Rahul Bhatia
@rahulabhatia
Followers
2,131
Following
676
Media
77
Statuses
1,763
Author 'The New India' @littlebrownuk (UK), @public_affairs (US) - Aug 2024 | True Story Award winner 2024 | Harvard Radcliffe Institute fellow 22-23
Joined November 2022
Don't wanna be here?
Send us removal request.
Explore trending content on Musk Viewer
Garbage
• 2165962 Tweets
ハロウィン
• 1226776 Tweets
Valencia
• 1037933 Tweets
DANA
• 816757 Tweets
الاتفاق
• 694650 Tweets
Happy Halloween
• 286917 Tweets
Virginia
• 224243 Tweets
ポケポケ
• 166262 Tweets
Trick or Treat
• 133545 Tweets
RTVE
• 122832 Tweets
#週刊ナイナイミュージック
• 120248 Tweets
イタズラ
• 74017 Tweets
Arnold
• 60203 Tweets
SCOTUS
• 55849 Tweets
SÃO PAULO TODAY
• 43100 Tweets
トリックオアトリート
• 32381 Tweets
Jerez
• 31309 Tweets
OVER THE MOON TEASER 1
• 26723 Tweets
ミュウツー
• 26142 Tweets
Rotten
• 23341 Tweets
Rishi
• 22427 Tweets
GALA EN LA MEJOR
• 21993 Tweets
Sunak
• 21194 Tweets
Buzz Aldrin
• 20179 Tweets
해피 할로윈
• 19403 Tweets
横浜優勝
• 17488 Tweets
La Palma
• 15880 Tweets
ミュージカル組
• 13345 Tweets
The BMC and its beautification. They’ve ruined Bandra Fort.
76
250
900
In 1946, the RSS went door to door with a picture of Nehru smoking as evidence of his immorality. (From D.R. Goyal's 'Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh'.)
Nehru really felt it when he said about them, "If these people had their way, neither you nor I would have a tolerable existence."
In recent times, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi has been targeted several times with manipulated images. The latest in that series is a morphed photo of a woman holding a cigarette, which was edited with Sonia's face.
#AltNewsFactCheck
12
136
317
16
268
603
The Guardian asked me to recommend five of the best books on Indian politics. I stretched it and recommended five political books I admire and/or absolutely love*:
A Free Man, Curfewed Night, Malevolent Republic, The Incarcerations, Gujarat Under Modi
27
99
438
Is there a more accommodating regulator in India than the food safety authority? It just increased permissible pesticide levels in spices by 10 times:
17
209
347
I won the
@truestoryaward
last night. It’s still sinking in.
Very happy that my Guardian Long Read about Nisar Ahmed, a Delhi riots witness, is among the finalists for this year's True Story Award.
12
19
82
45
46
289
Last year I found this note someone wrote to Nehru almost 82 years and nine months ago.
12
58
270
Since Jean Drèze’s transportation preferences are doing the rounds, here’s a small bit about him from the book.
#theidentityproject
4
58
231
A country surprised that the State wants to register relationships—after allowing itself to be coerced into getting ID cards, having its citizens’ face scanned, and normalising truck checks by cow vigilantes—is a country that’s really not thinking ahead.
Wake up India, an intrusive state is your future.
Uttarakhand UCC makes registration of live-in relationships compulsory. Couples must submit statement to registrar who will carry out inquiry which might include couple providing additional info.
Sickos.
25
117
245
6
66
190
A slight change.
This August.
12
33
187
Still registering some of these explanations in the new bill.
6
62
158
Doing everything I possibly can to not finish this extraordinary book. I’ve read This House of Grief over four months, and with only a dozen pages to go, I find myself retracing each sentence slowly, as if it’ll show me how Helen Garner shifts the mood so subtly; foolishness.
5
6
148
The Irish Times has a *very* nice review of The New India:
5
53
135
You heard the man.
The book is now available for pre-order:
UK (August):
US (November):
Just back from 🇨🇳 to discover waiting for me a preview copy of what I'm convinced will the most important book on 🇮🇳 for many years: "The New India", by the formidably talented
@rahulabhatia
.
Everything Rahul does is top class. Looking forward to reading very much 📚👊
3
21
47
9
28
126
Live face recordings with boarding pass at the security line inside Chennai airport. No consent, of course.
Why?
“Boss has said.”
@internetfreedom
11
62
113
Removing tiles to fill them with grout. Turn around one minute to write about Hindu nationalism, and next thing you know they’re wrecking the one good thing Bandra had.
4
25
111
The Identity Project is now in stores across India. Needless to say, support your nearest independent bookshop.
