8 ms·

The reality on ground is different from what you read in the press or even online. We see the work being done. When work wasn't being done (recent example of Ka

The reality on ground is different from what you read in the press or even online. We see the work being done. When work wasn't being done (recent example of Karnataka), people voted BJP out. The alternative (Congress) came to power promising loads of freebies. Now voters on the ground are pissed off (plenty of videos where people are not willing to pay electricity bills or public transport fares because Congress said it'll make all of that free but never did so till date). So this hyperbole on BJP being "evil" is largely overblown and it is quite persistent in the Hacker News circles. Ultimately the voter decides based on whether the Party in power delivers or not. BJP has been doing great work on the infrastructure/development front as well as attracting investment. That is visible on the ground. What BJP is lacking severely is in State level leadership/politics which needs to be fixed. Congress on the other hand has given up its National ambitions and pursuing weaknesses it sees in BJP's state level politics. This is vibrancy of democracy. Nothing to feel "bleak" about unless you are drowning yourself in anti-India Western media reports and thinking that is the truth. Maybe you need to ask yourself if you are also part of a misinformation bubble yourself without even realizing it?

dagmx 3y ago
I absolutely hate the way fellow Indians will just try and deflect negative stories about India as western propaganda. You do a disservice to your country by following that tired playbook. Did you ever stop to consider that I am actually well informed and genuinely disappointed with my country. Criticism of the country and party doesn’t mean I’m simply misinformed. I was critical of things when I lived there, I consume my news directly from Indian news sites. Maybe you need to ask yourself why you feel the need to assume it’s western propaganda?
- shri_krishna 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - dagmx 3y ago
    The sheer amount of hubris in your post is astounding. So any opinion other than your own is propaganda fed by the west, but the only true reality is the one you agree with that paints India in a flattering light. Using “the world happiness index” as some kind of gotcha propaganda is hilarious, when we’re discussing actual issues like arresting protestors. Just ridiculous. I won’t be replying again to you because I don’t think you are capable of accepting that other people disagree with your world view. It’s unhealthy and I really think you need to leave your own bubble.
    - shuklaritam 3y ago
      Yeah the same Western media that fed the world the news that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction, Libya needs to be attacked to install democracy, justified sanctions on most energy producers who were not much in favor of the USD such as Iran, Venezuela, Libya, Russia. Some day you will realize the Western media is a propaganda tool wielded by the powerful arms and other lobbies to paint their targets and give the Western governments pretext to begin interfering in the matters of a non-pliable foreign government.
    - shri_krishna 3y ago
      > The sheer amount of hubris in your post is astounding. Good to know you consider the World Happiness Index 2023 as hubris. We can finally agree on something. > I won’t be replying again to you because I don’t think you are capable of accepting that other people disagree with your world view Funny how you believe "I don’t think you are capable of accepting that other people disagree with your world view" and in the text rejected my valid argument which you had absolutely zero counter for. Either accept that the World Happiness Index is a fabrication of the West or rebut with facts as to why India ranks below Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. You got stumped with just this easiest piece of fact that you couldn't even counter. Tells me everything I need to know. > when we’re discussing actual issues like arresting protestors Cry me a river. The West is so pristine it doesn't arrest protesters at all. Nor do Government agencies kill people randomly. Nor does it indulge in assassinations both within its own soil or in countries that it has no jurisdiction over. Nor does the West bomb other nations to bits. Nor does it arrest farmers and confiscate their properties and bank accounts. The West is epitome of truth, fairness and justice. While puny Indians back home, which you incidentally rejected because of the deep seated hatred, are the horrible ones who do not have capacity to discern truth from fiction and do not understand how a Democracy functions. Give me a break!
  - shri_krishna 3y ago
    I haven't even included UPI in this which has been an absolute game changer. Anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together would know how transformational UPI has been to India and growth of India in the past few years. But yeah we should neglect all that because the West said so. Sure there are problems in India just like there are problems in every other country in the World. But when it comes to India, the problems are amplified to an unwarranted degree in the West. Maybe because we don't toe the Western line when it comes to many things (like staying non-aligned or not signing the non-proliferation treaty) and the West just doesn't like it. Has been holding a grudge since the 90s when India conducted reciprocal nuclear tests (after China conducted its own nuclear tests). Bill Clinton saw it fit to sanction Democratic India but not Authoritarian CCP. It is not something new. And pre-90s was even worse with the West supporting Dictatorial Islamic Republic of Pakistan against Democratic India.
