Aakar Patel is a writer and columnist. You can e-mail the author at aakar.patel@gmail.com
'One minute and 45 seconds of that clip are on Modi praising gauraksha.' 'In the last 30 seconds he speaks about violence, but says only that killing is unacceptable.' 'We don't need the prime minister to tell us that.' 'We need him to tell us why the killing is happening and what he will do to stop it,' says Aakar Patel.
'If it is true that we are in a moment in time when the few economic advantages we hold are being lost, our focus must be on that rather than on finger-pointing,' says Aakar Patel.
'The armies that are lined up and firing at each other without ceasing, without much change on the ground and without much benefit, are replaced by civilians (also in uniforms, of team colours) screaming abuse,' says Aakar Patel.
'Those who are upset by the current government's hard position against agitating Kashmiris should know it is exactly as hard as the position of previous governments.' 'Congress also killed as many, and actually more, but it spoke softly.' 'The BJP uses harsher words, but that is the only real difference,' says Aakar Patel.
'We should credit Prime Minister Modi with having foresight and courage and showing leadership on climate change.'
'China held a meeting on the One Belt One Road and India boycotted it.' 'However, all of India's neighbours attended, except for one, Bhutan.' 'India warned those attending that the partnership with the Chinese would come at a heavy price, but almost nobody heard us.' 'The question is: Why not?' asks Aakar Patel.
'Modi has also made mistakes and overpromised.' 'However, his cautious and careful approach have insulated him from criticism.'
'Gujaratis need not be ashamed of the lack of martial tradition.' 'They contribute to their country in other ways.' 'And, of course, they can also claim that while they may not have produced many martyrs, they produced the greatest one: Gandhi.'
'There is an observable difference between Nepalis and Lankans and the rest of us.' 'It would serve us well to understand where this difference comes from and, if it is something that is better in some way, how it is that we can access it,' says Aakar Patel.
In the next 25 years or so, we will have intelligence in computers that will exceed man's in every way.
'Those of us who care for the Indian Constitution worry,' says Aakar Patel.
Those who feel the irresistible need to express strong sentiment for our nation and its contents must consider being pro-Indian, whether this Indian be jawan, cobbler, Kashmiri, lesbian, Dalit, protester, pujari, businessman or child.
'Many of the players in IPL are the sons of men and women who are in ordinary jobs and not well off.' 'These players are the first in their family ever to move into another social class.' 'I think it is a very fine thing that young men from ordinary backgrounds get exposed to fame and money, and playing with legends from abroad and India,' says Aakar Patel.
When African ambassadors said the attacks against Africans are 'xenophobic and racial in nature,' the MEA declared 'strong Indian institutions are adequate to deal with aberrations that represent an act of a few criminals.' 'This is a lie,' says Aakar Patel. 'India's institutions can't even protect Indians against mob attacks, how will they protect foreigners?'
'There is a discomfort among many of us at the fact that the Republic is not more Hindu than it could or should be.' 'This discomfort is producing laws such as the one we now have in Gujarat,' says Aakar Patel.
'The Congress in 2017 stands for nothing positive, not even secularism.'
The numbers, however, look very good for Modi. We could say it is his election to lose, rather than the Opposition's to win, says Aakar Patel.
'Responding with outrage is not enough. It is the time, and the responsibility of all who hold those rights dear, to fight back, says Aakar Patel.
'We are in the presence of a truly great politician,' says Aakar Patel.
'The only forum for resistance and dissent has become the university.' 'Free thinking is the right our brave students have been demanding.' 'As another round of violence and hatred against 'anti-nationals' begins, all of us, whether or not we agree with their views, should support and defend them,' says Aakar Patel.
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