Pavan Choudary

Political

Vaccine hesitancy – India hesitancy: Two sides of the same dangerous coin

First Published in India Today on on 6th July 2025 Vaccine hesitancy has a long history. Initially, vaccines were opposed on religious grounds, viewed as interference with divine will. Later, in liberal societies, they were resisted as infringements on personal freedom, especially when made mandatory. In modern times, the anti-vaccine movement gained steam from 1998 through a widely publicised study by Dr. Andrew Wakefield that falsely linked the MMR (Measles, Mumps and Rubella) vaccine to … [Read more...] about Vaccine hesitancy – India hesitancy: Two sides of the same dangerous coin

Flattening Historical Nuance Flattens Truth: Trump’s Bomb Analogy

Last week, Trump Compared Bunker Busters to Atom Bombs. That’s like comparing: Firing your apprentice to decimating a civilization! The MOAB (Mother of All Bombs) may be America’s biggest non-nuclear bomb, but it doesn’t come with the generational radiation, surrender of nations, or the rewriting of world history. The illusion here is not just technical, it’s historical and moral. Hiroshima and Nagasaki weren’t just military events - they were civilizational inflection points, forcing … [Read more...] about Flattening Historical Nuance Flattens Truth: Trump’s Bomb Analogy

Analysing Amit Shah’s Recent Swipe at English

Amit Shah was not just defending his son’s English… The direction in which the BJP government has been moving - with its strong cultural and political assertion - had made it seem that, in time, while English might continue to be the language of the self-proclaimed elite, Hindi would increasingly become the language of the power elite. But this linguistic transition now faces headwinds. Globally, the world is tilting back toward a “might is right” mindset - and here, English still … [Read more...] about Analysing Amit Shah’s Recent Swipe at English

Defence and Aerospace Marketing in the New Multipolar Arms Bazaar

The B-2 Bomber just flew a PR mission as much as a military one. Defence marketing has a long but largely undocumented history. Until the 17th century, colonial powers maintained a tacit agreement not to arm their subject states, lest the weapons spark rebellion. While arms were supplied covertly, the lack of formal records-other than the accounts of war enthusiasts-has left the field historically fuzzy and fragmented. By glorifying the B2 stealth bomber’s precision and majesty, the US … [Read more...] about Defence and Aerospace Marketing in the New Multipolar Arms Bazaar

From Hyphenation to Damage Control: Media Missteps and Modi’s Diplomatic Reset

For years, Indian foreign policy has sought to de-hyphenate itself from Pakistan—to be viewed not as one half of a regional rivalry, but as a rising global power in its own right. Yet in a bitter twist of irony, it wasn't Pakistani propaganda or foreign policy that reinserted the hyphen—it was mostly India's own electronic media. When tensions with Pakistan escalated in early 2025, the Line of Control wasn’t the only frontier that lit up. Inside air-conditioned studios outfitted with green … [Read more...] about From Hyphenation to Damage Control: Media Missteps and Modi’s Diplomatic Reset