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Any language, in everyday life, is simply a means to communicate,” Abhijit Chakraborty wrote in a LinkedIn post.

A Delhi-based entrepreneur expressed concern that recurring incidents over the Kannada language were doing “terrible PR” for Bengaluru.

Abhijit Chakraborty, Founder Partner at Alphanumero Agency & Studio, said that people often figured out a “common way to communicate” in situations where they couldn’t understand each other,

“Any language, in everyday life, is simply a means to communicate,” Mr Chakraborty wrote in a LinkedIn post.

He gave an example of a person from Chennai trying to book an auto ride in Delhi, suggesting that if conversations ended up “being a culture war”, the individual would never reach the desired location.

Next, Mr Chakraborty shared his experience of living in the national capital. Despite being fluent in Bengali, Hindi and English, he had to pick a fourth one (Punjabi) to speak with others “because it’s everywhere in Delhi,” he added.

Even though he was not fluent in Punjabi, Mr Chakraborty said he could understand it and try to respond with his “own version of the language.”

Mr Chakraborty believed that “non-Kannadigas” in Bengaluru would learn the Kannada language if they stayed “long enough”, and if they felt “an inclination towards it.”

He noted that he started speaking Punjabi through random conversations and had a general interest in Sikh history and heritage.

“Shoving a language down someone’s throat never works,” he added.

In the comments section of the viral post, multiple people agreed with Mr Chakraborty’s suggestion.

A woman said she can’t speak “more than a couple of words in Kannada,” despite being married to a “Kannadiga” for four years. She added that she started picking up the meaning of conversations with time.

“Language should be a bridge, not a battleground. These culture wars around language often just distract from the real issues,” she added.

Another person said the “only way to make another person learn your language is to make it cool.” 

A third user wrote that this “aggressive” imposition of culture in the name of “promoting and safeguarding” shall “never ever” work. 

Mr Chakraborty’s post came days after a manager at the SBI branch in Bengaluru’s Chandapura refused to speak with a customer in Kannada, saying, “This is India, I’ll speak Hindi, not Kannada.”

The viral video soon drew sharp criticism from activists of the language and political leaders.

Later, the manager was transferred, while both the bank and the person issued apologies.

In recent weeks, the advocates for the language suggested people learn it to respect the local culture. However, critics argued such an expectation was exclusionary, especially in a cosmopolitan city.

While some claim a copyright strike aims to bulldoze smaller content creators, others argue that it is legally wrong to reuse someone else’s copyrighted material.

News agency Asian News International (ANI) has been accused by content creators of trying to extort lakhs for a few seconds of their copyrighted video content, which the creator community argues is against the principle of fair use.

While some claim such a move aims to bulldoze smaller content creators, others argue that it is legally wrong to reuse someone else’s copyrighted material.

The amount being demanded allegedly by ANI has been in the range of a few lakhs for the use of small bits from their videos, claimed creators in the country, where content generation has emerged as a major income generation stream in the past few years.

The boom in content creation has seen new YouTube channels mushrooming, providing regular content on tech, politics, news, sports, reviews, et al.

YouTuber Mohak Mangal, who has over 4 million subscribers, was among the first to put out a video alleging an extortion attempt by an ANI employee. “ANI pressured me that if I don’t give Rs 50 lakh, then my channel will be deleted,” he alleged.

In an audio he played in the video, an ANI employee was purportedly heard saying, “You used strike footage without my permission, I put a claim on YouTube, (and) they have put a copyright strike. If you want to do it, do it, sir. You will surely lose your channel.”

NDTV could not independently verify the audio clip used in the video.

Mr Mangal claimed that the first copyright strike he had received from ANI was for using an 11-second ANI clip in his 16-minute video, followed by another for using a nine-second ANI clip in a 38-minute video on Operation Sindoor.

Rajat Pawar, another YouTuber with nearly 3.5 million subscribers, claimed that ANI has demanded Rs 18 lakh from him, and that his channel already has two strikes and a third may be on its way.

The content creator said he had reached out to ANI with a request to remove all their clips, and a promise to never use them again. However, they asserted he must get their subscription to get the strikes removed, he said.

Commenting on their videos, several popular YouTubers, including comedian Ashish Solanki and ‘Physics by Pankaj Sir’ – all with a subscriber base in millions, have expressed support for the creator community.

YouTuber Nitish Rajput, who has over 7 million subscribers, called on YouTube to take steps to ensure creators don’t end up feeling helpless after putting in years of hard work. Labour Law Advisor, who makes videos on personal finance and has over 5 million followers, said it takes immense courage to bring such practices to light.

“YouTube India must be held accountable and should ban ANI from its platform on grounds of blackmailing creator,” said comedian Kunal Kamra.

While ANI hasn’t officially commented on the allegations, its editor-in-chief Smita Prakash had shared a post taking a jibe at another YouTuber over copyright strikes.

