Sonam Mahajan
@AsYouNotWish • 520,351 subscribers
Columnist & strategic affairs commentator | South Asian security, India’s foreign policy & the world’s recurring absurdities | 📝 @RisingKashmir @ibtimes_india
Shorts
Videos
If you have watched Ankita Bhandari’s parents crying and howling in grief and haven’t felt a lump in your throat, I’m sorry, my friend, but your political loyalties have cost you something far more precious than an argument. Your humanity. And if their anguish doesn’t shake your conscience, I don’t know what will.
Sonam Mahajan17,020 views • 3 days ago
J&K Police officers calm a charged mob of Muslim medical students protesting outside Government Medical College (GMC), Doda, demanding action against Dr Madhu, a gynaecologist, over allegations that she objected to a burqa-clad intern entering the labour room. The hospital has already constituted a committee to examine the complaint. Yet the protesters wanted action against the doctor immediately. One student is heard saying that even if they have to give up education, they will never compromise on their religious identity. Another invokes the lathi-charge against MLA Mehraj Malik to ask why the same action should not be taken against Dr Madhu. This claim, however, continues to remain false. Mehraj Malik was never lathi-charged. Police had only used mild lathi-charge and tear gas to disperse his supporters after some of them started pelting stones at the cops. The full-face veil was hardly a ubiquitous sight among women in Jammu and Kashmir when we were growing up. More than 50% of my classmates were Muslim, yet I cannot recall a single one wearing a burqa. Everyone wore the uniform prescribed by the school or college. The growing visibility of the face veil came much later, amid the religious and political changes that followed the onset of militancy. So what are we witnessing today? Simply an expression of individual faith, or an increasingly assertive form of religious identity in public institutions? And more importantly, should face-covering be permitted in clinical settings where identification, hygiene, communication and patient safety are legitimate considerations? What do you think?
Sonam Mahajan101,574 views • 23 days ago
This is the video that former Bollywood actress Zaira Wasim, who quit showbiz for religious reasons, claiming working in the entertainment industry was against Islam, has a problem with. Soon after she announced her departure from films, her mother’s posts on Facebook cheering for Pakistan during cricket matches had gone viral. I remember the TV debates over it. Now, years later, she is lecturing everyone else on what Muslim children should and should not be doing at Independence Day celebrations. My memories of Independence and Republic Day celebrations in Jammu and Kashmir are of very elaborate programmes, even during the peak of terrorism. We had march-pasts, songs, dances and performances, and Muslim children participated just as enthusiastically as Hindu and Sikh children did. We did not see educated, exposed people speaking in such regressive language even back then. I do not remember anyone objecting to singing Vande Mataram either. We sang it all the time, including in schools where the overwhelming majority of students were Muslim and the management was Muslim. These heightened religious sensitivities seem to have appeared with remarkable enthusiasm over the years. And if anyone needs to mind their own business and broaden their vision, it is Zaira Wasim.
Sonam Mahajan249,082 views • 2 months ago
Salute to this superfit CISF jawan who chased down a man trying to flee after a suspicious object was flagged during screening at Delhi’s Jama Masjid Metro station. Our security personnel deserve appreciation for their alertness and swift action. And to the gentleman, get ready for some serious treatment. This is India, not France or Italy.
Sonam Mahajan17,610 views • 5 days ago
A Pakistani Ranger saluting a senior BSF officer after a photograph is actually a nice little moment. This is how it should be, really. You can have all the disagreements and still retain basic professional courtesy. But what I still cannot quite understand is the point of this whole Attari-Wagah circus. The screaming, the exaggerated marching, the absurdly high kicks and all that theatrical chest-thumping have never struck me as particularly dignified. A border is serious business. I am not sure why it needs to be turned into a daily spectacle for an audience. If there is a genuine tourism or commercial rationale for keeping it going, perhaps that explains its longevity. Otherwise, I would happily see the theatrics go and the border remain a border.
Sonam Mahajan50,908 views • 20 days ago
India sends fresh relief packages for Afghan refugees recently deported by Pakistan.
Sonam Mahajan680,482 views • 1 year ago
A young Pakistani man places his shawl on the head of a female interviewer, implying she must conform to Islamic customs. In response, the woman, Shaila Khan, handles the situation with grace and firmness, asserting her physical boundaries and stressing the importance of consent before establishing any kind of physical contact with someone, while also challenging the young man’s interpretation of Islam. She bravely addresses the broader issue of how men in Pakistan manipulate religious beliefs to exert control over women, particularly in professional settings. Shaila Khan, a Pathan woman, not only confronted this young man but also another Pakistani Punjabi YouTuber who recently criticised her attire out of professional jealousy. His comments aimed to incite religious sentiments against her and deter her from pursuing her YouTube career. I salute Khan’s courage in standing up to such behaviour. Her experience sheds light on the challenges faced by women in Pakistan’s media industry, where they are often subjected to unwarranted lectures on religion and faced with attempts to undermine their professional pursuits. Khan’s resilience serves as an inspiration to women everywhere. More power to her.
Sonam Mahajan1,003,691 views • 2 years ago
Shaky, clueless, and an utterly disappointing start. And she is leading the delegation. If this is India’s idea of a narrative offensive post-Operation Sindoor, we are not just unprepared, we are unserious. A costly junket dressed up as diplomacy. The enemy does not need propaganda when we serve them this. Sorry, but what a pathetic show. A masterclass in wasting taxpayer money. Shashi Tharoor, Jay Panda, and Ghulam Nabi Azad seem like the only reasonable picks to me as of now.
Sonam Mahajan557,064 views • 1 year ago
Convicted terrorist Yasin Malik’s daughter, Razia Sultan, pleads to Asim Munir, requesting more security and a bulletproof car. She says she and her Pakistani mother are loyal servants of Pakistan, keep Asim Munir next to Allah, and that the least they deserve is security from the Pakistani state, as they always defend the Pakistan Army. In her rehearsed plea, she makes a startling revelation that Indian NSA Ajit Doval directly called her mom to threaten her. Sounds completely believable.
Sonam Mahajan96,280 views • 2 months ago
