Between the sedition law and the IT act, and the lynch mobs on the street, we shall very soon be where China is.
"As China ramps up efforts to control the narrative around the coronavirus outbreak, it is also expanding its efforts to leverage online platforms to track down people who dare to speak out," reports Vice. "From tracking down Twitter users using their mobile numbers to hacking WeChat accounts to find out someone's location, Beijing is eager to stop any negative news from being shared online -- and is will to use intimidation, arrests and threats of legal action." From the report:
Joshua Left, a 28-year-old entrepreneur who runs a self-driving car startup in Wuhan, China, arrived in San Francisco in mid-January for a vacation, just as the first reports of a new "SARS-like" virus outbreak in China reached the U.S. He almost immediately began worrying about his family back in his hometown of Wuhan, where the disease appeared to originate, and where panic was starting to set in. Concerned that his family might not be getting information on the scale of the burgeoning epidemic, he posted messages on his WeChat account sharing information he was afraid were not available inside China. "But then things started to get weird," he told VICE News.
Left, who asked not to be identified by his full Chinese name, said he first received a warning message from WeChat administrators. Then he began receiving strangely specific messages that appeared to come from four of his friends on WeChat, all asking him for his location, what hotel he was staying at in San Francisco, what his room number was, and what his U.S. phone number was. Then his cell phone received a warning message that someone in Shanghai was trying to log into his account. Finally, when he wouldn't tell them where he was staying, the same accounts all simultaneously began urging him to return to China as soon as possible. Left told VICE News the he believes his friends only sent the messages after they were coerced by agents from the Ministry of State Security in an attempt to get him to reveal his location, and part of a much wider effort by the Chinese government to crack down on any dissenting voices who are sharing content related to the coronavirus outbreak.
The report also mentions a separate incident where agents from the Ministry of State Security detained and interrogated a Chinese resident for criticizing the Chinese government's delayed response to the coronavirus outbreak on Twitter. After the resident refused to meet with the Ministry over the phone, the agents showed up at his front door with a screenshot of his tweet that they say "attacks the Communist Party of China."
The resident was forced to sign a "promise note" saying he would not repeat the "threat" he had made.
I am trapped in this hell of just venting my frustrations in prose. You are spreading my anguish far and wide by sharing my posts. How is either of us helping the bleeding men on the streets? Or curing the anger in our society?
And why would you send me a friend request if you like what I write? So that our echo chamber can grow larger? Does that somehow insulate us from the hate that surrounds us, surmounts us?
And if you are going to send me a friend request, at least drop a message introducing yourself. Facebook used to be a place where I shared cute kiddy pics. It sometimes still is. If you are a "friend", you get to see those too. So I need to know who you are.
I will automatically accept your friend request if we have met before in real life, or if you post good original content (thoughts, photos, artwork).
If you are a single woman, I will delete your friend request unless you reach out and introduce yourself first. I can see through that shit, sanghi incels.
I can barely control my anguish since I woke up at 5 this morning from a night of restlessness.
Modi and Shah are busy orchestrating the only things they are good at - self aggrandisement, and the mass murder of Muslims and minorities.
But this isn't about Modi and Shah. Or the BJP. The AAP has supported this violence against the Muslims. And the Congress has orchestrated much of the communal violence that this country has seen.
This isn't just about parties. Or politics. This is us. This is who we are. Behind the thin veneer of the gentle Hindu or the non-violent Jain, all of us upper caste Indians are baying for blood.
Komal Sharma, Gopal Sharma, Kapil Mishra. You can identify the perpetrators of violence in Delhi with their last names. They come from a strong lineage - the same people who gave this world such gems as sati, manusmriti, child marriage and female infanticide. We, who lorded over the poor of this country for millenia, sucking their blood as moneylenders, landlords and priests.
We have made a cottage industry of telling everybody else how brutal they are - the Muslims, the Christians, the dalits, the tribals. Everyone except the rich, white man is to be despised and criticised. Never look inwards at our own selves. Persistently paint a picture of being sweet, gentle, peace loving people who were oppressed by brutal invaders. Blame all our ills on others.
I am not going to share images of bleeding Muslim men for your voyeuristic pleasure. There is no truth to be told, no secrets to be revealed. We know who we are. We, the people of India - we know who we vote for, what we ask for. We are getting what we wanted. I will not present you with the opportunity to gloat over another pyrrhic victory of your thousands of years old samrajya of blood, hate and oppression.
