Raksha Kumar
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raksha-kumar.bsky.social
Raksha Kumar
@raksha-kumar.bsky.social
57 followers 53 following 16 posts
Journalist. Human rights. Social justice
South Asia
Words, images, audio: NPR, The Guardian, The New York Times, BBC, The Hindu, Article-14
Columbia Journalism School
https://rakshakumar.substack.com/
Media Freedoms: https://bit.ly/41gC
Posts Replies Media Videos
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
5 years since the incarceration of Umar Khalid, Gulfisha Fatima and others in the Delhi riots case under the UAPA. No bail granted. My latest newsletter.
rakshakumar.substack.com/p/37-whats-i...
#37 What's in a date?
Gulfisha Fatima was arrested in April 2020 under India's anti-terror law, for protesting a biased citizenship law. She writes powerful poetry and teaches basic writing skills to Tihar Jail's inmates.
rakshakumar.substack.com
April 17, 2025 at 5:18 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
It is time for everyone who was critical of globalisation to feel nostalgic about it now. Who'd have thought, that those who spent the last 70 years criticising the world economic order would spend the next 70 yarning for it.
:/
April 16, 2025 at 3:31 AM
Reposted by Raksha Kumar
gijn.org
To dismantle VOA and other US-funded affiliates would be to silence decades of coverage in overlooked parts of the world on topics like human rights, corruption, and war crimes, @raksha-kumar.bsky.social writes.

Read more: https://twp.ai/9PRXY2
gijn.org
What’s Lost if Voice of America Disappears: Watchdog Spirit, Intrepid Reporters, and Focus on the Global South
twp.ai
April 10, 2025 at 7:15 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
A quick Sunday reminder that #TrumpTariffs are not just about tariffs. They are about what are called "non-tariff barriers" to trade. Those are a lot more serious and dangerous. So, when India sits down to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement, these "non-tariff barriers" are what one should watch for.
April 6, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Reposted by Raksha Kumar
zigzackly.bsky.social
Why protest?
A portrait of AJ Muste with this text: A reporter once asked AJ Muste, the Dutch-born American clergyman and pacifist who protested against the Vietnam War, “Do you really think you are going to change the policies of this country by standing out here alone at night in front of the White House with a candle?” Muste replied, “Oh I don’t do this to change the country. I do this so the country won’t change me.”
April 5, 2025 at 10:44 PM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
Did you know Pakistani TV shows are not always fluff? Here's a show that gave me goosebumps, made me wonder why Hindi film makers would not tough political issues with a bargepole.
thewire.in/film/a-pakis...
A Pakistani Serial That Should Inspire Hindi Filmmakers
Many stories about communalism and other issues get written but never see the light of day.
thewire.in
March 26, 2025 at 10:27 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
1. Why is anyone asking her to react?
2. Even if she did, why is that news?
3. Even if you thought it was news, why did you assume we should care?
March 17, 2025 at 3:10 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
Here's fiction that tries to explain reality. Each story is based on real people I have seen, heard of and met during my decades of reporting. My latest issue of my newsletter on the #fashionshow in #Gulmarg, #Kashmir

rakshakumar.substack.com/p/fashioning...
#35 Fashioning morality
A fashion show was organised in a ski resort in Kashmir - India's only Muslim majority state. Politicians criticised it for being "obscene", unbefitting the month of Ramzan. Designers apologised.
rakshakumar.substack.com
March 15, 2025 at 11:56 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
Do read my report on how security forces made headway against Maoists who held sway over #Chhattisgarh’s Bastar, after decades of slacking.
article-14.com article-14.com @article-14.com · Mar 12
Once a security forces camp is established, a 50-km-radius turns off-limits to Maoists in poor but mineral-rich Bastar as Dist Reserve Guards—a special unit staffed primarily by Adivasis—is accused of extrajudicial killings of fellow Adivasis, reports Raksha Kumar

article-14.com/post/accused...
Accused Of Extrajudicial Killings By Families of Victims, Former Maoists-Turned-Police Troopers Say They Yearn For Peace
In 2024, 287 Maoists were killed in Chhattisgarh, 812 arrested and 723 surrendered, making it the most successful year for the security forces, in a war of attrition spread over half a century. Senior...
article-14.com
March 12, 2025 at 4:40 AM
Reposted by Raksha Kumar
thehindu.com
Pakistani Militants opened fire at a passenger train in the country’s restive southwestern Balochistan province, wounding the driver and prompting security guards aboard the train to fire back, officials said.

