Centre Blames Local Officials for Pahalgam Security Lapse—But Its Own Tourism Push May Be to Blame; How J&K Land Politics Is Being Weaponised; Pak's 'False Flag' Obsession
Performative patriotism marches on, mo more China as Apple eyes sourcing all US-bound iPhones from India by 2026, India plans to open nuclear sector to 49% FDI
A newsletter from The Wire | Founded by Tanweer Alam, Sidharth Bhatia, Pratik Kanjilal, Seema Chishti, Sushant Singh, MK Venu, and Siddharth Varadarajan | Contributing writer: Kalrav Joshi, with additional inputs by Anirudh SK
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Over to Siddharth Varadarajan for today’s Cable
Snapshot of the day
April 25, 2025
Siddharth Varadarajan
Pakistani soldiers fired at Indian positions with small arms at “various places along the Line of Control” late yesterday and Indian troops responded “effectively”, Arun Sharma cites an unnamed army official as saying; Aijaz Hussain and Rajesh Roy cite Indian army sources as saying that the Indian side returned fire. The Pakistani foreign ministry declined to comment. Joydeep Sarkar reports from the village of Jhantu Ali Sheikh, the Indian soldier killed in firing along the LoC in Udhampur on April 24. “My son gave his life and proved our loyalty to the soil,” his frail father said.
While admitting there had been a lapse at Pahalgam, the Modi government also told the all-party meeting yesterday that it had been kept in the dark about the presence of tourists at the Baisaran meadow, hinting at bad communiciation or worse by the now elected government of Jammu and Kashmir. But the truth is that it has been the Centre’s own policy to give tourists a run of the valley and not cramp their visit with the presence of security elsewhere, reports Ananya Bharadwaj:
“In fact, the Baisaran Valley—a popular destination where hundreds of tourists visit the meadow on horseback daily—is one such spot. Traditionally, it opened only during the Yatra season for about two and a half months, from mid-May to July. However, since 2020, the spot has remained open year-round, with over 1,000 tourists visiting daily, multiple sources confirmed.
This is contrary to what the Modi government reportedly told opposition leaders at an all-party meeting on Thursday evening. Local tour operators had opened the route to tourists “without informing the administration, due to which there was no deployment of security personnel in the area”, it said. At the meeting, the opposition leaders had questioned the government over the complete absence of security personnel at the site of the attack.
“Since the last few years the government has been liberal, insisting that all spots should remain open and accessible to tourists as cordoning off any spot would send out the wrong message. These include spots that do not have adequate security deployment needed in case tourists are visiting the spot in large numbers,” a source in the security establishment said.
Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Kashmir’s chief cleric, was given permission to lead the prayers in Srinagar’s Jamia Masjid today, his office announced. This comes after Mirwaiz was disallowed from doing so for four Fridays straight. Peoples’ Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti said the administration’s move was “deeply needed” as Kashmir’s people ‘seek solace’ in Pahalgam’s wake.
A Muslim man working at a restaurant in Uttar Pradesh’s Agra was shot dead by two unidentified persons late on Wednesday night. Another man was injured. The next day, two self-styled gau rakshaks went on social video to claim they had “killed two Muslims” to avenge the Pahalgam attack. The police say the claim is false and that the murder was unrelated. But, for good measure, they said one of the ‘gau rakshaks’ has since been arrested. Omar Rashid has the story.
Pahalgam’s gunmen picked their victims on the basis of faith and one Association of Democratic Human Rights in Uttar Pradesh is reportedly giving them competition. According to PTI, the organisation’s Praveen Varshney said in light of his alleged removal of two Muslim labourers from a temple construction site in Hathras: “Anger over the terror attack is spreading across India … Hindu labourers will complete the remaining work at the temple.”
The gunmen have competition from elsewhere too:
“Like Pulwama, the attack has changed Pahalgam forever … Like them [the people of Pulwama], we will carry this stain for the rest of our lives,” said Sartaj Ashraf, a class 11 student from Pahalgam. Jehangir Ali visited the scenic town – now desolate and eerily quiet in the aftermath of Tuesday’s attack – to find that locals, hotel employees and small-time traders are angry over the loss of lives and worried about the future of their tourist town.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has denied speculation of having requested the ICC not to put India and Pakistan in the same group for the upcoming global events. Vijay Tagore with all the updates regarding this sensitive topic and what lies ahead.