@rachnabooks
@ChampacaBooks
@BookshopInc
@Bahrisons_books
@teltrilogy
@harmonybookshop
@KitabKhanaBooks
@midlandbook
@blossombookhous
@bookworm_Kris
9
23
102
In The New India, I go deep into the use of “Bangladeshi” as a slur, and show how profoundly it would change the relationship between the state and all citizens.
The slur, it turned out, led to the creation of Aadhaar, the ultimate tool of exclusion.
Book out on Aug 8.
We all know who are Bangladeshis for them.
No one is listening to this hate-monger in Bangladesh, he is just seeking legitimacy to orchestrate violence on Indian citizens.
Why is this man not arrested yet ?
12
143
442
10
36
96
Reading the VP's comments, I'm reminded of what a historian told me – that the Hindu right's arguments haven't changed for over a century.
In The Identity Project, I documented how Hindutva leaders spread the divisive idea that Hindus were in danger. 1/2
1
40
87
A important follow-up. What happened to the first person and village to sign up for Aadhaar once the press left.
1
50
84
If anyone’s interested in seeing how little the technologists behind Aadhaar listened to stakeholders who understood systems, poverty, and food, read section four in my book, The Identity Project.
A horribly flawed system, meant to give ID to the underprivileged, rammed down the throat of the whole nation, comes full circle.
#AnythingIsPossibleInIndia
39
212
434
2
68
160
Very happy that my Guardian Long Read about Nisar Ahmed, a Delhi riots witness, is among the finalists for this year's True Story Award.
A total of 36 feature reports are nominated for the True Story Award 2024. The nominees were chosen from 974 submissions from 101 countries:
#tsa2024
#truestoryaward
9
14
45
12
19
82
Still grinning at how cool yesterday’s audience in Bangalore was. (That’s me on the left at the back, doing book signings – a thing I’m never getting used to. In the foreground, in blue,
@prempanicker
, who was a superb moderator.)
5
6
69
They’ve modernised it. Replaced rocks with a staircase. The amphitheatre I’m conflicted about because it needed restoration. It’s certainly a more public space now, but it isn’t the fort.
I don’t know, man. I don’t know.
3
11
64
They literally took the sea away from people. What a thoughtless, heartless bunch of planners.
Now on our coast, world-class Robert Moses arrogance.
5
16
41
3
24
55
See it for yourself while the park is closed because they've got three exhausted men dismantling it tile by tile. This is the alternate route: head to Land's End, go up the side to the top, turn right, and head down to the temple by the water. The path to the park is there.
2
7
48
This was a nice surprise. The New India is an Editor’s Pick in the Bookseller.
5
13
44
Every tech reporter out there should be looking at Digital Public Infrastructure and its effects on civil rights across the global South. This tech is justified as a public good, takes root in places where rights are fragile, and ends up being about surveillance.
No one. It's a private company not accountable to government or citizens. Yet it's being forced upon us.
Digital public infrastructure = Digital Surveillance Infrastructure
8
191
400
2
17
44
So while the government can now delete its own data interception records within six months, telecom companies are required to keep all user data for at least two years.
Information flows only one way in this country.
All pegasus related records can now be officially destroyed.
18
855
1K
0
52
44
A glowing review of The Identity Project in Business Standard: "Mr Bhatia has meticulously followed the case for 'identity' in a country where we all wear multiple identities. His work demonstrates how difficult it is to go back to where we were." 1/2
1
14
43
The Times reviews The New India: “the stuff of black comedy.”
Buy it here:
2
11
42
This is quite a claim: “Following our report, we were told that SEBI pressured brokers … to close short positions in Adani under the threat of expensive, perpetual investigations, effectively creating buying pressure and setting a ‘floor’ for Adani’s stocks at a critical time.”
Adani Update – Our Response To India’s Securities Regulator SEBI
724
3K
8K
0
40
38
“This book will shake you up.”
Kitaab reviews The identity Project/The New India
0
15
37
There’s a great burn-all-bridges story to be done about the ethics of a famously credit-hungry Mumbai auteur whose lavish production budgets run dry when it’s time to pay his writers.
4
3
37
“The intensity of intellectual labour that has made a work of this kind possible is simply amazing.”
Avijit Pathak reviews The Identity Project/The New India.
1
19
37
A thrill to see
@nilanjanaroy
’s Black River on its list of 20 indie books for the fall. Such a brilliant exploration of power and its absence through the prism of a crime. You know when you want everybody to read a book you just read? This is that.
1
10
35
The quotes in this piece are so good. eg. Ravish on Arnab: "He was the game changer. The first to become shameless."
