For almost a month now, the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP), led by Abhijeet Dipke, has been holding a protest at Jantar Mantar. Hundreds of youth have assembled there. They are demanding the resignation of the Education Minister after a key entrance exam for aspiring doctors, called the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test [Undergraduate] (NEET-UG), was cancelled in early May, following a paper leak. They say he must take moral responsibility for the leak and resign immediately. In solidarity with their protest, environmentalist Sonam Wangchuk has been fasting since June 28. At the moment, his health is deteriorating seriously. Other students are fasting too. Yet the Government refuses to relent and engage in dialogue with the protesters. What a terrible shame!

Education is in the doldrums! The regime should ask itself why hundreds of thousands of Indian youth are desperate to study in schools and universities abroad. First in this beeline are the children of Ministers and other Government officials. The National Education Policy (NEP) is exclusionary and caters to a small section of society. It does not provide the much-needed holistic, inclusive, objective, and contextual education. In the recently published Academic Freedom Index (2015-2025), India ranks tenth among countries where academic freedom is being throttled, and universities are not allowed to function independently. The Government is attempting to cut the grants to the well-known national think tank, the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies (CSDS). This Centre has contributed immensely to the country's intellectual fibre and calibre. As Yogendra Yadav says, "Bulldozer justice reaches academia... No doubt, this is a demolition exercise." Teachers in schools today hardly teach: they are caught up in 'Government duties' like SIR, the census enumeration, or election work. What a terrible shame!

The Special Intensive Revision (SIR), an exercise undertaken by the Election Commission of India to verify and revise electoral rolls, continues like a juggernaut, disenfranchising thousands of legitimate citizens across the country. Those who are deleted from the electoral rolls are the poor and the vulnerable, the minorities and other marginalised sections of society. Those who toe the regime's line have nothing to fear. Their names will not be deleted. The ECI is guilty of a heinous crime against the citizens of India! What a terrible shame!

Corruption is mainstreamed in the country. The regime in power could easily be the most corrupt political dispensation in the world! They have amassed hoards of wealth through demonetisation, electoral bonds, and the PM Cares Fund. Besides the all-scale loot of temples like the Ram Mandir (UP), Badrinath Temple (Uttarakhand), Sabarimala Temple (Kerala), Kedarnath Temple (Uttarakhand), and Ambaji Temple (Gujarat). The sacrifices of genuine devotees are plundered, which will easily put the colonialists of yesteryears to shame. Some of the regimes' crony capitalist friends have a field day looting the country and profiteering. One has to look at the palatial RSS Centre in Delhi or the plush BJP offices across the country to ask, "whose money is being used?" There is a total lack of transparency and accountability at every level. What a terrible shame!

Look at the roster of elected representatives/officials from political parties who left their parties and joined the BJP. Most of them have cases/FIRs/criminal proceedings against them. Once they go to the BJP, everything is 'forgiven and conveniently forgotten.' Take, for example, the BJP CM of West Bengal; there is plenty of video evidence of the PM, when he was in the TMC, lambasting him as one of the most corrupt people in the country. However, there is the BJP washing machine, which can easily wash away all your crimes and even make you CM! Those politicians with apparently no crimes are offered crores of rupees in black money, they are cajoled and even threatened with dire consequences if they do not succumb! What a terrible shame!

The Prime Minister is the laughing stock of the world. Nobody takes him seriously, despite his foreign jaunts at the expense of the Indian taxpayer (mainly the poor and the middle class). True, they give him medals and awards, but these come at a huge cost. They are neither deserved nor are 'freebies.' The nation has to make many concessions or trade-offs to 'buy' those recognitions. Any moron will tell you that Heads of State or Governments are normally not given such awards during their visits. Even his public speeches are a source of embarrassment. The '2+6' stuff in Indonesia or the 'Melody' chocolates in Italy. The local media there hardly covers his visits to their country. He is unable to answer a single question from a journalist. What a terrible shame!

India was ranked 157 out of 180 countries in the 2026 World Press Freedom Index released recently. The country was placed in the 'very serious' category due to the criminalisation of journalism, weaponisation of national security laws, and highly concentrated media ownership. On July 16, a strongly-worded statement said, "The Editors Guild of India deplores attempts by a section of MEA officials to explain away Prime Minister Narendra Modi's unwillingness to address unscripted press conferences at home or abroad by stating that, as a successful politician, Prime Minister Modi prefers to communicate directly with his largely rural electorate. In response to why the PM chooses not to take questions from the media, the MEA official's argument is deeply flawed. The PM has to routinely answer both his urban and rural people on urgent political and economic issues, especially at a time when the world is mired in an unprecedented energy crisis in the wake of the war in West Asia. The truth is that he has been reluctant to share his views on this gargantuan crisis with any kind of media." What a terrible shame!

Minorities in the country continue to be on the receiving end! Thousands of Muslims have been disenfranchised, their homes have been demolished, and their nationality and patriotism have been questioned. On June 15, the Superintendent of Police in the Gujarat State Police Service (SPS) issued a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for Gujarat's new Anti-Radicalisation Cell (ARC). The contents of the SOP clearly target the Muslims and are blatantly anti-Constitutional and communal. Christians are also systematically targeted. Bogeys of 'forced conversion' are consistently raised. There is documented evidence of hundreds of attacks on Christians. Recently, a Catholic School in Jabalpur was attacked by Hindutva goons on the false pretext of conversions; in West Bengal, a group of nuns was threatened by a mob to stop the construction of a Chapel and cemetery for which they have the necessary permissions. There are official threats to take over lands and property belonging to the Christians. The anti–conversion laws put in place in several BJP-ruled states are an attempt to defocus from other realities which the nation faces today. They are violative of Article 25 of the Indian Constitution, which guarantees freedom of religion. What a terrible shame!

'Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2026' is likely to be taken up in the coming session of Parliament. The Bill targets voluntary organisations that are doing exemplary work for the country's all-round progress and development. The poor will suffer the most if this Bill is passed. Several other issues are raging in the country: India is zilch on the environmental index. The Great Nicobar project, the planned luxury hotel near Kaziranga National Park and the unmitigated use of fossil fuels are clear examples. There is no room for dissent in India: Umar Khalid and several others are still languishing in jail. Late Fr Stan Swamy has not yet been given a clean chit. Constitutional bodies are used to victimise innocent citizens! What a terrible shame!

What is at stake today is the soul of India! The right of every single citizen to be guaranteed and to embrace justice, liberty, equality and fraternity, and all that is in our sacred Constitution. Until such time we need to say What a terrible shame! 

Then we must do all we can to overcome it!