The “NanoBeam 2AC compact and high-performance wireless network bridge” that firebrand West Bengal BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari hinted was evidence of ‘suspicious activity’ at a flat near Kolkata is actually an external JioFibre device, it has come to light. Adhikari had yesterday – two days after the Pahalgam attack – claimed that the flat’s residents were Kashmiri ‘individuals’, but the local police has said that the duo comprised a Hindu and a Muslim from Madhya Pradesh.
Meanwhile, the Pahalgam terror attack has sparked a “credit battle” among the constituents of the Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra, with each party leader working with their own party’s members to coordinate the rescue and relief of stranded tourists returning home. Chief Minister Fadnavis announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh to each of the six families who lost loved ones in the Pahalgam terror attack. An additional Rs 50,000 will be provided to those injured. He also stated that a special flight is being arranged to bring back Maharashtra tourists from Kashmir, and the state government will bear the cost.
On the other hand Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, amid separate political arrangements, skipped a meeting with Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday and canceled the meetings of his Urban Development Department. He remained in Thane and later attended a function hosted by a Marathi news channel. Shinde subsequently left for Kashmir in a private chartered plane to lead the rescue operations aimed at bringing stranded tourists back home. A press release from his office highlighted that Shinde is the first to respond in any emergency situation.
In a shameful display of performative patriotism, Indian nationalism has turned on its own Olympic gold medallist, Neeraj Chopra, for showing grace and sportsmanship. After inviting Pakistani athlete Arshad Nadeem to the NC Classic – javelin event which was scheduled to be organised in Bengaluru next month under the name of India’s Olympic champion before the Pahalgam terror attack – Chopra and his family were met with abuse, hate and threats from right-wing accounts. “There has been so much talk about my decision to invite Arshad Nadeem to compete in the Neeraj Chopra Classic, and most of it has been hate and abuse,” Chopra said through a statement posted on his social media channels. “They haven’t even left my family out of it. The invitation I extended to Arshad was from one athlete to another — nothing more, nothing less. The aim of the NC Classic was to bring the best athletes to India and for our country to be the home of world-class sporting events. Invites had gone out to all athletes on Monday, two days before the terrorist attacks at Pahalgam. After all that has taken place over the last 48 hours, Arshad’s presence at the NC Classic was completely out of the question.”
But New India’s nationalism is guilt tripping an olympian for his sportsmanship and questioning his integrity.
The changes brought about by the Waqf (Amendment) Act do not impact the religious rights of Muslims in any manner, the government claimed in its written submission to the Supreme Court today, attempting to make a distinction between Waqf Boards and bodies dealing with Hindu Religious Endowments..
A US-India trade agreement under discussion will cover 19 categories, including greater market access for farm goods, e-commerce, data storage and critical minerals, reports Bloomberg. The terms of reference for a bilateral deal, which was finalised by both sides this week, includes trade in goods as well as services, the report said, citing people familiar with the matter.
In the Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh’s Karregatta highlands, a massive security operation is aimed at Maosit is presently in progress. Three Maoists were killed in the operation so far, which was started by combined forces from Telangana and Chhattisgarh. Officials said the area, which has been surrounded by security forces, is home to a sizable Maoist population. One of the biggest operations to date along the Chhattisgarh-Telangana border, the encounter was described as heated and continuous and started in response to intelligence inputs.
The Bombay High Court on Friday granted comedian Kunal Kamra protection from arrest in a case registered against him in Mumbai for his satirical remarks about Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Bar and Bench reports. A bench of Justices Sarang Kotwal and SM Modak said that the investigation in the case would proceed, but if the police wished to question Kamra, they would have to do so in Chennai as he is a permanent resident of Tamil Nadu.
Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Saket Gokhale on Friday said he would “keep fighting harder,” a day after the Delhi High Court ordered Gokhale’s salary to be attached for failing to comply with a July order in a defamation case filed by former diplomat Lakshmi Puri, Live Law reports.
In a major breakthrough, Khordha police in Odisha have uncovered a massive scam in the INS recruitment process. Three Navy personnel have been arrested for allegedly duping lakhs of rupees from aspirants, promising them jobs as Agniveers in the Indian Navy.