This
@andreasbabst
profile of Arnab Goswami is so revealing – "We want to bring the power of nationalism to every home in this country" – and so bonkers: "Subtlety is just a lack of confidence in taking a stand."
2
4
15
1
14
33
Few people know the RSS (including many sympathetic to it) as well as Dhirendra Jha. His book on Golwalkar promises to be revelatory, and from everything I’ve heard, people will be studying it to learn how extreme organisations take root.
It should find publishers abroad.
do attend, after the lok sabha results & now haryana the rss has more control. in haryana, modi was non-playing captain, his vote-gettng ability & aura in decline. This alters the equation with the rss, which remains undiminshed, its ugly history manifested in our bigoted present
6
48
98
2
11
31
I’ve been thinking a lot about the techniques used to force tech adoption in India. Hurdles are placed in everyday activities to force a change. A simple thing is made more complicated in order to make the invasive thing look easier.
1
16
31
People, come on over to Alliance Francaise in Delhi on the 17th evening! I’ll be chatting with the astounding legal scholar Usha Ramanathan and the incredible Nisar Ahmad over at the launch event for The Identity Project!
We’ll talk about identity, riots, and much else.
Come!
Mark your calendars
#Delhi
!
Join us for the first event of the
#IdentityProject
Tour on 17 Sept at M.L. Bhartia Auditorium.
@rahulabhatia
in conversation with Usha Ramanathan and Nisar Ahmad.
0
4
10
2
18
28
Aadhaar, FastTag, and now Digiyatra. When these dudes go on global roadshows talking about the exponential growth of digital public infrastructure, you don't hear them talk about the strategic coercion employed with the help of the State.
1
6
24
Review in Deccan Herald:
“The Identity Project is a seminal work. This captivating post-colonial story of India, embellished with flawless prose, is narrative reportage at its best and essential for anyone concerned about the future of Indian democracy.”
2
3
24
I am gobstruck and thundersmacked by this development on the Bahrisons best sellers list.
2
1
24
An extract from The New India / The Identity Project. In the book, the passage the Guardian published is twice as long, and intertwined with a parallel story: of Nehru grappling with rumors and violence as refugees crossed the border between W Bengal and East Pakistan in 1950.
“Their entire functioning has been so boring and dull and drab that it has helped them to build a very powerful national network of people who cannot think"
18
195
373
1
17
21
Delighted that
@prempanicker
will be chatting with me about The Identity Project at BIC in Bangalore on Sunday! Bring your friends along. Tell them attendance is voluntary mandatory.
The Identity Project Tour in
#Bangalore
!
Join us for a discussion on ‘An Unequal Citizen’ between
@rahulabhatia
and
@prempanicker
.
Happening this Sunday (6 Oct) at
@bicblr
.
@ContextIndia
1
8
13
3
24
22
Everybody warned me I'd find the most embarrassing mistake after the book was published and I'm here to tell you through my grimace that this is true.
4
0
21
I'm so going to savour this whole issue, but for now, enjoy
@kmahaj
's short story. Laughed hard at the end.
1
6
21
1/3 Take it from India. When rumour networks and alternative histories become entrenched, it limits the effectiveness of legitimate news sources, weakens public resolve to find out what's real, and allows entire worlds to be constructed in the knowledge gap that opens up.
An alternative version of history is being written right in front of our eyes. Take it seriously
337
3K
9K
1
7
21
About a decade ago, while I was researching the nature and causes of stampedes in India, someone shared an unreleased official report on the Wai stampede, which killed about three hundred people in 2005. It was caused by a single misaligned step, if I remember correctly.
2
6
19
Happy US publication day to
@nilanjanaroy
, whose fantastic Black River has already received rave reviews in the UK and India!
America, you’re going to love this one.
1
6
19
Nehru wrote this to B.C. Roy on 24 April 1950. (J.N. (S.G.) Vol 42, part 2)
0
3
18
Back in the 1920s, BS Moonje scrambled to build consensus that a militarised Hindu society was necessary to ensure its survival. One of the ways he did this was by convincing Hindus they were about to be overrun by Muslims:
Buy here:
1
12
17
Why did you sign up for Aadhaar?
Participate and retweet.
Because I wanted to.
123
Because I was forced to.
852
6
33
16
I’ve seen six dead kites on the coastal road today. This road is absolute murder for the birds.
While writing this I saw a seventh. They swoop down from the lampposts and are hit by the vehicles.
3
8
16
This is really at the heart of many institutional failings. The RSS, which cannot abide by questions and criticism, is a conveyer belt of mediocrity, and it fills open positions with its members. Even Nehru was hobbled by inert rss-Mahasabha faithful during 1947 Delhi riots.