What Is Copyright Strike

A copyright refers to an intellectual property whose exclusive legal right lies with its owner. Any usage of such content by others is restricted. YouTube, the most popular video streaming platform, has rules to protect such intellectual property of its creators.

“Creators should only upload videos that they have made or that they’re authorised to use. That means that they should not upload videos that they didn’t make, or use content in their videos that someone else owns the copyright to, such as music tracks, snippets of copyrighted programmes or videos made by other users, without necessary authorisations,” reads a YouTube policy on copyright.

The concept of fair use, however, argues in favour of reusing another’s copyrighted content, but it may be subject to the regional copyright laws, taking into account the purpose of such usage and the tenets of freedom of expression. In practice, smaller commentary channels often use bits from videos by bigger media outlets.

YouTube usually sends a warning to the channel if it finds any content violating its policies. This may include a first-party complaint by another user. However, if such violations are repeated within a 90-day period, the channel gets a copyright strike. The platform may choose to remove the content as well or demonetise it.

The first copyright strike bars the YouTuber from uploading videos and other content for a week, while a second strike within that 90-day window may extend the penalty to two weeks. A third strike may result in the channel being permanently removed, thus dealing a major blow to an individual’s content creation journey.

PTI’s Outreach

Amid the controversy, Press Trust of India (PTI), another news agency with a massive presence across the country, has issued a public statement, reaching out to YouTubers with an “affordable” offer to access its video content.

“As India’s most trusted news agency, we at Press Trust of India remain committed to credible journalism and ethical business practices. To support responsible content creation, we offer individual YouTube creators highly affordable access to PTI videos for your YouTube content and for use in other social media platforms,” said the statement.

The agency asked the content creators to contact its sales and marketing team if they want to access PTI content.

In a meeting last week, top Trump aide Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to seek to arrest 3,000 people a day, Axios wrote in a report.

In a meeting last week, top Trump aide Stephen Miller and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials to seek to arrest 3,000 people a day, Axios wrote in a report.

This new target is triple the amount of arrests agents were making during the early days of Trump’s second term. 

As a part of Trump’s “big beautiful bill” that passed the House last week, Capitol Hill Republicans are working on providing an extra $147 billion in immigration funds over the next 10 years.

The change comes when border-crossing numbers have plummeted during the first few months of Trump’s term, when officials are taking an increasingly aggressive approach to make arrests of non-border communities nationwide.

Trump’s relentless approach to round up unauthorised immigrants, and in some instances even US citizens and legal residents, have caused his poll numbers on immigration to slip.

Miller, the White House’s deputy chief of staff, demanded in a meeting on 21st May, that field office directors and special agents in charge get deportation numbers up. According to the source, people left the meeting fearing the new targets, if not reached, might hamper their jobs. However, another person said that Miller was just trying to motivate people with a harsh tone. The sources also added that this is not the first time Miller had yelled at on senior DHS officials to ramp up deportation numbers.

Moreover, DHS and ICE have posted out requests for additional staffing, bed space and resources. The latter has also signed agreements to add more bed space to existing detention spaces in the country.

Although through the media reports, and deportation flight announcements, it seems like the Trump administration has accelerated the arrests, the numbers seem to roughly be the same as they were during President Biden’s last year in office.

According to an analysis by the Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC), an independent organisation, border-area deportations have lowered because migrants are not attempting to cross the United States border. However, they have increased removals from inside the country.

“Keeping President Trump’s promise to deport illegal aliens is something the administration takes seriously,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. “We are committed to aggressively and efficiently removing illegal aliens from the United States, and ensuring our law enforcement officers have the resources necessary to do so. The safety of the American people depends upon it.”

The communications minister said satellite connectivity as a service has immense potential and need in any country, including India.

clusively to NDTV Profit on Tuesday, Mr Scindia was asked about the possibility of Starlink getting a licence and what it brings to the table from an Indian telecommunications sector perspective. The minister said he is “company agnostic and customer centric”.

“Just like in civil aviation, or in the telecom service provider space, or in the ISP space or the fixed wireless access space, my job is to ensure that I provide choice to the consumer. And India is ready for SATCOM service delivery. All players across the world are welcome. As long as they comply with our regulations, they check the boxes and are ready to perform business in India, all are welcome in India,” he said. 

Pointing out that satellite connectivity as a service has immense potential and immense need in any country, including India, he said there are two key reasons for this: providing connectivity in areas that wouldn’t get it otherwise, and because of how useful they are in times of calamities. 

“There are certain areas across the globe which cannot be provided telephony through either RAN (Radio Access Network) towers, or through OFC (Optical Fibre Cable) being laid or through broadband. In those hostile terrains, the only option is to give connectivity through satellite. And, today, telephony and connectivity is not only a means of empowerment of communication, it’s a means of empowerment of livelihood. And, therefore, it is our fiduciary responsibility to be able to provide that,” he said. 