    - throwaway384629 3y ago
      >> I haven't even included UPI in this which has been an absolute game changer. Wasn't the work on UPI started in 2009 and the vision statement was prepared in 2012, 2 years before Modi/BJP came to power? >> In April 2009, National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) was formed to integrate all the payment mechanisms in India and make them uniform for all retail payments. RBI in 2012 released a vision statement for a period of four years that indicated commitment towards building a safe, efficient, accessible, inclusive, interoperable and authorized payment and settlement system in India. UPI was officially launched in 2016 for public use. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface
      - ta_vf7xjd34cc 3y ago
        > Wasn't the work on UPI started in 2009 and the vision statement was prepared in 2012 Is this[1] or is this not P. Chidambaram, Indian Finance Minister during the Congress-led UPA regime, criticizing the government's digital payment plans? You think such a pessimistic guy or his government would have done anything to make UPI a success except in a half-hearted fashion? There is a saying: success has many fathers while failure is an orphan. No wonder when UPI has turned out to be a resounding success, people either turn up to claim credit or to run down the success of the current government. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnv8gwN0ug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnv8gwN0ug
  - throwaway384629 3y ago
    >> Take the World Happiness Index 2023 which ranked India lower than Pakistan ... May be World Happiness Index 2023 data is bit flawed. But I don't think that means whole world is sharing propaganda against India. >> Heck we get 100Mbps-1Gbps unlimited internet connectivity anywhere in India at the lowest rates possible in the entire World. How is it an achievement of Government while this was done by private companies like Reliance at the cost of public owned BSNL? Government actually let the loss of public tax payers money by giving favourable treatment to private companies. Modi and his fans always talk about low prices of internet in India, while its a failure of government to control Reliance where Reliance is using money raised from state bank to give dirt cheap internet connection to public and killing the competition. They have already started raising the prices now that several competitors are gone. [1] Reliance raises money from public banks, Reliance uses that money to get tower network of public owned BSNL, Reliance gets priority over BSNL to launch 4G, Reliance is in profit while BSNL is in loss, Government employee phone connections are transferred from BSNL to private entity Reliance. [2] [3] [4] >> I don't need some stupid organization in the West to tell me I am more unhappy than these countries. Why care about other stupid organizations while you have "Whatsapp university" to keep us informed. [5] [1] https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/your-phone-bill-is-going-to-get-expensive-soon-2312127-2022-12-22 https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/your-phone-b... [2] https://www.livemint.com/industry/telecom/reliance-jio-emerges-as-india-s-biggest-telecom-player-1564155299487.html https://www.livemint.com/industry/telecom/reliance-jio-emerg... [3] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/state-police-to-port-over-38000-sim-cards-from-bsnl-to-reliance-jio/article66535643.ece https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/state-polic... [4] https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/forget-5g-bsnl-is-finally-getting-ready-to-launch-4g-services-in-first-half-of-2023-2299857-2022-11-21 https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/forget-5g-bs... [5] https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-age-of-whatsapp-university-and-a-political-animal-called-cow-magazine-256751 https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-age-of-whatsapp-un...
