Our roaring internal affairs, only our biz?

Last week, a journalist asked BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia what he made of Zohran Mamdani sending jailed activist Umar Khalid a sympathetic handwritten note, and of voices of the international community having questioned the fairness of Khalid's investigation and legal process. Bhatia's response was intriguing, interesting even. 'Each Indian citizen has complete faith in India's judiciary... Who is an outsider to question our democracy and judiciary? And that too in support of someone who wants to break India into pieces? This is not right.' Never mind the first bit. Who knows, maybe every Indian citizen, Khalid included, does have full faith in India's judiciary. But Bhatia's rousing objection against criticism from outsiders about India's democracy and judiciary - or, indeed, any other aspect, like our lack of civic sense or breathtaking pollution - seems a tad oversensitive, bordering woke.

'None of your business' has been an old chestnut in many societies, but perhaps a chest-thumping nut in our land. So, what happens if Bangladeshis tell outsiders, Indians included, to take a hike for criticising their treatment of minorities? Every country keeping their internal affairs off limits for outsiders would make for an infernal affair, no? And you wouldn't want us to take potshots only at our own leaders? What's the fun - and safety - in that?