A Rather Offended Tortoise.

you've seen the jokes. india is "dirty", indians are "everywhere", why don't they fix their own country. ok. let me tell you why, and what's happening right now while nobody's watching.

first, the history you skipped: britain ruled india for two centuries and drained it. economist utsa patnaik's research estimates around $45 trillion in today's money was taken. the india that got independence in 1947 was one of the poorest countries on earth. every "why is india like this" question starts there. you don't get to profit off a robbery and then mock the crime scene.

now, what's happening RIGHT NOW:

in may the question paper for NEET leaked. that's the national medical entrance exam. over 2.2 million students took it. cancelled. years of studying, families' savings poured into coaching, gone overnight because someone sold the paper. students died by suicide after. these were kids who wanted to be doctors.

and out of that came a protest movement. a gen z group called the cockroach janta party, started by a 30 year old named abhijeet dipke, got 22 million instagram followers within DAYS. they've been doing a sit-in at jantar mantar in delhi demanding education minister dharmendra pradhan resign.

and then there's sonam wangchuk. if you've watched 3 idiots, he's the real engineer the character was based on. built solar schools in ladakh. invented ice stupas so himalayan villages have water. spent his whole life on education. he's 59 and he's been on hunger strike for 17+ days now. reporters went to see him this week and he was too weak to talk. and the troll armies are calling him "anti national" and "foreign funded". a man starving himself for other people's children. that's the thing here, anyone who asks a question is suddenly a traitor.

it's not one incident, it's everywhere you look:

• infrastructure worth thousands of crores failing within months of the ribbon cutting. tunnels collapsing in regions where heavy rain is a guarantee, not a surprise.

• youth unemployment near 10% for ages 15 to 29, 13.6% in cities. in a country of 1.42 billion where more than half the population is young.

• only about the top 3% of indians earn above 10 lakh a year. meanwhile billionaire wealth keeps ballooning and the headlines celebrate it.

• manipur burned for over two years. an ethnic conflict, tens of thousands displaced, and the prime minister barely said the word manipur while it happened.

• journalists raided. critics' houses bulldozed. activists sitting in jail for years without trial under laws like UAPA. our press freedom ranking has cratered.

• even the petrol is a fight now, ethanol blending pushed through while drivers complain about their engines and get no straight answers.

and through all of it, the PM, who came to power on religious polarisation (americans, sound familiar?), travels abroad for photo ops and has not held one single open press conference in over a decade. not one.

what i'm asking:

if you're not indian: share this. our media mostly won't cover any of it because the big outlets are owned by the same billionaires the government serves. the only reason wangchuk's fast is getting any coverage is people refusing to look away.

if you ARE indian: speak up even if you're comfortable. especially if you're comfortable. join the protests. add to this, correct me, translate it. staying quiet is a choice when nothing in this post touches your life.

india is not "dirty". india was robbed, and it's being robbed again, from the inside this time. but it's also the country where a 59 year old will starve for strangers' kids and 22 million young people will rally behind a party literally named after cockroaches, because cockroaches survive everything.

we can still save her. but only loudly.

(Quds)

Israeli occupation forces fire stun grenades and tear gas at a funeral mourning Palestinians killed by Israel in Deir Jarir village, occupied West Bank.

6-year-old Souad has been anemic since birth, and starvation and disease due to the IOF assault have caused her severe additional health complications. In September she fell unconscious and was admitted to the hospital. She has since been comatose and fluid is building up around her brain.

Medical staff have worked very hard to reduce the swelling. But despite their efforts, Souad's brain is now hemorrhaging (bleeding). The swelling has been too persistent, and the pressure is rapidly bursting the cells of her brain, causing bleeding. This will kill her. Little Souad is dying.

She needs to be evacuated outside of Gaza, but this is extremely expensive. However, in addition to the high cost of the medical evacuation, her family is also forced to pay high medical fees to the private hospital which is caring for her. It is the only facility in Gaza with the capacity to slow the deterioration of her condition, and these bills must be paid for her to live long enough for evacuation.

PLEASE HELP US #SaveSouad!!!

Please repost the GFM and tag #SaveSouad to spread the word!. SHE DOESN'T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT!!!

€7,465 out of €7,739 EUR (28 June)

Need to raise: about €274 EUR ($312 usd)

Information on vetting linked under the cut of this post

His pregnant wife still has bullets lodged in her body and needs surgeries to have them removed. Please help them if you can.

19-year-old Khalil Al Habil's liver and kidneys are failing. Shrapnel damage from the bombardment that killed his baby brother Omar has gone mostly untreated due to a lack of funds and resources. The ill effects of this damage have progressed to the point that the organs are losing their ability to function. Khalil urgently needs 3 rounds of treatment to combat the effects of his deteriorating liver and kidneys.

We've paid off the first round of treatments but Khalil has two treatments that he still needs. The second costs about $1,250 usd, but we haven’t made much progress in more than a month and his condition is getting progressively worse. We need to meet this second goal ASAP!!!

Current: $10,052 out of $10,407 usd (12 May)

Need to raise: $355 usd

The lethargy and fatigue caused by his deteriorating organ function only make reaching out more difficult. He is in very, very bad shape, and I’m extremely worried about him.

He has gone so long between sessions that he requires additional medications to sustain him between treatments. With a price of $1500 for the treatment for his failing organs, and $500 for supplementary medications, this is where we are for round 3:

Current: $10,552 out of $12,407 usd (7 June)

Maha and her family previously had a verified GFM to pay for basic necessities like food, medical care, and some form of shelter. Horrifically, the person running their former GFM has stolen from them and hijacked their campaign.

Below is Maha’s new GFM. Her previous GFM was vetted by el-shab-hussein and nabulsi on their vetted campaign master list, on line 163.

Maha has been hospitalized due to serious complications from an infected tooth. She is particularly vulnerable to this type of infection, which almost killed her last year. Thankfully her husband has returned from Egypt, but both he and Maha are unable to work and thus cannot pay for her hospital bills. They are over $1,500 usd in debt for her treatment and Maha is about to be kicked out of the hospital.

As I said, last year a very similar infection almost took Maha’s life. If she is expelled from the hospital, a worsened infection is an inevitability. She still has a high fever and needs to remain hospitalized. PLEASE help her continue life-saving treatment!!

Current: €1,825 out of €3,012 (28 June)