    - shri_krishna 3y ago
      > How is it an achievement of Government while this was done by private companies like Reliance at the cost of public owned BSNL? Government actually let the loss of public tax payers money by giving favourable treatment to private companies. What nonsense. It is exact opposite of what you are saying. BSNL was always a loss making company that never innovated and was kept stagnant for decades. We all saw how shabby the 2G rollout was. And who subsidized BSNL? It was us, the tax payers. They never turned a profit even once. Even now they are "expected" to turn a profit in 2026-27. What you are advocating for is maximum Government. That almost always ends in disaster. What you should be aiming for is minimum Government. We, the People, have granted Government powers through the Constitution. The reason we did that is because somethings are best managed by the Government than either free markets or people themselves: building infrastructure, security, law and order, healthcare, protecting borders. Anything beyond this is not mandate of the Government. Government has no business being in business. The more private players are encouraged the better for growth of an country/economy. The less Government intervention the better. Reliance bought the licenses for 4G through an auction. And it was bought in 2010 (during Congress ruled UPA era). So your ridiculous accusation of "giving favourable treatment to private companies" applies to Congress more than anyone else. Either ways, I don't find anything wrong in it as it was a fair auction that did not go the ways of 2G scam. The auction happened during the Congress regime. Reliance won. But Congress failed to setup the infrastructure needed for Reliance to build the network. This is where the Government is needed to intervene and help out by building infrastructure. PPP partnerships are forged for this reason only. Government builds basic infrastructure (like connecting roads, electricity lines, plumbing etc), Private Companies build plants, machinery and in this case installing antennas and laying of fibre optic cables. It takes two to tango. Congress was missing in the picture as it was busy with corruption. It is only when BJP came to power that this project was fast tracked. > where Reliance is using money raised from state bank to give dirt cheap internet connection to public and killing the competition Lol you are talking as if Reliance had underdogs as competitors. Airtel, Vodafone, Idea etc are all billion dollar companies. They could have easily taken on Reliance. In fact they were quite content with their dominence in the sector and refused to innovate. It is not Reliance's fault if the competition was caught sleeping at the wheels. > They have already started raising the prices now that several competitors are gone. Welcome to Capitalism 101. This is how it works everywhere. Not just in India. > How is it an achievement of Government while this was done by private companies like Reliance Did I say it is achievement of the Government anywhere? I talked about positive changes that are happening in India and the infrastructure developmental projects that are shaping such outcomes. For Reliance to lay their antennas and fibre optic cables it requires Government to support through infrastructure development. By making connecting roads/highways and digging necessary lines for fibre optic cables to be laid. This is the work of the Government: infrastructure. The Government did not setup the network. I never said that anywhere. > Reliance raises money from public banks, Reliance uses that money to get tower network of public owned BSNL, Reliance gets priority over BSNL to launch 4G, Reliance is in profit while BSNL is in loss, Government employee phone connections are transferred from BSNL to private entity Reliance. Dude how different is it from the West? Even in the West you have Verizon, AT&T etc. Does the US have something equivalent to BSNL? Nope it doesn't. In fact I want Modi to shut down BSNL. It is a big drain on tax payer money. Just like US doesn't have any state owned telecom companies, India shouldn't have one either. Especially one which is stagnant and unable to innovate. We can use the tax payer money for other better causes. > Why care about other stupid organizations while you have "Whatsapp university" to keep us informed. [5] When you have no proper rebuttal this is the crap you come up with. This is why Opposition can never win the General Election in India. You guys suck at this. Most of your information is hollow at best. No proper study. Just a bunch of links from media stories. If you had known that Reliance won the 4G auction during UPA regime you wouldn't have even made this point.
  - JumpCrisscross 3y ago
    > rabid amount of hate will get you nowhere in life and will always keep you in a negative mood and disappointed Wat. Honestly, this attitude—equating moderate criticism with “rabid hate”— causes me to pause every time I get excited about India. There are democratic trade-offs in development. India has made them decently historically, and well recently. But the way you tank that balance is with blind jingoism.
    - shri_krishna 3y ago
      > Honestly, this attitude—equating moderate criticism with “rabid hate” I was responding to this comment: "I absolutely hate the way fellow Indians will just try and deflect negative stories about India as western propaganda." Nice try trying to change the tone of his sentence (which was "I absolutely hate") to "moderate criticism". There is nothing "moderate" about "absolutely hating" something/someone. I was just responding to that "extreme" emotion he was projecting. Such extreme emotions might win you the mob but it won't change facts. > causes me to pause every time I get excited about India Okay. And? What difference would it make to India's growth trajectory if you lose your excitement? Is it going to make any dent? > But the way you tank that balance is with blind jingoism. Lol. As an Indian the only content I get to consume majority of the times, from Western media/press, is how shitty India is. And this has nothing to do with BJP/Modi but has to do with how India has always been projected in the Western media. Take literally any media clip of India showcased on Western news channels and you will have at least 1 clip of Mumbai slum (which is the smallest portion of Mumbai, a part of Maharashtra state in India) projected as India itself. It is like Indian channels showing Skid Row as USA. So if you feel some sort of "jingoism" coming from me it is purely a response to the nonsense I always see on Western media whenever India is talked about. As it almost always projects and enhances stereotypes already existing about India and Indians. And lets not forget the most common tropes: poverty, illiteracy, drinking water, sanitation, slums, education, electricity etc. No matter how much India improves and solves these issues (many of which are close to 100%) it still wouldn't satisfy West's craving for denigrating India just for kicks. So if I feel defensive about it, don't construe it as jingoism for the sake of it. I actually feel the difference in standard of living after being born here and lived for 34 years. I presume I have more experience about how much India has changed compared to Westerners or even NRIs who abandoned India for greener pastures and sit in the West and pontificate. Sorry if I sound jingoistic but I don't really care. Especially when the West doesn't really care about how India is denigrated repeatedly in their Media. And if anyone has even a mild amount of criticism of the West, they get banned/cancelled in the West or worse bombed out of existence (Iraq/Syria/Libya). So much for tolerance to free speech and human rights.
