India’s sovereignty, delegitimizes democratic institutions, normalizes violence, and works to unite separatist and insurgent movements under a single banner. In the speech, he makes several secessionist statements, praises the “periyarite” movement, calls stone pelting a form of Gandhian protest, portrays the Army as the villains and others Indians from Kashmir. He also says that there will be peace if we let go of Kashmir. Let’s now take a deeper look at the statements he makes in his 42-minute speech.
Not Free Speech, But Sedition
Khalid’s speech is not an example of free speech, it is a manifesto of sedition. Here are the most damning statements that build an incontrovertible case for why he represents a clear and present danger to the integrity and security of the nation.
Kashmir Is Illegally Occupied By India
In a video that is now viral on social media, he says, “I am against the occupation of Kashmir by the Indian state and I make it very apparent here, I am not from Kashmir.”
“Kashmir is illegally occupied by India” – Umar Khalid
Explicit Denial of Indian Sovereignty over Kashmir
Khalid does not mince words in his 2016 speech when it comes to his stance on Jammu and Kashmir. He explicitly echoes and endorses the secessionist position while invoking Dravidianist ideologue EV Ramasamy Naicker (Periyar). He says, “Periyar very eloquently and very straightforwardly said that Kashmir neither belongs to India. Kashmir neither belongs to Pakistan. Kashmir belongs only to the people of Kashmir.”
He then bemoans the fact that stating this position in Delhi would incite a “lynch mob,” establishing that he is fully aware that this view is a direct challenge to the constitutional framework of India. He isn’t advocating for a political discussion within the Indian Union; he is advocating for its dissolution in the region.
Advocacy for Plebiscite and Secession
Going beyond a mere opinion, Khalid champions a specific action that is the cornerstone of separatist and Pakistani policy: a plebiscite. Invoking BR Ambedkar, he said, “What Babasaheb Ambedkar said in his last speech after resignation of the cabinet that there should be a plebiscite in Kashmir…”
By championing a plebiscite, an idea India has legally and diplomatically rejected for decades, Khalid aligns himself with forces that seek to break the country apart. His grievance is that he cannot openly call for this division in Delhi without consequence. He speaks the language of self-determination – not within the Indian Union, but outside it.
When someone insists that Kashmir is “occupied” and that India is no different from a colonial oppressor, they are not engaging in democratic debate. They are advancing the very separatist agenda that fuels militancy and terrorism in the Valley.
Moral Equivalence and Sympathy for Terrorists
Perhaps the most grotesque part of Khalid’s speech is his attempt to humanize and rationalize the path of terrorism. Speaking about slain Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani, he asks, “Do we go and tell the Kashmiris that many of them who might be thinking of going the same path as Burhan that please don’t pick up the gun. Please participate in the next elections.”
This is an apology. He dismisses democratic participation as futile due to “rigged elections,” thereby implicitly justifying armed insurgency as a logical alternative. He creates a false binary where Kashmiris only have the choice between a “corrupt” election and picking up a gun, completely ignoring the peaceful citizens and the development efforts within the Union Territory.
Siachen Presence Is Troubling Him
What was even more shocking was when he mentioned Siachen and claimed that if we left Siachen, there will be peace. He said, “Why have you posted the army and every year army men are being killed not because of militants’ bullet not because even from a bullet coming from Pakistan but because of the ecological conditions that the ecological conditions such that living there is very difficult. Even Lance Naik Hanumanthappa did not die out of a bullet, Lance Naik Hanumanthappa died out of a natural calamity and that natural calamity the more the army stays that the more these natural calamities will happen, so you please don’t tell us about Lance Naik Hanumanthappa because you have the blood of Lance Naik Hanumanthappa on your hands, not us. At the same time by occupying that glacier of Siachen they’re leading our country and this entire region of South Asia towards an ecological catastrophe; if that glacier melts, where are we headed and what will happen, so for the geopolitical interest of India of the nation states of India and Pakistan they continue to militarize this region, they continue to fool a starving population that it’s in their interest that it’s happening and we keep believing them.”