Life carries on. I write code, attend calls, take children for their dentist appointments. Meanwhile, the blood of my own continues to spill on the streets of Delhi. Women and children are terrorised into silence, men are lynched. Shops, homes, mosques burnt down. And crores of men, women and children rejoice in this "retribution" and celebrate.
And on a fine spring evening this weekend, a well educated man will explain to me the cold calculus of the AAP poll victory over cocktails and cheese. The more things change, the more they stay the same for the subaltern. Aromal, you will always be right, and I will always be wrong. I agree now - Kerala should have cleaved itself into another country while there was still time. Every upper caste person who can, leaves this country. Why, then, should the poor and oppressed be forced to stay, forced to serve the resentful ones who are left behind.
राह में कहीं यह जनाब मिल गए। मैंने तुरंत camera निकाला, इजाज़त ली और खेंच ली कुछ तस्वीरें।
फिर मेरे सह यात्री ने बड़े अदब से इनसे इनका हाल पूछा। पता चला यह 1920 में पैदा हुए थे। चालीस साल से यहीं दुकान लगाते हैं। अपने बटुए से निकाल अपना पहचान पत्र भी दिखाया। अपना काम बड़ी ईमानदारी से करते हैं। अपने बारे में और कई रोचक बातें बताईं।
तब मुझे बड़ी शर्म आई। हम शहरी लोग, किसी भी इंसान को, उसकी पूरी शख़्सियत को, उसके चहरे की हर लकीर को, एक character pic में तब्दील कर देते हैं। इनका पूरा वज़ूद मेरे लिए एक क्षणिक Instagram post से ज़्यादा कुछ भी नहीं था।
Posting a phone pic of the gentleman here, out of respect. The camera pics are gone. Hope he reminds us to be more humane when using our equipment. Our "subjects" are people too.
I've said it before and I will say it again. The 🚽 will be the only enduring legacy of Modi. And deservedly so. If only he can hook them all up to sewage or septic, and get some water flowing in them, before people boot him out in four years, he will have made an enduring legacy.
If Nehru built the temples of modern India and the mallus and AAPs built school, Modi would have built toilets and cleaned up our reputation of being street shitters.
So this isn't really a meme as much as it is appreciation.
Less of Amit Shah's hate campaigns and more of Modi's legacy building. फ़ूट डाल दो दोनों में, so we can have some development.
और करो हनुमान भक्ति in a secular democracy.
Serves you right. Read the गीता now. कर्म करो, फल की चिंता मत करो। फल मोदी लेगा अब। तुम भजन गाओ।
We made it to Lodhi Garden but didn't find any tulips.
We stopped on the way at roundabouts to admire them, but the cops shooed us away. I got into an altercation with one - little kids can't smell flowers now, because two bigots want to pretend to the world that they like each other. Security theatre.
Nilay: Dad, shave. There are little holes on my face where you touch me.
Me: No I'm gonna grow a beard 😝
He: OK, then grow a swirly beard.
मतलब, कुछ भी
All along the landscape of rural UP, you can see smokestacks belching acrid smoke into the sky. Precious top soil is being converted into bricks at illegal kilns, well within the boundaries of NCR.
Earlier this used to happen with impunity in Haryana and Rajasthan too, although I haven't seen the smokestacks in a while. I am sure they are still there, just hidden from the main highways. These two states are all about mining away the Aravalis now.
सरकारे बदलती रहती हैं, हालात नहीं सुधरते। PM2.5 and PM10 readings are still off the charts, even though the weather is warmer.
These days I never know if a picture is real or edited.
🚆 🚂 ❤️
सुबह सुबह रुला दिया
Have you seen the moon this morning?
Judge who delivered justice in the Hashimpura and '84 anti Sikh riots cases, transferred. The two goons need Delhi under their total control.
Most Indian men live like hobos in their bachelor pads, till someone important shows up. Then they clean up like crazy.
Modi, India's pradhan bachelor, has extended that tradition to the entire nation.
Instead of Modi visiting foreign countries, we should have more racist idiots that he is in awe of, regularly visiting different parts of India. At least the nation will clean up well.
This is so heartwarming. In all this saber rattling with our neighbours, we have forgotten that we are all human first, with a long shared history, and shared suffering. Big up for the Nagas to express solidarity with our friends in China.