To what extent is the mess a result of the systematic attempt to create back-door entry for preferred candidates into premier institutions and government jobs - both at the top, at the recruitment level and at the bottom, at the admissions level?
16
121
288
0
6
16
"...part of what makes billionaire philanthropy so dangerous is that it is difficult to recognise it for what it really is: political power."
A fine interview about Bill Gates and his philanthro-lobbying.
Love this headline from
@the_hindu
:
"The art of Gatescrashing democracy"
Around the world, a major reappraisal of the Gates Foundation is underway-----amazing to see the news media opening up a public debate about this undemocratic institution
4
81
175
0
8
14
"Many years later, as I faced the deadline for writing this review, I was to remember that distant afternoon when Márquez showed me the Spanish manuscript of Chronicle of a Death Foretold and then refused to let me read the novel until its publication."
0
5
15
This
@andreasbabst
profile of Arnab Goswami is so revealing – "We want to bring the power of nationalism to every home in this country" – and so bonkers: "Subtlety is just a lack of confidence in taking a stand."
2
4
15
“What’s messed up is that most of the claims about human cognition, the psychology of Homo sapiens, are based on a very homogenous sample of human beings.” A fine piece on the work of the marvellous Roberto Zariquiey.
@RadInstitute
.
0
6
13
The first review is here.
The Guardian reviews The New India, calling it “a vivid portrait of how a nation turns callous and changes into something unrecognisable.”
0
5
14
“Dixit’s book is a brave and damning indictment of Hindutva fascism that shines a spotlight on the ordinary lives that suffer its horrifying impact. It is also an unapologetically feminist celebration of their daily existence.”
A superb review of
@nehadixit123
’s book.
Journalist Neha Dixit’s latest book charts the course of the life of a working-class Muslim woman in India up until 2020, as she navigates the rise of Hindu supremacy and a climate of increasing hostility toward Muslims.
0
4
21
0
5
14
A deeply personal part of the book, something I hesitated to write for months because of how easily identifiable these people – who I love – are.
Thanks for pointing it out,
@ConradkBarwa
.
"Why don't you convert to Islam?": the growth of Everyday Communalism and the slow poisoning of the Indian Mind,
pp.1-4, "The Identity Project: The Unmaking of a Democracy",
@rahulabhatia
#ConradsReads
12
18
35
3
3
13
This is happening today at Alliance Francaise. Come over if you can and say hi!
Mark your calendars
#Delhi
!
Join us for the first event of the
#IdentityProject
Tour on 17 Sept at M.L. Bhartia Auditorium.
@rahulabhatia
in conversation with Usha Ramanathan and Nisar Ahmad.
0
4
10
2
1
13
"The scholars listened to him mention a process called de-duplication, a procedure of elimination so complicated that Nilekani simply said, ‘It’s a massively complex technology. I won’t spend time on that.’"
The thing I mentioned yesterday,
@Rainer_Rehak
0
6
13
“The cycling track is hardly being used by cyclists.”
Yeah. That’s because cyclists (me among them) figured out an absolute sadist designed that cycling track. Make it better, don’t do away with it.
1
7
12
“If the far right ever loses its grip on India, The New India will be remembered as a truthful account of all the people who preyed on a nation’s collective fear.”
0
5
12
@JohnReedwrites
recommends four books to understand India. *ing:
-
@alpashah001
, who "has a gift for nonfiction narrative";
- S Jaishankar;
-
@kunalpurohit
's "vivid and richly reported" H-Pop;
-
@jaffrelotc
's Gujarat Under Modi, a "rewarding read".
1
10
11
If you’re around Delhi tomorrow, come on over and say hi!
We are on a bookstore hop with
@rahulabhatia
and his debut work The Identity Project (internationally released as The New India) in
#Delhi
on 16 September (Monday).
Come join us!
@Bahrisons_books
@midlandsouthex
@midlandbookshop
@faqirchandbooks
@kunzum
0
3
3
1
8
11
2/3 Organisations that produce storytelling ecosystems at scale, with legends and rationales for every conceivable situation, which can position themselves as 'grievance aggregators', will end up thriving – and will operate like a parallel government.
1
0
10
It's hard not to see the current political aesthetic in the devastation of this Portuguese fort. It has been 'beautified' and ordered, and locals have had little say in its appearance. In one way, the new aesthetic is a fitting record of our times.
The BMC and its beautification. They’ve ruined Bandra Fort.
76
250
900
0
2
10
Thinking of all the reporters who spoke up for Evan Gershkovich (rightly), and how little they’ve said about Israel’s killing of Palestinian journalists.
This is the hierarchy of journalism in practice – full of ideas of race and the ‘third world’ and who gets to tell stories.