Normalizing Violent Resistance
Perhaps most dangerously, Khalid’s speech normalizes the turn to arms. He openly entertains the question of whether “revolutionary violence” is justified against state repression. He paints Kashmiri youth taking up the gun as an “inevitable” and “rational” response to India’s presence.
He also justifies stone pelting saying, “Do I tell him that don’t take violent forms of protest because you’re going to die and it’s a self-destructive form of protest, take to some Gandhian form of protest, at the most you can do stone pelting, but don’t do this thing because that person can very well reply to me that I don’t need to be even be a stone pelter to be killed the way CRPF is barging into houses and killing people.”
This is intellectual cover for terrorism. By framing violence as natural and unavoidable, Khalid lends ideological legitimacy to the killing of soldiers, police, and civilians in Kashmir. Under India’s Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), such justification qualifies as support to terrorism.
Building a Radical Conspiracy
Khalid’s rhetoric does not stop at Kashmir. He draws connections between Kashmir, Bastar (Maoist insurgency), Dalit struggles, Rohith Vemula’s suicide, and even international causes like Balochistan and Palestine. He speaks of “17–18 universities” linked in solidarity networks.
He said, “But there is one place that is becoming very much like Kashmir in our own country and that place is Bastar in terms of militarization in terms of atrocities in terms of no information coming out in terms of attack on civil libertarians in terms of attacks on lawyers. An entire war is being waged once again, and similar news is coming out. It’s very important for us to understand that the same forces which are oppressing the people of Kashmir are oppressing the most oppressed people of this country as well and the people of Kashmir struggle is actually in our favor.”
This is exactly what the Delhi Police and NIA have alleged: a deliberate attempt to build a nationwide radical front that binds together separatists, Maoists, and identity-based grievances into one anti-state movement. Far from being a lone dissenter, Khalid casts himself as an architect of a broader conspiracy.
Country’s Defence Spends Are Unjustified
Khalid then makes a case for lowering defence spends for the army and protection in Kashmir. He says, “At one level this entire argument about taxpayers’ money was given in our country as per one government report, 77% of the people live on less than 20 rupees a day. Many parts of the country are worse than subsaharan Africa. Medical facilities and health are in shambles. Higher education. We all know what higher education what is happening to higher education. In the midst of all of this, our defence expenditure and especially on Kashmir to occupy a piece of land forcefully, to keep so many troops there and to invest so much of money year after year and to keep increasing that money with each unrest and to keep sending more troops in India to Kashmir while there are people dying out of hunger and malnutrition in this country while people are dying at child birth because there are not enough health facilities here That money needs to be spent here. Those who are concerned about taxpayers’ money should ask for demilitarization of Kashmir that money is being wasted there. People who said that we actually by talking about Kashmir we are disrespecting the Indian army. Well, what the Indian army is doing in Kashmir and the kind of things that they have done in Kashmir. Let me not get into that because then can it can become controversial. However, who are you to say that?”
Demonizing the State, Delegitimizing Institutions
Khalid does not merely criticize government policy; he calls India’s democracy a façade. The army is branded as a criminal force of rapists and murderers. His speech is replete with unverified, incendiary anecdotes presented as fact, mirroring Pakistani propaganda designed to incite hatred. He narrates stories such as that of “an 8-year-old boy who went out of his house to buy something or probably just went out of his house. It was curfew. That poor 8-year-old guy boy did not know what curfew is and what to be done and what not to be done. The CRPF gheraoed him from all directions and they beat him to death with bayonets that how dare you come out of this street, how dare you come out of the house.”
He adds one more story saying, “Two women in this place called Shopian in Kashmir. They go out of their house into the apple orchard. They are raped and killed by the army. Probably that’s the blasphemous thing to say today because I don’t know who might be sitting here and who might be recording and where it might be played and what meaning it will be given.”
Parliament and judiciary are portrayed as “Brahmanical tools”. He said, “This was the same government, the same people who after the Kargil war had done corruption even for the coffins of those who were killed in the Kargil war. They are the same people who after the recent Pampore attack, the same kind of Brahmanical forces, after the Pampore attack because the soldiers were lower class in Dalits they refused to even give them a proper funeral.”
