Hindutva has for long been a political ‘toolkit’ (to borrow a pejorative from Hindutva trolls) masquerading as an ideology. It has always been subservient to the task of bringing the BJP to power.

After Pandya was jeered in Wankhede, the home of the Mumbai Indians, who still chose to remain silent, leaving the captain to deal with it by himself? The MI bosses.   

Despite being a democracy, we now have a situation in India where a vast, disproportionate amount of political and economic power is concentrated in individuals.

It seems, everyone except BCCI knows that Hardik Pandya is not interested in playing Test cricket. If he is not keen to put country before self, shouldn’t BCCI have a rethink about his contract?

Just as intrinsically Hindu is the long trek to the Amarnath cave or Kedarnath or Gangotri Dham, or to the Vaishno Devi mandir. The devotees may well add the new Ayodhya Ram Mandir to their bucket list, but it won't make them any more Hindu than they already are.   

The fans have fully acknowledged and embraced women’s cricket; it’s just the BCCI that’s lagging behind in giving them the respect and space they deserve and are due.

It seems the Indian government may not have realised how high Qatar had raised the stakes in this case, at the very outset. The strategy now appears to be pulling off a politically rewarding pardon ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Clearly, it suits the BJP to conflate the rampant anti-Muslim climate that it is creating in India with the portrayal of the latest conflict in Gaza as Hamas’ handiwork.

Let’s examine how the Hindu right wing leadership has dealt with other radical vigilantes and social media ‘stars’ like Manesar, when they turned ‘too hot to handle'.

A key reason is the lack of political or electoral clout.

Senior party leaders in dynastic parties stagnate in politics, thanks to that very real, stubborn, glass ceiling. And so, when patience runs out, and an offer is made, party ideology and loyalty is easily cast aside, making them an easy target for the BJP.