Modi Unfurls Saffron Flag Atop Ayodhya Temple; Delhi Objects After Arunachal-Born Indian Held Up at Shanghai Airport; UN Officials Accuse India of Human Rights Violations After Pahalgam Terror Attack

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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Snapshot of the day

November 25, 2025

Sidharth Bhatia

Now that the Ram temple stands complete on the same spot where a crowd of Hindu nationalists razed the Babri mosque 33 years ago – thereby fanning tensions across India – “centuries-old wounds are healing, centuries-old pain is ceasing and centuries-old resolution is being accomplished”, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said today in Ayodhya. “Today is the completion of that yagna which remained lit for 500 years,” he said, referring to the claim that the Mughal-era mosque was built on the site where deity Ram was believed to have been born. The saffron flag that Modi hoisted upon the temple, he added, “is not just a flag” but “a flag of the reawakening of Indian civilisation”. Later in his address the prime minister also lamented the “mindset of slavery” he said pervades this country. It is this mindset that “has continuously asserted that we took democracy from abroad” and that our constitution was inspired by those of other countries; instead, “India is the mother of democracy, and democracy is in our DNA”. This mindset was also responsible for Lord Ram’s “declaration as fictitious”.

The irony on display today is impossible to miss. For years, every other place of worship has been strong-armed into hoisting the national tricolour – held up as a compulsory symbol of loyalty. Yet, on this very day, the prime minister and chief minister, bound by oath to the Constitution, choose to abandon that same national emblem to unfurl a religious flag instead. The double standard is so brazen it borders on parody: the guardians of secular democracy preaching nationalism to everyone else while publicly sidelining the very flag to which they ask others to prove their loyalty to the country.

An inactive volcano in northern Ethiopia erupted unexpectedly on Sunday, releasing large amounts of ash and dust that have drifted across continents, disrupting air travel in India and the UAE. India has seen multiple flight cancellations, delays, and diversions, with the aviation regulator directing airlines to avoid the contaminated zones. Experts say the extent of ash in the atmosphere is still uncertain, though it is not expected to worsen Delhi’s already “very poor” air quality recorded on Tuesday. Skymet Weather noted that forecasting the ash’s dispersal is challenging, while the IMD predicted that Delhi’s skies would likely clear by Tuesday evening 7:30 PM and will drift towards China. The weather agency also cited forecast models as indicating the influence of the plumes over Gujarat, Delhi and adjoining areas of the National Capital Region, Rajasthan, Punjab and Haryana.

Mumbai’s battle with worsening air pollution has intensified after the state government granted a multi-year extension to one of the city’s most polluting coal facilities, the Tata-owned Mahul power plant. The decision comes even as Mahul’s residents — already living in what public-health researchers have described as one of India’s most toxic neighbourhoods — continue to report severe respiratory and environmental distress, report Luke Barratt, Atika Rehman and Sushmita. Officials have justified the move by citing the rising electricity needs of data centres, which are expected to consume a third of Mumbai’s total power by 2030, according to energy expert Ankit Saraiya of Techno & Electric Engineering. In a parallel move, the government has also postponed the closure of a 500-MW Adani-operated unit, reinforcing concerns that Mumbai is doubling down on coal at a moment when its air-quality indicators are rapidly converging with Delhi’s.

On his first day in office, Chief Justice of India Surya Kant slammed the brakes on