Ria Chakrabarty
@riachia93.bsky.social
490 followers 350 following 230 posts
By day: directing policy at Hindus for Human Rights (@hfhr.bsky.social) By night: writing about pop culture and politics at https://substack.com/@popculturegeopolitcs
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riachia93.bsky.social
I’ve been writing a series about how to understand Indian identity via Shah Rukh Khan films. Here’s the first piece on Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge

open.substack.com/pub/popcultu...
Hearts, Minds, NRIs
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge isn't actually about the Indian diaspora
open.substack.com
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
cmgiulini.bsky.social
After spending 43 years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, evidence hidden by the prosecution reversed his conviction. Rather than finally enjoying freedom, ICE abducted him for deportation

Depraved.

www.miamiherald.com/news/local/i...
He was wrongfully imprisoned for 43 years. Moments after being released, ICE took him
Subramanyam “Subu” Vedam now faces deportation.
www.miamiherald.com
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
scroll.in
LIVE NOW | Allegations of election fraud are everywhere. But Scroll has been ahead of the curve, reporting and analysing election fraud since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bSD...

Join Shoaib Daniyal, with reporters Ayush Tiwari and Aryan Mahtta for this online event.
LIVE | Vote Chori Explained: Shoaib Daniyal in conversation with Ayush Tiwari and Aryan Mahtta
YouTube video by Scroll.in
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
nytimes.com
Venezuelan officials, hoping to end their country’s clash with the U.S., offered the Trump administration a dominant stake in Venezuela’s oil and other mineral wealth in discussions that lasted for months, according to people close to the talks.
Venezuela’s Maduro Offered the U.S. His Nation’s Riches to Avoid Conflict
Venezuela’s autocrat had proposed allocating his country’s oil wealth and other natural resources to the U.S. and ending deals with American adversaries to appease President Trump.
nyti.ms
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
foreignpolicy.com
The deportation of pro-democracy dissidents to their home countries is a major reversal of years of U.S. policymaking on a topic that had bipartisan support.
Trump Is Supporting Transnational Repression
Instead of sheltering pro-democracy dissidents, America is now returning them for arrest.
foreignpolicy.com
riachia93.bsky.social
Not for nothing, but Bengal is brimming with rage over this. Bengali has become a shorthand for Bangladeshi, which itself is now treated like a slur.
riachia93.bsky.social
Many people are saying things like “Modi is learning from MAGA,” but it’s actually the other way around. This is what MAGA wants - for brown and Black Americans to become stateless in the way that Modi and Shah are trying to steal India away from its 200 million Muslims.
riachia93.bsky.social
The BJP failed to pass the National Registry of Citizenship Act (which threatened to make hundreds of millions of Muslims stateless) and is now using these deportations as a backdoor to NRC
riachia93.bsky.social
Most of these people are Bengali-speaking Muslims who have long been labeled “infiltrators” by the far right in India, including the Prime Minister himself.
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
maitelsadany.bsky.social
"Asked what freedom felt like, [Alaa] said: “It is overwhelming. It is also comfortable and natural, and I am immediately fitting in with them, including witnessing three family fights in two days. The usual stuff."

Don't miss this Guardian interview: www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...
‘I deserve to heal’: freed British-Egyptian activist Alaa Abd el-Fattah on his prison ordeal and next steps
The campaigner, who spent more than a decade in an Egyptian ‘vortex of incarceration’, wants to join his son in the UK while he reflects on the fight for freedom
www.theguardian.com
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
politico.com
Republican Governor of Oklahoma Kevin Stitt condemns the deployment of Texas's National Guard to Illinois.

“Oklahomans would lose their mind if [Gov. JB] Pritzker in Illinois sent troops down to Oklahoma during the Biden administration,” Stitt told The New York Times in an interview.
GOP Oklahoma governor criticizes Texas National Guard deployment to Illinois
Kevin Stitt, the chair of the National Governors Association, broke with his party in an interview with The New York Times.
www.politico.com
riachia93.bsky.social
El rey de pop verdad
thedailybeast.bsky.social
Donald Trump’s MAGA supporters are freaking out after photos emerged of Super Bowl singer Bad Bunny sitting during “God Bless America” at a New York Yankees playoff game.
MAGA Melts Down as Bad Bunny Sits for ‘God Bless America’
The singer is causing anger among Republicans for his actions during a baseball game.
trib.al
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
scroll.in
Join us for an essential online discussion on the integrity of India's electoral process, as reporters Ayush Tiwari & Aryan Mahtta join Political Editor Shoaib Daniyal to discuss how polls in India might be getting subverted.