The Delhi high court on Thursday questioned how the use of a non-lethal smoke canister can be termed a “terrorist act” that warrants charges under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). The court said that if a non-lethal smoke canister that is freely available in the market can attract UAPA, then people who use such smoke canisters to celebrate festivals such as Holi or even during Indian Premier League (IPL) matches, would attract the anti-terror law, reports The Indian Express. A bench of Justices Subramonium Prasad and Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar made the comments on Thursday while hearing the bail plea of Neelam Azad, an accused in the 2023 Parliament security breach case.
Parents and doctors are being penalised because they knew of voluntary sexual activity between minors but did not report it as compulsorily required by the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, senior advocate Indira Jaising has said before the Supreme Court. This legal requirement could lead to juveniles avoiding doctors, she said. The court said it will hear her concerns in detail next month.
When Roopesh Kumar, who is lodged in Viyyur Central Prison in Thrissur and has been incarcerated for over ten years, asked to publish his second book written in prison recently, correctional authorities declined to hand over his manuscript to his publisher on the grounds that it contains “sensitive details of his prison experience and commentary on the UAPA”. This is despite the Supreme Court maintaining that prisoners’ right to life includes the right to read, write and engage in other forms of self-expression. Now Roopesh and his wife Shyna have begun a campaign supporting prisoners’ right to write while in custody, Sukanya Shantha reports.
Medha Patkar arrested in 24-yr-old defamation case filed by Delhi LG Saxena
Veteran social activist Medha Patkar was arrested by the Delhi Police on Friday for failing to furnish probation bonds in connection with a 24-year-old defamation case filed against her by Delhi Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena. The arrest follows a non-bailable warrant issued on Wednesday by a Delhi court after Patkar failed to appear before it or comply with earlier directions to submit a probation bond and pay a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The case, dating back to the year 2000, was filed by Saxena during his tenure as the president of the National Council of Civil Liberties, a Gujarat-based NGO. Saxena alleged that Patkar defamed him through a press release issued on November 24, 2000.
India plans to open nuclear sector to 49% FDI
India is considering a significant policy shift that would allow foreign companies to own up to 49% equity in its nuclear power plants, reports Reuters. The move marks a potential turning point for one of the country’s most tightly controlled sectors, as New Delhi accelerates its clean energy transition and aims to dramatically expand nuclear capacity in the coming decades. The government has been mulling changes to its nuclear foreign investment framework since 2023, but the urgency has grown amid India’s efforts to replace coal with low-emission energy sources.
Officials say the potential opening of the sector could also provide a new avenue for strategic trade negotiations with the US, although they stopped short of confirming any direct linkage to upcoming trade agreements.
No more China, Apple eyes sourcing all US-bound iPhones from India by 2026
Apple plans to shift the assembly of all US-sold iPhones to India as soon as next year, The Financial Times reports citing people familiar with the matter, as US President Donald Trump’s trade war forces the tech giant to pivot away from China. The goal means Apple will need to roughly double its iPhone output in India, people familiar with the matter said, asking not to be identified discussing internal plans. Apple representatives in India didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Long Cable
How Kashmir’s Land Politics Is Being Weaponised
The Pahalgam terror attack has been blamed on an intelligence failure—but behind the tragedy lies a deeper, festering wound: land alienation. As extremist groups invoke the 'settler' narrative and the BJP government pushes ahead with unpopular land policies, Kashmir’s social anxieties are being dangerously exploited from all sides.
Ajoy Ashirwad Mahaprashasta
As diplomatic tensions between India and Pakistan continue to grow in the aftermath of the chilling terror attack on tourists in Kashmir’s popular site Pahalgam, little attention has been paid to a crucial aspect of the ghastly incident.
In an attempt to capitalise on popular anxieties over land ownership in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370 and use that to justify its heinous targeting of civilians, the group claiming responsibility for the incident tried to insinuate that the tourists it targeted were ‘settlers’.
“More than 85,000 domiciles have been issued to non-locals, creating a pathway for demographic change in Indian-occupied Jammu and Kashmir”, The Resistance Front, believed to be an offshoot of Lashkar-e-Tayyaba, said in a statement to the media, adding: “These non-locals arrive posing as tourists, obtain domiciles, and then begin to act as if they own the land. Consequently, violence will be directed towards those attempting to settle illegally.”