Received a warm welcome on the stairs of the auditorium by Swara Bhaskar herself. Passed by Ratna Pathak and was quite flabbergasted. On the stage this JNUSU guy was heckled for not speaking in support of Sharjeel Imam. Someone is raising the right voices.
Headed for this event. Join me?
#garden #beauty #gnome #mushrooms
#caravan #vanlife
Succulents and flowers
#Destressing in the middle of a busy day with #beautiful #memories of #flowers.
#flower #flores #macro #floral #flowersofinstagram #flowerstagram
प्रचार करें हम। और मिठाई खाएँ बड़े बड़े लोग। बहुत नाइंसाफी है 😭
Arre utterly useless people. Go participate in this walk. The Safdarjung Tomb is fabulous at night.
Me: Lemme call you and discuss
Colleague: im...unavailable
Me: Well I am very glad that you are unavailable on Valentine's Day.
Me: In both senses of availability - your "status", or that you've got better things to do than work.
He: arey bathroom
💔 there is no hope for the young 😭
Kavin decided to read my copy of Factfullness (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34890015-factfulness). Page 80 has the graph "world population from 8000 BC till today". It is an exponential growth graph. He was amazed. So we decided to simulate exponential growth on paper. He was shocked to see how it easy it is for things to get out of hand. 1 pair of rabbits can lead to 4 million rabbits in a period of 4 years!
We then made a naive representation of exponential growth in a spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1PkmsuFe4Cv9OU8idSJ87GEksxAqJRfgEXz08epy9ovk/. Gapminder says (https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$state$marker$axis_y$which=children_per_woman_total_fertility&domainMin:null&domainMax:null&zoomedMin:null&zoomedMax:null&spaceRef:null;;;&chart-type=bubbles) 2018 fertility rates per woman were 2.28 for India, 1.64 for China. At this rate, an assumed life expectancy of 75 years (https://www.gapminder.org/tools/#$chart-type=bubbles), and an average reproductive age of 25 years, we came up with some startling graphs for India and China.
Attached are pics of our crude approximation for the future of India and China, with current population and fertility+mortality rates. Maths (with kids) is fun.
(Singapore has life expectancy of 84 years, per capita income of $84K/year, fertility rate of 1.26. Outlier!)
Thanks to Meera Kri for recommending Factfullness, and Ron Lancaster for conducting a Maths Walk at the kids' school.
Edit: Just a few weeks ago Kavin and I were looking at exponential population growth, as documented above. And now this: https://youtu.be/Kas0tIxDvrg - we are having to study exponential growth to understand the spread of COVID-19. Turns out it is never too early to study maths. And no amount of exposure to maths is useless. Too often maths is simply a tool to study already occurring natural phenomena. Equipped with the right mathematical tools, children can make the right data driven decisions in crisis situations.
We are बे पैंदे का लोटा जी
@[100002153045695:2048:Mayank Austen Soofi] is my antidote to this cruel world.
If you're not following Yossarian Doabwala, you should. You don't even need to agree with his politics. He will make you question absolutely everything, to the hilt. And teach you to make light of everything society holds sacred without reason.
Yes, it is hard. We all have our holy cows. The Indian flag gives me goosebumps for example.
Why. Why? Why! Ask any child - it is the most important word in the dictionary. It is the word that we all avoid, that scares us the most. All of humanity's progress has only taken place because scientists and philosophers embraced why, and shone light on whatever was ugly or taken for granted.
Whatever. Enough fancy words. Follow the bugger. Ruin your life.
Edit: Looks like his account has been deactivated. People keep reporting him. I think the liberals of India report him more than the Sanghis 😂. Anyway I'll update here if and when he is back.
Update: And he is back https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009240507779. Till we harass him again.
Weekend set है बिड़ू। आजो।
चलिए Puducherry को vanakkam
Teacher: If I catch you running in the corridor again, I won't give you free time.
First graders: OK madam, we will run so fast that you won't catch us again.
Nilay and other seventh graders: 😂🤣
Teacher: Why do I do this job?
Boom!
Yossarian Doabwala thank you for pointing me to Melroy. What joy. Endless content.
My rant on the mental state of our children. Explained graphically from the perspective of parenting.
This. Respect artists.
After dinner, we had the choice of going for a walk around the lighted Qutab, or visit Shaheen Bagh. Guess what we chose?