Tune in at 4 PM on Sunday, October 12.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bSD...
LIVE | Vote Chori Explained: Shoaib Daniyal in conversation with Ayush Tiwari and Aryan Mahtta
YouTube video by Scroll.in
www.youtube.com
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
darrigomelanie.bsky.social
I feel like this photo of masked, armed men pepper spraying a pastor protecting his community is going to be a defining picture of this moment in America for a long, long time.
riachia93.bsky.social
Need someone to work on a version for India too (mirror to the Pakistani one!)
leilashami.bsky.social
"There are many valid reasons to oppose Western imperialism ... But real anti-imperialism is consistent. It does not choose which structures to excuse and which oppressed people to ignore. It does not sacrifice indigenous communities on the altar of geopolitics."
nakedpunch.com/the-anti-imp...
The ‘Anti-Imperialism’ of Idiots: Pakistani Left Edition - NAKED PUNCH
(inspired by Leila Al Shami)
nakedpunch.com
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
leilashami.bsky.social
"There are many valid reasons to oppose Western imperialism ... But real anti-imperialism is consistent. It does not choose which structures to excuse and which oppressed people to ignore. It does not sacrifice indigenous communities on the altar of geopolitics."
nakedpunch.com/the-anti-imp...
The ‘Anti-Imperialism’ of Idiots: Pakistani Left Edition - NAKED PUNCH
(inspired by Leila Al Shami)
nakedpunch.com
riachia93.bsky.social
Stealing Zohran’s style but won’t endorse okay
schumer.senate.gov
The government is shut down because Trump and the Republicans are hellbent on taking health care away from you.

And they won’t even come to the table to talk to us about it.

This is not about politics. It's about people.

Let’s break it down:
riachia93.bsky.social
Hi being able to identify law enforcement is a basic tenet of transparency and good governance
atrupar.com
Vance: "When they encourage us to unmask ICE law enforcement officers, what do you think is gonna happen? ... what's gonna happen is political violence & it has gotten out of control in this country. We gotta stop it, we gotta condemn it, & that starts unfortunately at the very top of the Dem Party"
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
qunfuz.bsky.social
It turns out, not surprisingly, that liberal values are necessary to underpin a multicultural society. If we are all equal and respected we can all get on. When genocide enters the balance, we can't.
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
syrianotes.bsky.social
Syria’s People’s Assembly election: Today’s voting is restricted to members of electoral bodies selected by provincial subcommittees, with no public vote.

Of 210 seats, 70% will be elected by electoral bodies and 30% appointed by the president.
— Enab Baladi
english.enabbaladi.net/archives/202...
“Electoral Silence” Begins for People’s Assembly Candidates in Syria - Enab Baladi
Candidates for Syria’s People’s Assembly entered on Saturday, October 4, a one-day “electoral silence” period, as stipulated in Decision No. […]
english.enabbaladi.net
riachia93.bsky.social
But you can’t expect this kind of insight from a guy who tried chicken korma and said “not for me”
riachia93.bsky.social
The idea that the US is uniquely immune to authoritarianism or fascism is so stupid, especially if you compare the US to India, which in theory should have been even more immune to this.
riachia93.bsky.social
Bad takes yet again from the guy who hates Indian food!!
riachia93.bsky.social
Been seeing some weird takes about asking Indian Americans why they’re not defending India to the USG. I have lots of thoughts, but in the meantime, I’m resharing this piece that digs a bit into the toxic views of Indians towards the diaspora.
riachia93.bsky.social
I’ve been writing a series about how to understand Indian identity via Shah Rukh Khan films. Here’s the first piece on Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge

open.substack.com/pub/popcultu...
Hearts, Minds, NRIs
Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge isn't actually about the Indian diaspora
open.substack.com
Reposted by Ria Chakrabarty
ayoub.bsky.social
Crucially: a majority of Jewish-Americans aged 18-34 are not “emotionally attached” to Israel.

50% of them say Israel has committed genocide.
The Post poll also revealed a generational divide. While 56 percent of Jewish Americans overall say they are emotionally attached to Israel, among those ages 18 to 34, that drops to 36 percent. But that share rises steadily for older groups, jumping to 68 percent for those over 65. Younger Jews are also more likely to say Israel has committed genocide, with 50 percent of those ages 18 to 34 saying so and the number hovering in the 30s among older groups.