The charge is absurd but historically, extremist groups have often grown by taking advantage of social and economic concerns to advance their agenda. In Punjab at the height of the violence in the 1980s and 1990s, for instance, Khalistani groups would seek to justify their actions by referring to popular grievances. TRF appears to be doing something similar, although its attack at the beginning of the tourist season in the valley will severely impact the livelihoods of a large section of Kashmiris.
The resentment against land alienation has gradually been growing in the Kashmir valley, ever since the Modi government stripped Article 370 of its teeth.
In one of the first moves following the reading down of Article 370, the Union government introduced new land laws for the region that ended the exclusive right of locals over the land, and paved the way for investors to purchase non-agricultural land in Jammu and Kashmir for commercial purposes. The criterion that only a “permanent resident” can make land transactions was ended without any consultation and inspite of the united opposition by political parties in J&K against the Modi government’s decision.
The year 2020 also saw a new domicile law for the region, making those who have lived in the Union territory for 15 years or studied there for seven years eligible for domicile and land ownership. The Centre claimed that the amendments to domicile policy would benefit marginalised communities and minorities in Kashmir, but failed to bring opposing groups on board who contended the changes could potentially alter the demographic make-up of the region.
Even when concerns over a sudden change of government rules and possible demographic change grew, the Centre went ahead to grant over 83,000 domicile certificates to people from other states in the last two years. “Around 3,512,184 domicile certificates have been issued in two years across Jammu and Kashmir. Out of which, 83,742 were granted to individuals from outside the erstwhile State,” the government’s reply on April 9, 2025 to a question raised by opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) MLA Waheed Parra said.
The government’s response signalled a quantum leap from the figures that the Centre shared with the Rajya Sabha in 2021. In 2019, only 185 non-locals bought land in J&K, while 57 and 127 did so in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Disquiet over the land question has been showing itself much more firmly over the last one year, even among traders and businessmen of Kashmir. Multiple infrastructure projects in which the government can acquire land and initiate public-private partnerships have been announced in J&K. In Pahalgam, a new seven-star hotel, a first in Kashmir has been announced. Although ownership of the hotel is not known clearly, it is rumoured to be owned by a non-local. Similarly, new development projects in the tourism sector, which has traditionally been steered by Kashmiri locals, are feared to come in the hands of corporates and business houses.
For instance, the JK Hoteliers Association-led by its president and prominent hotelier Mushtaq Chaya met the prime minister in April, 2025 to request him to extend its lease for Gulmarg’s big hotels. The new Land Grant Rules (2022) threatened the 50-year-lease granted earlier to the association by the government in Gulmarg. The Centre has reportedly agreed to extend the lease for the time being, amidst growing anxieties among hoteliers.
Earlier this year, widespread protests were seen over illegal construction in Pahalgam and other tourist sites of south Kashmir - that many believe is a direct consequence of new land laws that allows easier access to non-locals to construct new buildings.
The excitement of big business houses in holding a piece of land in J&K can be gauged from the fact that by July 2024, the Union territory’s administration was processing as many as 6,909 applications from companies through the government’s single-window system to facilitate easy access.
A report mentioned that former Sri Lankan spinner Muttiah Muralitharan's company, Wellspun group and Dubai's Emaar group have already been allotted land. A break-up of the spread shows that the Jammu region has invited proposals worth Rs 81594.87 crore that requires 4,935.61 acres of land, while Kashmir has received proposals worth Rs 41,633.09 crore that needs 3,671.98 acres. The Jammu region has fewer applications (1902) than Kashmir valley but those that want to set up big industrial units. The Kashmir region, on the other hand, has attracted proposals for mostly small and medium enterprises.
These are only a few examples to explain the brewing unease in the valley over the land question. The social tensions have only escalated as proponents of Hindutva continue to flash the idea that anyone can own land in the valley, and have rejoiced on social media over the loss of traditional rights of Kashmiri people. More often than not, such claims are made by Hindu right warriors on social media as a mark of Hindutva aggression against Muslims as a whole.