“Second, in the times of natural calamity, and this has been proven again and again and again, satellite is the only recourse that humans have to be able to provide connectivity on a temporary basis. And therefore, in both those areas, satellite communications is extremely important. And we are eager to have that option in India for our customers as soon as possible,” the telecom minister stressed. 

Mobile Duopoly?

To a question on whether India is going to see a duopoly in terms of mobile operators, Mr Scindia said India is one of the few countries in the world that has four players. 

“There are very few countries that can boast of four players that have a national network. And India stands out as a country that has four players. That is the status today, and I believe that should be the status going forward as well. Because my job is to make sure that the customers have choice,” he said.

In India, where sex remains a taboo subject, this ancient sex manual has often been reduced to merely a “dirty book”.

In India, where sex remains a taboo subject, this ancient sex manual has often been reduced to merely a “dirty book”.

In Indian society, women’s sexual pleasure is often invisible, buried beneath layers of cultural silence. Women are often taught to suppress their desires, their voices stifled by traditions that prioritise male needs. Yet, it was in this very country that the Kamasutra was written.

Composed in the ancient Sanskrit language in the 3rd century by the Indian philosopher Vatsyayana, the Kamasutra is more than a book about sexual positions. The word “kama” means love, sex, desire and pleasure, while “sutra” translates to a treatise. The text explores relationships, ethics and social norms. It offers a framework for mutual respect and understanding between partners.

In her 2016 book Redeeming the Kamasutra, scholar of Indian culture and society Wendy Doniger argues that Vatsyayana was an advocate of women’s pleasure as well as stressing their right to education and the freedom to express desire. Far from reinforcing male dominance, the Kamasutra originally emphasised the importance of mutual enjoyment and consent. It presents sex as a shared experience rather than a male conquest.

The perception of the Kamasutra as a male-centred sex manual can be traced back to its first English translation by Sir Richard Burton in 1883.

Burton, a British soldier and explorer, omitted or altered passages that highlighted women’s autonomy. It shifted their role from active participants to passive recipients of male pleasure.

In contrast, scholars such as Ganesh Saili have argued that the Kamasutra originally depicted women as equal partners in intimacy. According to the text, women communicated their needs through gestures, emotions and words, ensuring that their pleasure was just as valued as men’s. Importantly, conversation played a central role in intimacy, reinforcing the necessity of a woman’s consent before having sex.

Despite this rich history, Indian society continues to largely suppress discussions around female sexuality. Indian sex educator and journalist Leeza Mangaldas argues that women’s sexual pleasure remains a taboo topic, policed by cultural expectations that dictate women must remain silent, subservient and sexually inactive before marriage.

Social scientist, Deepa Narayan, argues that this suppression begins at home. Girls are often taught to deny their own bodies and prioritise male desires.

The title page of the 1883 edition of Sir Richard Burton’s translation. Ms Sarah Welch/Wikimedia, CC BY

This control extends to patriarchal social norms that uphold virginity as a virtue for women while imposing no such expectation on men. Sex is framed as something women “give” rather than something they experience. Pleasure is seen as a right for males but merely an afterthought for females. Sex is for men but for women, it is only for producing babies.

Yet the Kamasutra itself tells a different story. In its original form, it described women as active participants in their pleasure and compared their sensuality to the delicacy of flowers – requiring care, attention and respect.

My own research explores “Kamasutra feminism”. This is the idea that this ancient text is not just about sex but about sexual autonomy. It challenges patriarchal norms by promoting women’s freedom to articulate their desires and take control of their pleasure. The Kamasutra rejects the notion that women’s sexuality should be regulated or repressed. Instead, it advocates for mutual satisfaction and consent.

Doniger describes the Kamasutra as a feminist text, citing its emphasis on women choosing their partners, expressing their desires freely and engaging in pleasurable sexual relationships. It recognises economic independence as a crucial factor in women’s sexual autonomy. Financial freedom is linked to the ability to make personal choices.

PATRIARCHY VERSUS SEXUAL LIBERTY

Ultimately, the Kamasutra represents a clash between patriarchy – where women’s sexuality is controlled – and a vision of sexual liberty. It offers an alternative narrative, one where seduction is about mutual enjoyment rather than male domination. Its teachings encourage open discussions about intimacy, allowing women to reclaim their voices in relationships.

For more than a century, the Kamasutra has been misinterpreted, its radical message buried beneath layers of censorship and cultural shame. But if we look beyond its erotic reputation, we find a text that speaks to the importance of consent, equality and female agency.

Reclaiming the Kamasutra as a guide for sexual empowerment could help dismantle deeply ingrained taboos and reshape the conversation around women’s pleasure. In a world where female desire is still widely policed, this ancient manuscript reminds us that women’s pleasure is not a luxury, but a right.

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