- lagolinguini 3y ago
  Sadly this is the line that the BJP and their followers have taken. Any criticism from outside India is "western propaganda". Any criticism from within India is "anti-nationalism", "pakistani" or "tukde-tukde gang".
  - shri_krishna 3y ago
    Because we see the same actors coming out of the woodworks every time an issue breaks out. I mean, is the Opposition so bereft of people that it has to project the same faces every time? Some of these actors play multiple roles. Sometimes they don the hat of psephologists, sometimes lawyers, sometimes politicians, sometimes journalists and sometimes even give lectures on religion and philosophy. Such multi-talented actors cannot be so easily switched out every time right? Which is why Opposition has such a tough time winning General Elections in India. We see through this BS. I won't name names but I am pretty sure you have already guessed who I am talking about. Even in these wrestlers protests we clearly see who is the puppet master who is controlling the marionette. The same puppet master active during farmer protests. The same puppet master active during CAA protests. That face is pretty much constant. Right now let us just accept this basic fact that there is no one, in the Opposition at least, who is a serious contender to Modi at the National Level. Or even Yogi or any of the other BJP leaders. This is sad truth for Opposition parties that it has to accept first before it can work on finding the right candidate for the job. But doing that is easier said than done. When the Opposition is fragmented and bickering amongst itself, there is no way it can put on a United front. It tried it multiple times and failed miserably every single time. And being just anti-Modi/anti-BJP won't win votes. You need to present a viable alternative that is actually capable of taking on not just Modi but also be able to represent India on an International level. I don't find anyone in the Opposition fit enough for that position. Sorry.

dagmx 3y ago

I absolutely hate the way fellow Indians will just try and deflect negative stories about India as western propaganda. You do a disservice to your country by following that tired playbook. Did you ever stop to consider that I am actually well informed and genuinely disappointed with my country. Criticism of the country and party doesn’t mean I’m simply misinformed. I was critical of things when I lived there, I consume my news directly from Indian news sites. Maybe you need to ask yourself why you feel the need to assume it’s western propaganda?

shri_krishna 3y ago
[flagged]
- dagmx 3y ago
  The sheer amount of hubris in your post is astounding. So any opinion other than your own is propaganda fed by the west, but the only true reality is the one you agree with that paints India in a flattering light. Using “the world happiness index” as some kind of gotcha propaganda is hilarious, when we’re discussing actual issues like arresting protestors. Just ridiculous. I won’t be replying again to you because I don’t think you are capable of accepting that other people disagree with your world view. It’s unhealthy and I really think you need to leave your own bubble.
  - shuklaritam 3y ago
    Yeah the same Western media that fed the world the news that Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction, Libya needs to be attacked to install democracy, justified sanctions on most energy producers who were not much in favor of the USD such as Iran, Venezuela, Libya, Russia. Some day you will realize the Western media is a propaganda tool wielded by the powerful arms and other lobbies to paint their targets and give the Western governments pretext to begin interfering in the matters of a non-pliable foreign government.