Senior BJP leaders, too, haven’t missed an opportunity to claim that the freeing up of land in Kashmir has resulted in economic growth of the valley, much of which is believed by a large section of residents to have empowered only the so-called “outsiders”.
To add to these fears, the new Waqf (Amendment) Act – which targets Muslim-occupied land across India – applies to Jammu and Kashmir too and has also added to existing anxieties about dispossession.
While the Modi government is already at the receiving end of questions related to intelligence failure and lack of adequate security in Baisaran, it will continue to face criticism over its moves to dilute the land rights of Muslims within the territory of J&K and beyond.
The question of government accountability in the aftermath of a terror attack as heinous as the one in Pahalgam needs to also factor in crucial concerns over its unilateral and unpopular decision-making process, because these can easily be exploited by extremist groups for their political gains.
The prime minister may have a lot to answer for, not only for alleged intelligence failure and lack of proper security but also for his party and his supporters celebrating the sudden disenfranchisement of Kashmiri people. The abrogation of J&K’s autonomy was frequently used by the Hindu Right to target Muslims and showcase Hindutva aggression.
The government has now ensured that it is viewed as an administration on the ball. All of its moves are being diligently reported – a series of diplomatic actions against Pakistan following a prompt meeting of Cabinet Committee on Security, BJP ministers and leaders making statements about the government’s possibly unsparing action against terrorists, an all-party meeting, and Modi’s swift decision to skip Pakistan airspace while returning from his shortened Saudi trip.
At the same time, Hindu Right warriors on the internet have jumped on the opportunity to spread hate rhetoric against Muslims, attack Kashmiri people in different parts, and to call for revenge.
Data trends in the last five years, however, show that terror-related incidents are far from over, in spite of the Modi government’s contrarian claims. In fact, civilian casualties in terrorist attacks have risen in the last two years, pointing towards the seriousness of the social question that often gets engulfed by security-related concerns. Militancy in J&K in the period after the abrogation of Article 370 appears to have acquired a new character, and that may need the government to do much more than merely following an aggressive militaristic route.
Reportedly
Ever since the Pahalgam terror attack, there has been a concerted attempt from Pakistan to drive the debate towards the idea that this was a ‘false flag’ operation by the Indian side, to discredit Pakistan. The Pakistan government’s official statement yesterday made this allegation. And a video emerged on Thursday all over social media – tweeted by dozens of Pakistani handles whose timelines suggest linkages to the military there – of a purported Indian soldier ‘Ashok Kumar’ wearing an army uniform of sorts and corroborating the ‘false flag’ theory. By today, though, the whole story was in shambles and Internet sleuths claimed to have found out who this ‘Ashok Kumar’ really was. You can follow this on X.
Deep dive
Jyotiba Phule and Babasaheb Ambedkar were fierce critics of the Hindu caste system and the exploitative domination of priestly castes over the majority oppressed groups. They imagined modern India as a liberated territory not only from the aegis of imperialist domination but also from our own Brahmanical and patriarchal servitude. However, in nationalist historiography and popular culture, these iconic figures were often relegated as the heroes of certain caste groups while other leaders were elevated as the prime representatives of the national interest. Popular Hindi cinema too ignored the heroes, historic events and issues pertaining to the Dalit-Bahujan masses and mostly endorsed narratives that promote the social and political interests of conventional social elites, says Harish S. Wankhede.
Prime number: One-fifth
While India remains a significant exporter of top-tier AI researchers, its ability to retain talent is growing. In 2019, nearly all Indian AI researchers (based on undergraduate degrees) opted to pursue opportunities abroad. But in 2022, one-fifth of Indian AI researchers ended up staying to work in India.Opeds you don’t want to miss
K.C. Singh takes a sober look at Narendra Modi’s options in the aftermath of Pahalagam, which is a negation of the “claimed Indian post-Balakot deterrence”:
”Global instability and turbulence caused by US President Donald Trump’s illogical tariff war provides an opportunity to inflict stiffer punishment without the fear of Chinese intervention… However the most important lesson is that historical disputes with other nations do not vanish simply by ignoring them… Despite the sordid history of past betrayals by Pakistan, building walls based on false assumptions is unworkable. The Modi government is at a fork. It can press ahead with the already announced steps accompanied by back-channel dialogue. Tahawwur Rana in Indian hands provides a pressure point. Alternatively, the BJP’s domestic anti-Islam agenda can lead to a limited war, with the risk of a nuclear holocaust.”