A temple that was used as a school building for over 30 years, was handed over by the Pakistan government to the Hindu community to be restored as a temple. Read the comments of Pakistanis on the news post by Dawn.
@[100002104093966:2048:Arvind Kejriwal], अब वक़्त आ गया है कि आप शाहीन बाघ पर अपने बयानों का जवाब दें।
जनता ने आपका साथ दिया। आप जनता को हिसाब दें।
40.59% voter turnout recorded till 3.30pm
What the f*&# Delhi! Go vote!
What a beautiful wonderland. The kids can touch and operate everything. And the scenic drive with sarson ke khet and beautiful birds is to die for.
❤️🔥🎃😭
मेरे शहर में मेला लगा है,
और मैं कल रात मायूस था कि कहीं जाने को नहीं है
मेरा शहर। I have always been dodgy about admitting that I am a Delhite. If you are the kind who asks people "where are you from", my response is, "I was born in Delhi and lived there for many years, but I don't identify as a Delhite. I have lived all over India." A long winded answer to hide my embarrassment about being a दिल्लीवाला.
Growing up I never associated Delhi with culture or warmth. That was for Chennai. And Mumbai had the spirit, the discipline, the pace. We had the "जानता नहीं मेरा बाप कौन है।"
Between rediscovering Delhi's heritage, the AAP and the protests, I have fallen in love with Delhi for the first time.
Musicians from all over the country are coming to celebrate us. आप भी सुनिए, TM को।
चलो शाहीन बाघ के आदमियों को भी काम मिल गया। करो ख़ातिर मेहमानों की।
सुबह सुबह घर से निकल रहे थे मगर Maps की app ही नहीं मिली phone में। इसलिए घर ही में बैठे हैं 😅
So awesome.
Oh man. This is the woman I heard speaking from the stage of Shaheen Bagh. I posted a pic of her earlier, calling her borderline religious fanatic. यह है क्या 😂? She isn't religious fanatic, she seems overall fanatic to me. Gormint aunty के बाद यही आईं हैं। She is pissed off with everyone man. And look at the रफ्तार of her voice!
She was introduced on stage with much fanfare, the announcer saying that her videos on Youtube are going viral. But the women sitting there weren't impressed by her speech.
Heartbreaking and sad. The communities in Velachery and IIT have lived together in peace and served each other since inception. Why this unnecessary division now?
BJP will install sixty air purification towers in Delhi if it comes to power.
The AAP will plant 2 crore trees.
Scientists are divided on the efficacy of purification towers.
Such a large number of trees should surely help, but what size will these trees grow to, and how fast? Will they be species indigenous to Delhi, or species chosen for their purification efficacy? Will the AAP merely plant these trees, or will it also ensure they grow to fruition?
Have we, as citizens, succeeded in making pollution an election issue?
@[100002104093966:2048:Arvind Kejriwal] has said a lot about the cleaning of the Yamuna, in multiple town halls. The BJP has been doing some work on the cleaning of the Ganga, as I witnessed myself in Uttarakhand recently, but I'm unsure what the outcomes are, and whether their work even matches the incremental growth in river pollution.
Anyone out there tracking this stuff in election season.
Awwww
Yesterday, after the music performance at Dargah Hazrat Inayat Khan, we were walking through the lanes of Nizamuddin to Ghalib's for dinner.
On the way we were approached by two boys who begged us for money. I was confronted with my age old dilemma - to give alms to children or not. One look at the kids and anyone could tell they are on "solution". We had the kids join us for dinner - better to give in kind than cash.
The manager at Ghalib's didn't let the unwashed kids sit with us. He also objected to them ordering whatever food they wished - till we intervened. Soon, the two boys started walking away with their packages of food. I stopped them. Why couldn't they just eat here? One kid started telling me about his old mother, younger sister, and handicapped brother at home, who all needed to be fed.
I saw through the whole brother without a leg story. My concern was that these two would sell this food and buy solution with the money. My friend told me to stop over thinking and just let them be.
On the streets of Delhi, solution is an everyday evil. I came to know of it when we did our first walk with Ramit in 2014. There were little boys at the maidan next to Red Fort with hollowed out faces and bodies. And they were all so happy. Too happy.