  - shri_krishna 3y ago
    > The sheer amount of hubris in your post is astounding. Good to know you consider the World Happiness Index 2023 as hubris. We can finally agree on something. > I won’t be replying again to you because I don’t think you are capable of accepting that other people disagree with your world view Funny how you believe "I don’t think you are capable of accepting that other people disagree with your world view" and in the text rejected my valid argument which you had absolutely zero counter for. Either accept that the World Happiness Index is a fabrication of the West or rebut with facts as to why India ranks below Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Myanmar. You got stumped with just this easiest piece of fact that you couldn't even counter. Tells me everything I need to know. > when we’re discussing actual issues like arresting protestors Cry me a river. The West is so pristine it doesn't arrest protesters at all. Nor do Government agencies kill people randomly. Nor does it indulge in assassinations both within its own soil or in countries that it has no jurisdiction over. Nor does the West bomb other nations to bits. Nor does it arrest farmers and confiscate their properties and bank accounts. The West is epitome of truth, fairness and justice. While puny Indians back home, which you incidentally rejected because of the deep seated hatred, are the horrible ones who do not have capacity to discern truth from fiction and do not understand how a Democracy functions. Give me a break!
- shri_krishna 3y ago
  I haven't even included UPI in this which has been an absolute game changer. Anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together would know how transformational UPI has been to India and growth of India in the past few years. But yeah we should neglect all that because the West said so. Sure there are problems in India just like there are problems in every other country in the World. But when it comes to India, the problems are amplified to an unwarranted degree in the West. Maybe because we don't toe the Western line when it comes to many things (like staying non-aligned or not signing the non-proliferation treaty) and the West just doesn't like it. Has been holding a grudge since the 90s when India conducted reciprocal nuclear tests (after China conducted its own nuclear tests). Bill Clinton saw it fit to sanction Democratic India but not Authoritarian CCP. It is not something new. And pre-90s was even worse with the West supporting Dictatorial Islamic Republic of Pakistan against Democratic India.
  - throwaway384629 3y ago
    >> I haven't even included UPI in this which has been an absolute game changer. Wasn't the work on UPI started in 2009 and the vision statement was prepared in 2012, 2 years before Modi/BJP came to power? >> In April 2009, National Payment Corporation of India (NPCI) was formed to integrate all the payment mechanisms in India and make them uniform for all retail payments. RBI in 2012 released a vision statement for a period of four years that indicated commitment towards building a safe, efficient, accessible, inclusive, interoperable and authorized payment and settlement system in India. UPI was officially launched in 2016 for public use. [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unified_Payments_Interface
    - ta_vf7xjd34cc 3y ago
      > Wasn't the work on UPI started in 2009 and the vision statement was prepared in 2012 Is this[1] or is this not P. Chidambaram, Indian Finance Minister during the Congress-led UPA regime, criticizing the government's digital payment plans? You think such a pessimistic guy or his government would have done anything to make UPI a success except in a half-hearted fashion? There is a saying: success has many fathers while failure is an orphan. No wonder when UPI has turned out to be a resounding success, people either turn up to claim credit or to run down the success of the current government. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnv8gwN0ug https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCnv8gwN0ug
- throwaway384629 3y ago
  >> Take the World Happiness Index 2023 which ranked India lower than Pakistan ... May be World Happiness Index 2023 data is bit flawed. But I don't think that means whole world is sharing propaganda against India. >> Heck we get 100Mbps-1Gbps unlimited internet connectivity anywhere in India at the lowest rates possible in the entire World. How is it an achievement of Government while this was done by private companies like Reliance at the cost of public owned BSNL? Government actually let the loss of public tax payers money by giving favourable treatment to private companies. Modi and his fans always talk about low prices of internet in India, while its a failure of government to control Reliance where Reliance is using money raised from state bank to give dirt cheap internet connection to public and killing the competition. They have already started raising the prices now that several competitors are gone. [1] Reliance raises money from public banks, Reliance uses that money to get tower network of public owned BSNL, Reliance gets priority over BSNL to launch 4G, Reliance is in profit while BSNL is in loss, Government employee phone connections are transferred from BSNL to private entity Reliance. [2] [3] [4] >> I don't need some stupid organization in the West to tell me I am more unhappy than these countries. Why care about other stupid organizations while you have "Whatsapp university" to keep us informed. [5] [1] https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/your-phone-bill-is-going-to-get-expensive-soon-2312127-2022-12-22 https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/your-phone-b... [2] https://www.livemint.com/industry/telecom/reliance-jio-emerges-as-india-s-biggest-telecom-player-1564155299487.html https://www.livemint.com/industry/telecom/reliance-jio-emerg... [3] https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/state-police-to-port-over-38000-sim-cards-from-bsnl-to-reliance-jio/article66535643.ece https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/state-polic... [4] https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/forget-5g-bsnl-is-finally-getting-ready-to-launch-4g-services-in-first-half-of-2023-2299857-2022-11-21 https://www.indiatoday.in/technology/news/story/forget-5g-bs... [5] https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-age-of-whatsapp-university-and-a-political-animal-called-cow-magazine-256751 https://www.outlookindia.com/national/the-age-of-whatsapp-un...