www.thehindu.com/news/interna...
Pakistan train hijack: Militants open fire at a passenger train in southwestern Balochistan, wounding the driver
Pakistan train hijack: Insurgents attack passenger train in Balochistan, wounding driver, prompting security response; separatist group claims responsibility.
www.thehindu.com
March 11, 2025 at 12:37 PM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
This is usually Saturday Night Live material, now playing out in real life.

#Musk #Trump #US #DOGE
reuters.com Reuters @reuters.com · Feb 25
Elon Musk renewed his threat to fire federal workers who do not comply with his demand to justify their jobs, even after the Trump administration said workers did not have to respond reut.rs/3EQzMNz
February 25, 2025 at 4:48 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
At least #India and #China had economic considerations to abstain, the #US seems to have brought personal friendship in the midst of #foreignpolicy
#Ukraine
February 25, 2025 at 4:47 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
#Germany ’s Friedrich Merz promised to “achieve independence” from the #US after his centre-right bloc won federal elections
The era of globalisation is dead?
www.ft.com/content/a87d...
Germany’s election winner pledges ‘independence from US’
[FREE TO READ] Friedrich Merz says the Trump administration is ‘largely indifferent’ to Europe’s fate
www.ft.com
February 24, 2025 at 5:34 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
Perks of being the richest person on earth.
February 21, 2025 at 6:10 AM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
How is 61% few! That is a crazy lot of Americans.
assignedmedia.org Assigned Media @assignedmedia.org · Feb 19
YouGov [Feb 18] -- Few voters trust Trump on LGBTQ (51%) and trans (50%) issues. Even Reps give him relatively low numbers, with only 61% trusting him. These are among his lowest levels of confidence among Americans generally & among Republicans for any issue.

[by @rikiwilchins.bsky.social‬]
Which issues are Americans most likely to trust Donald Trump to handle as president? | YouGov
52% of Americans trust Donald Trump a lot to handle immigration as president, 46% trust him a lot to handle the economy, and 45% trust him a lot to handle foreign policy.
today.yougov.com
February 19, 2025 at 12:48 PM
Reposted by Raksha Kumar
thehindu.com
U.S. President Donald Trump has said that he made it clear to Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India will not be spared from Washington’s reciprocal tariffs, emphasising that “nobody can argue with me” on tariff structure.

www.thehindu.com/news/interna...
Trump on reciprocal tariff with India: Nobody can argue with me
US President Donald Trump emphasizes reciprocal tariffs with India, stating "whatever you charge, I'm charging," during Fox News interview.
www.thehindu.com
February 19, 2025 at 12:43 PM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
"The US perfected the strategy of pulling down adversarial regimes around the world. Now, it is a victim of its own playbook."
#Trump #Musk
scroll.in/article/1079...
The USA’s latest puppet regime – the USA
The US perfected the strategy of pulling down adversarial regimes around the world. Now, it is a victim of its own playbook.
scroll.in
February 19, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Reposted by Raksha Kumar
juddlegum.bsky.social
5. Tesla, which is supposed to roll out a more affordable model this year in the hopes of expanding its consumer base, has sought to expand its operations and sales in India.
Musk pushes private financial interests in meeting with Indian Prime Minister
When Elon Musk met with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday, the pair was seated in front of the American and Indian flags, an arrangement that typically accompanies a meeting between wor...
www.muskwatch.com
February 17, 2025 at 1:57 PM
raksha-kumar.bsky.social
Have you followed the news of undocumented Indians who were put on a flight and deported from the US?
If yes, then you might enjoy my latest newsletter on the issue.

#Trump #Modi #immigration #fiction #news

rakshakumar.substack.com/p/33-caging-...
#33 Caging the birds
On 4 Febuary, a plane carrying 100 Indians accused of entering the US illegally landed in Amritsar, Punjab. Two more will land on 15 and 16 Feb, after President Trump began his onslaught on immigrants
rakshakumar.substack.com
February 17, 2025 at 6:34 AM