Kashmiris trapped between tourism and terrorism as an insecure nation looks to Modi for accountability, writes Nitasha Kaul. “Rather than focus on the shared grief, the risk is that Modi’s Hindu nationalist government will adopt a narrow and aggressive stance, making tensions in the region worse. Calls for a vendetta may fail to distinguish between Indian Muslims or Kashmiri civilians and terrorists. This will only make the entire south Asian region less secure and more violent.”
What can Modi do In the aftermath of Pahalgam? Radha Kumar answers: “We can only hope that his administration, party and supporting groups see the wisdom of muting communal and hate speech and protecting Kashmiris from harassment or attack in the rest of India.”
The more that India’s Muslims “seem like outcasts from political and religious equality,” writes Badri Raina, “the more leeway it gives to the [Pakistani army chief Asim] Munir-propelled Pakistani state to propagate its unashamedly sectarian programme in Kashmir”.
The trade war is threatening India’s code-writers, writes Andy Mukherjee. But AI is giving a boost to call centers and back offices.
For the RSS and its supporters “secular is Hindu, diversity is Hindu and the constitution a bitter, uncomfortable reality that must also be twisted to overrule its mandate to uphold a composite, secular, non-partisan state”. When the ‘arrows are sharpened’ and the constitution’s mandate is attacked – as Jagdeep Dhankhar and Nishikant Dubey recently did – the apex court’s judges “will need to step in, steady the ship and stay the course”, says Teesta Setalvad.
Badar Khan Suri, an Indian postdoctoral fellow at Georgetown University, never imagined that the United States, a country with a Scholars at Risk program, would one day imprison scholars. Nader Hashemi reflects on his recent visit to meet with his colleague in an ICE facility in Texas where Suri is found teaching Gandhi.
The official gazette of the Global North, The Economist, gloats over how the global south forgot its own birthday – the fact that the 70th anniversary of the historic Bandung Conference went uncelebrated in April this year:
“This year’s non-event is a sign of the times… After President Donald Trump’s threat, last year, to impose a 100% tariff on products from BRICS countries if they launched their own currency, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, India’s foreign minister, went to great lengths to emphasise that there were no plans to dethrone the dollar as the world’s reserve currency… As India’s economy has grown much larger it has become more preoccupied with its own rise than collective bargaining. The word “non-alignment”, associated with Nehru, is banished from government foreign-policy speeches… Narendra Modi, the strongman prime minister, riffs off Mr Trump’s slogans, aiming to “Make India Great Again”.
Not so fast, says Vijay Prashad. “Indonesia will host a low-profile event to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Bandung Conference in June,” he writes. “The ‘Bandung Spirit’ is not being widely advertised these days, partly because of the lingering internal problems among Global South states. It seems far more logical to simply allow the contradictions of the present to generate their own new spirit, with the fight to establish sovereignty over a nation’s resources at the centre of this new mood.”
Listen up
Senior advocate Sanjay Hegde and many others think that Vice President Dhankhar’s fulminations against the Supreme Court are an example of his “auditioning for a bigger job than the one he has”, he said. Nishikant Dubey’s remarks against Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna as well as the social media campaign against him appear to be a “concerted attack”, Hegde added in his chat with Sidharth Bhatia in The Wire Talks podcast.
Watch out
Devirupa Mitra and Siddharth Varadarajan speak about India’s decision to hold the Indus Waters Treaty in abeyance, Pakistan’s decision to put the 1972 Simla Agreement on hold and whether India seems like it could end up following the Pulwama playbook in light of the Pahalgam terror attack.
Over and out
82-year-old Kalaripayattu expert Meenakshi Raghavan has no plans to retire anytime soon. Sumitra Nair profiles the martial arts instructor, writing about how she overcame caste and gender roadblocks in her youth to get to where she is today and how Kalari is fabled to have influenced kung fu via the 6th-century Buddhist monk Bodhidharma.
That’s it for today. We’ll be back with you tomorrow, on a device near you. If The India Cable was forwarded to you by a friend (perhaps a common friend!) book your own copy by SUBSCRIBING HERE.