Such language is not dissent. It is a systematic attempt to strip the state of all legitimacy, to portray India as a tyrannical occupier undeserving of loyalty or respect. In doing so, Khalid hands rhetorical ammunition to separatist and militant forces.
The Myth of the Innocent Activist
Khalid’s defenders constantly repeat that he is a “scholar,” a “Gandhian,” a “prisoner of conscience.” But his own words shred this façade. A Gandhian does not justify violence. A democrat does not question the very existence of democratic institutions. A constitutional activist does not argue that a part of India is “occupied territory.”
What remains is the truth: Khalid is a polished propagandist whose speeches echo the talking points of separatists and insurgents, giving them legitimacy among urban student circles.
Why Prison Is the Right Place
India is not wrong to jail Umar Khalid. On the contrary, it would be a dereliction of duty to ignore what he represents. His speeches fall squarely under provisions of the UAPA:
Section 15 & 18: Incitement and conspiracy to commit terrorist acts.
Section 39: Support, even intellectual or ideological, to terrorist organizations.
To release him on the grounds of “free speech” would be to ignore the lethal consequences of such rhetoric in a country already battling separatism and insurgency.
Umar Khalid is not a martyr. He is not a misunderstood intellectual. He is a man who has chosen to stand with separatism, militancy, and the delegitimization of the Indian state. His words provide ideological fuel for violence and disintegration.
For that, he deserves exactly where he is – in prison. And not a day less.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised peace and stability along the border with China during his meeting with the Chinese President Xi Jinping in Tianjin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit, in a setting where every gesture was carefully measured, a report cited on 2 September 2025.
It said that yet sixty thousand soldiers remain deployed, disengaged but alert, underscoring the enduring lack of mutual trust between India and China. “The Himalayan border unsettled and disputed has continued to cast its long shadow on this relationship of 2.8 billion people: the bitter conflict of 1962, the clashes of 1967, Tulung-La in 1975, Sumdorong Chu in 1986, Doklam in 2017, Galwan in 2020, and again in the subliminal distrust that still lingers under what is being sold as the new thaw in relations since October 2024,” wrote former Indian Foreign Secretary and distinguished Indian Foreign Service officer Nirupama Rao in India Narrative.
“Pilgrimages to Kailash-Manasarovar have resumed after a five-year hiatus. Direct flights are set to resume, and visa facilitation will be more streamlined. Meanwhile, India runs a deficit of $100 billion in imports of Chinese goods, exposing, inter alia, the harsh reality of our manufacturing (and pharmaceutical) industry’s dependence on Chinese inputs — thus defining the paradoxes of detente and dependency held in uneasy balance,” the expert added.
According to the report, in Tianjin, both China and India have committed to a partnership rather than rivalry in carefully crafted diplomacy. “The bow is drawn, the aim uncertain. More than being the elephant, as some refer to it, India is the archer standing on a thin iceberg. The slightest tremor can shift the balance. India must be prepared,” Rao asserted.
The report stressed that Asia’s future rests on whether its giants India and China can move beyond old disputes to shape a multipolar tomorrow guided by prudence, patience, and purpose.
According to the report, in Tianjin, Russian President Vladimir Putin pictured alongside PM Modi and Xi at the SCO Summit projected a troika of proximity bringing India, China, and Russia together in a single tableau. The cameras captured the symbolic gestures of handshakes, shared laughter, and moments of ease. The report highlighted that while Putin condemned Western “bullying“, Xi stressed the importance of multipolarity, and PM Modi reaffirmed India’s strategic autonomy, raised concerns about terrorism, and advocated a multipolar Asia.
“This stagecraft was not an accident. It reminded the world that Asia is no longer scripted by one superpower, that India will neither vanish into China’s embrace nor become a pawn of Washington, that Russia still breathes relevance even under sanctions. The imagery was powerful: Modi, Xi, Putin — three leaders, three trajectories, converging briefly in one frame,” the former Foreign Secretary opined.
-IANS
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