I hope the Delhi government confronts this evil soon. This isn't a law and order issue - these kids are sniffing tyre puncture repair solution, correction fluid, etc. We can simply regulate the sale and use of these items, and then put these kids through rehab. Like we have night shelters, we need safe places where kids can come and take a warm shower, wash their clothes, and gain some self respect. They should also be in school. Arvind has already said that he doesn't mind people coming from outside Delhi and getting treated in Delhi's hospitals. We should then also not have a problem with runaway kids coming to Delhi and being put through our schools and support systems.
Street kids are an everyday tragedy that everyone keeps turning their gaze away from. We can fix it. Once deaddicted, a lot of these kids could also be rehabilitated back in the homes they left behind - provided they aren't at risk there.
(Incidentally, the performer Ustad Iqbal Ahmed Khan sahab also showed up with his entourage after some time at Ghalib's)
सुन ले मौलाना, music वहीं बनायेंगे!
Damn. This is an awesome lineup. Amazing.
I'm bedridden today, otherwise जाना पक्का था।
@[1389381950:2048:Deepti Gulati] you'll be allowed to sit within the tent because of your gender. Right up front near the stage. Trust me and just go 😊
What if शुभा मुद्गल starts singing मेघ मल्हार and it actually starts raining on the protest ☔? You can never trust that woman and her amazing voice.
By popular demand, I've added the schedule to the post. The schedule also contains detailed walking directions.
Hazrat Inayat Khan Dargah
129 Basti Hazrat, Lodhi Rd, Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Delhi 110013
011 2435 0833
https://maps.app.goo.gl/u3LXSpZjGWtP1LXS8
माने, मैं तो कह ही रहा था कुछ देर पहले
The Hazrat Inayat Khan Dargah is a fabulous oasis of peace in the middle of bustling Nizamuddin Basti. I walked in and was startled. Am I at the dargah or have I mistakenly walked into a fancy resort?
The Urs of Hazrat Inayat Khan begins today. I'm here to attend a classical music concert. Photography is not allowed, so I am sharing a photograph from the Internet.
What a fabulous venue and what soul touching music. Come. It is on till past nine today, and from 9am till about 9pm for the next two days.
As I settled down to the sounds of the tabla, I heard chants from outside that gradually faded as the procession raising the slogans walked past: हम देश बचाने निकले हैं, आओ हमारे साथ चलो
There is hope for this nation yet.
(By popular demand, adding the schedule and the location to the post. The schedule also contains detailed walking directions.
Hazrat Inayat Khan Dargah
129 Basti Hazrat, Lodhi Rd, Nizamuddin, New Delhi, Delhi 110013
011 2435 0833
https://maps.app.goo.gl/u3LXSpZjGWtP1LXS8)
India Arts Fair gave the CAA issue and the protests the cold shoulder.
We gave the IAF the cold shoulder this year.
There is enough art on the streets of Delhi these days. Who needs these profiteers to be the gatekeepers of art and artists.
Look, I dislike Trump as much as the next guy, OK. But y'all Americans need to think about how you name your cities, states and streets. Like how you have a Fremont Street in every city that does NOT connect to Fremont, California.
Those of you who've never been to 'Murica, see for yourself. Kansas City is messed up. Here is the map. They have Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri. The two cities are divided by the Missouri river. The Kansas City in the state of Missouri is simply called Kansas City. The sporting team Kansas City Chiefs belongs to it. It is 4x larger than the Kansas City in Kansas State, so when someone just says "Kansas City" without the state name, they likely mean the Missouri one.
This is all messed up shit. Your president has enough problems. Y'all realise that your own people are trying to turn him into a peach!? Give the man a break, and fix your maps and city names. You guys need help, we got specialist politicians here in India. They can fix all your problems by changing your city names. Y'all can have them, we don't need them. They'll have you fixing your city names and killing your own people in no time.
When you live in the big city, a person who cannot speak proper Hindi (khadi boli) and English is considered an idiot. Bias by accent is ingrained in us.
Look at the sheer depth of knowledge of this man. Depth and breadth. And see the passion. I don't agree with a lot of what he says, but I'm impressed nevertheless. What he knows, he knows better than me. This is the kind of person you debate with just to learn.
The regret of not having tried pinches more than the regret of failure.
Those who live without regrets and dreams, are in a state of suspended bliss.
यह दिल्ली है मेरी जान
Right now. In Delhi. बताओ कहाँ?
कश्मीरी है। इसे बंदूक से डर नहीं लगता साहब, प्यार से लगता है।
