One’s place in life, proximity to power and legitimacy in public discourse can depend on it. In practice, our democracy still resembles a pyramid—steep, hierarchical and acutely sensitive to who stands where and who is permitted to speak. The modern nation-state ideas we continue to quote now feel tired, like slogans repeated long after belief has faded. Children learn it before they learn who wrote it. Across the border in Bangladesh, youthful anger has taken a cruder, more violent turn—statues broken, legacies unsettled, history physically attacked.

Source: Indian Express December 21, 2025 01:13 UTC