1
3
10
This was mad fun.
🚨Happening today @ 6:30 PM!
The panel discussion 'Seeing like a digital state, advocating like a citizen' starts in just 2 hours!
See you at
@GI_MMB_NewDelhi
⚡
0
2
10
1
3
10
To people wondering if a PhD in RSS literature and propaganda is meaningful, you have no idea how revealing it is of the organisation’s appeal and Indians’ susceptibility to misinformation.
3
3
8
@Ghair_Kanooni
Absolutely. Just an utter disaster every which way. Completely amateurish work.
0
1
10
This is a pleasant surprise. Thrillingly,
@davidedgarwolf
, my editor at the Guardian, explains how this story came together. Listen!
1
4
10
The promenade and the sea were this city's greatest asset. That's where they gathered and celebrated and got respite.
Because it was an asset of intangible value, access to it was restricted, it was made smaller, its views broken, and new parking charges imposed a needless cost.
They literally took the sea away from people. What a thoughtless, heartless bunch of planners.
3
24
55
0
11
10
@realJennyBoylan
@WakeRevolt
@RadInstitute
@ievaju
@EfieZethu
@IGalleymore
@rocketfantastic
@alexcowan2
@TheFSILab
@Khanabat
@francescamari
@QaderiHomeira
@LeahEGose
@GayleCaleb
@PazEncina1
@philip_thai
I’m going to miss this view.
2
1
9
Thrilled by the review in Deccan Herald: “…narrative reportage at its best…”
"It is an empathetic and insightful critical enquiry into the genealogy of Hindu fundamentalism."
Read more at:
@rahulabhatia
's The Identity Project is available at bookstores and online.
@ContextIndia
0
4
8
0
2
8
The fabulous book I’ve got to get back to:
The
#MicrosoftOutage
is the universe telling you to stop working and go and read that fabulous book you had been eyeing for sometime.
0
1
12
0
2
9
Superb. More open discussions about tech is the way to go.
Last week,
@DigiYatraOffice
reached out to IFF to offer information and clarifications on the DigiYatra data ecosystem, and invite us to a private closed-door meeting with the CEO & team.
This is what we had to say in response. ⬇️ 1/2
9
131
387
0
1
9
I have a pretty good idea who 'beautified' the Jesus fresco.
The BMC and its beautification. They’ve ruined Bandra Fort.
76
250
900
1
0
9
OMG.
“
@nilanjanaroy
has spent her entire life and career preparing to write “Black River,” and it shows. With its depth of feeling, narrative sweep and deceptively plain writing style, this is a crime novel I’ll be thinking about for a long, long time.”
1
2
9
The Economist likes The New India for its reporting and excavation of history, but not so much for the Aadhaar connection.
1
2
7
The book has a promo! And the music at the end matches a surreal situation I found myself in somewhere in East Delhi (it's in section 3).
The most explosive book of the year is here!
@rahulabhatia
's The Identity Project is now available in bookstores and online.
Get your copy today!
0
2
5
0
7
8
When we met last year, the depth of Abhishek's research startled me. I've been so eager to read this.
Delighted to be back here to announce the publication of the first volume of my debut. Available at bookstores 10th May onwards. Please consider pre-ordering VAJPAYEE: THE ASCENT OF THE HINDU RIGHT, 1924-77 on the link below:
26
44
173
0
2
8
“[One Nation, One Election] would release the government from constraints of democratic accountability. With a rapid decline in all autonomous institutions, elections are now the only effective mechanism of holding the government accountable.”
Let us call the govt’s proposal for simultaneous elections by its real name: One nation, one election, one party, one leader.
I wrote this in 2019 when this baloon was floated. The argument still holds. What do you think?
(Pl read before answering)
36
101
377
0
4
7
It was great chatting with
@AbhinandanSekhr
about the Identity Project and the reporting behind it. We talked about how power is wielded across administrations, why political results should be seen in the larger context of invisible social movements, and much more.
Check it out.
Catch
@AbhinandanSekhr
in conversation with
@rahulabhatia
about his new book 'The Identity Project: The Unmaking of a Democracy', Aadhaar, Hindutva, Congress role, and the 2020 Delhi riots.
🔒Watch the full interview:
1
2
10
0
2
7
3/3 The book, Unequal, is up for pre-order. It's right up there with
@mrajshekhar
's Despite the State, and
@Rukmini
's Whole Numbers and Half Truths—two of the very best books on Modern India.
2
2
8
1/3 Massive day for
@SNavatar
, who decided to travel along the border between Bangladesh and India to study economic and social differences between India and its neighbors.
2
3
7