  - shri_krishna 3y ago
    > How is it an achievement of Government while this was done by private companies like Reliance at the cost of public owned BSNL? Government actually let the loss of public tax payers money by giving favourable treatment to private companies. What nonsense. It is exact opposite of what you are saying. BSNL was always a loss making company that never innovated and was kept stagnant for decades. We all saw how shabby the 2G rollout was. And who subsidized BSNL? It was us, the tax payers. They never turned a profit even once. Even now they are "expected" to turn a profit in 2026-27. What you are advocating for is maximum Government. That almost always ends in disaster. What you should be aiming for is minimum Government. We, the People, have granted Government powers through the Constitution. The reason we did that is because somethings are best managed by the Government than either free markets or people themselves: building infrastructure, security, law and order, healthcare, protecting borders. Anything beyond this is not mandate of the Government. Government has no business being in business. The more private players are encouraged the better for growth of an country/economy. The less Government intervention the better. Reliance bought the licenses for 4G through an auction. And it was bought in 2010 (during Congress ruled UPA era). So your ridiculous accusation of "giving favourable treatment to private companies" applies to Congress more than anyone else. Either ways, I don't find anything wrong in it as it was a fair auction that did not go the ways of 2G scam. The auction happened during the Congress regime. Reliance won. But Congress failed to setup the infrastructure needed for Reliance to build the network. This is where the Government is needed to intervene and help out by building infrastructure. PPP partnerships are forged for this reason only. Government builds basic infrastructure (like connecting roads, electricity lines, plumbing etc), Private Companies build plants, machinery and in this case installing antennas and laying of fibre optic cables. It takes two to tango. Congress was missing in the picture as it was busy with corruption. It is only when BJP came to power that this project was fast tracked. > where Reliance is using money raised from state bank to give dirt cheap internet connection to public and killing the competition Lol you are talking as if Reliance had underdogs as competitors. Airtel, Vodafone, Idea etc are all billion dollar companies. They could have easily taken on Reliance. In fact they were quite content with their dominence in the sector and refused to innovate. It is not Reliance's fault if the competition was caught sleeping at the wheels. > They have already started raising the prices now that several competitors are gone. Welcome to Capitalism 101. This is how it works everywhere. Not just in India. > How is it an achievement of Government while this was done by private companies like Reliance Did I say it is achievement of the Government anywhere? I talked about positive changes that are happening in India and the infrastructure developmental projects that are shaping such outcomes. For Reliance to lay their antennas and fibre optic cables it requires Government to support through infrastructure development. By making connecting roads/highways and digging necessary lines for fibre optic cables to be laid. This is the work of the Government: infrastructure. The Government did not setup the network. I never said that anywhere. > Reliance raises money from public banks, Reliance uses that money to get tower network of public owned BSNL, Reliance gets priority over BSNL to launch 4G, Reliance is in profit while BSNL is in loss, Government employee phone connections are transferred from BSNL to private entity Reliance. Dude how different is it from the West? Even in the West you have Verizon, AT&T etc. Does the US have something equivalent to BSNL? Nope it doesn't. In fact I want Modi to shut down BSNL. It is a big drain on tax payer money. Just like US doesn't have any state owned telecom companies, India shouldn't have one either. Especially one which is stagnant and unable to innovate. We can use the tax payer money for other better causes. > Why care about other stupid organizations while you have "Whatsapp university" to keep us informed. [5] When you have no proper rebuttal this is the crap you come up with. This is why Opposition can never win the General Election in India. You guys suck at this. Most of your information is hollow at best. No proper study. Just a bunch of links from media stories. If you had known that Reliance won the 4G auction during UPA regime you wouldn't have even made this point.
- JumpCrisscross 3y ago
  > rabid amount of hate will get you nowhere in life and will always keep you in a negative mood and disappointed Wat. Honestly, this attitude—equating moderate criticism with “rabid hate”— causes me to pause every time I get excited about India. There are democratic trade-offs in development. India has made them decently historically, and well recently. But the way you tank that balance is with blind jingoism.
  - shri_krishna 3y ago
    > Honestly, this attitude—equating moderate criticism with “rabid hate” I was responding to this comment: "I absolutely hate the way fellow Indians will just try and deflect negative stories about India as western propaganda." Nice try trying to change the tone of his sentence (which was "I absolutely hate") to "moderate criticism". There is nothing "moderate" about "absolutely hating" something/someone. I was just responding to that "extreme" emotion he was projecting. Such extreme emotions might win you the mob but it won't change facts. > causes me to pause every time I get excited about India Okay. And? What difference would it make to India's growth trajectory if you lose your excitement? Is it going to make any dent? > But the way you tank that balance is with blind jingoism. Lol. As an Indian the only content I get to consume majority of the times, from Western media/press, is how shitty India is. And this has nothing to do with BJP/Modi but has to do with how India has always been projected in the Western media. Take literally any media clip of India showcased on Western news channels and you will have at least 1 clip of Mumbai slum (which is the smallest portion of Mumbai, a part of Maharashtra state in India) projected as India itself. It is like Indian channels showing Skid Row as USA. So if you feel some sort of "jingoism" coming from me it is purely a response to the nonsense I always see on Western media whenever India is talked about. As it almost always projects and enhances stereotypes already existing about India and Indians. And lets not forget the most common tropes: poverty, illiteracy, drinking water, sanitation, slums, education, electricity etc. No matter how much India improves and solves these issues (many of which are close to 100%) it still wouldn't satisfy West's craving for denigrating India just for kicks. So if I feel defensive about it, don't construe it as jingoism for the sake of it. I actually feel the difference in standard of living after being born here and lived for 34 years. I presume I have more experience about how much India has changed compared to Westerners or even NRIs who abandoned India for greener pastures and sit in the West and pontificate. Sorry if I sound jingoistic but I don't really care. Especially when the West doesn't really care about how India is denigrated repeatedly in their Media. And if anyone has even a mild amount of criticism of the West, they get banned/cancelled in the West or worse bombed out of existence (Iraq/Syria/Libya). So much for tolerance to free speech and human rights.
lagolinguini 3y ago
Sadly this is the line that the BJP and their followers have taken. Any criticism from outside India is "western propaganda". Any criticism from within India is "anti-nationalism", "pakistani" or "tukde-tukde gang".
- shri_krishna 3y ago
  Because we see the same actors coming out of the woodworks every time an issue breaks out. I mean, is the Opposition so bereft of people that it has to project the same faces every time? Some of these actors play multiple roles. Sometimes they don the hat of psephologists, sometimes lawyers, sometimes politicians, sometimes journalists and sometimes even give lectures on religion and philosophy. Such multi-talented actors cannot be so easily switched out every time right? Which is why Opposition has such a tough time winning General Elections in India. We see through this BS. I won't name names but I am pretty sure you have already guessed who I am talking about. Even in these wrestlers protests we clearly see who is the puppet master who is controlling the marionette. The same puppet master active during farmer protests. The same puppet master active during CAA protests. That face is pretty much constant. Right now let us just accept this basic fact that there is no one, in the Opposition at least, who is a serious contender to Modi at the National Level. Or even Yogi or any of the other BJP leaders. This is sad truth for Opposition parties that it has to accept first before it can work on finding the right candidate for the job. But doing that is easier said than done. When the Opposition is fragmented and bickering amongst itself, there is no way it can put on a United front. It tried it multiple times and failed miserably every single time. And being just anti-Modi/anti-BJP won't win votes. You need to present a viable alternative that is actually capable of taking on not just Modi but also be able to represent India on an International level. I don't find anyone in the Opposition fit enough for that position. Sorry.