“Young people want a fair chance to build a life, but they also want to be heard and treated as political actors capable of shaping the future, rather than as a population expected simply to obey and wait.” My comments to Truthdig www.truthdig.com/articles/hig...

High Effort, No Reward: From Delhi to Seoul, Youth Have Had Enough

Promised that studying hard would lead to stable jobs, Indian and Asian students instead face high suicide rates and exam leaks. In Delhi, students protested for 36 days and won — or did they?

truthdig.com

Modi says he “forgives” young protesters who abused him. But forgiveness offered while his supporters file police complaints, dox women and issue rape and death threats. I write on free speech, selective outrage and political hypocrisy in todays' India. www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/what...

What’s with PM Modi’s ‘forgiveness’ charade?

In a democracy, protesters don’t owe the prime minister deference, writes Ashok Swain

nationalheraldindia.com

The cruel inequality of this Iran war is clear - decisions made in Washington and Tel Aviv are being felt in markets and at kitchen tables thousands of kilometers away - My interview with @hammadsarfraz.bsky.social for the Express Tribune. tribune.com.pk/story/262158...

The conflict with Iran won’t stay in Iran | The Express Tribune

Ripple effects of the war can be felt beyond the region and more in some of the vulnerable parts of the world

tribune.com.pk

While Netanyahu met Trump behind closed doors, Israeli soldiers and settlers stormed West Bank towns. Trump wants calm where war threatens his election. Netanyahu wants violence in the West Bank where domination may rescue his election. #MyPiece National Herald, 2 August 2026.

GERD, the largest dam in Africa, is a reality. Egypt needs to accept this reality and should work together with Ethiopia and Sudan for equatable use of the Blue Nile water. Spoke to ENA: www.ena.et/web/eng/w/en...

Egypt’s Losing Game over the GERD Has Never Been About Hydro-Technical Engineering

By Getnet. S Menegesha July 23, 2026 (ENA) Egyptian politicians have repeated the same familiar refrain for years that Ethiopia is acting unilaterally o...

ena.et

The Youth Movement of India has already weakened the Modi regime and will affect its electoral prospects in the coming UP election. I tell to Belgian newspaper, Le Soir. www.lesoir.be/761862/artic...

Inde : le gouvernement affaibli après la victoire des « cafards »

Les « cafards » ont fait plier le Premier ministre indien, Narendra Modi. Une victoire de la rue inédite, mais aux conséquences politiques encore incertaines.

lesoir.be

About Gen Z protests in India, I tell French newspaper Liberation, although the Modi regime has accepted the demands of the ‘cockroaches,’ it’s just a tactic to defuse the situation before it spirals completely out of control. www.liberation.fr/internationa...

En Inde, la révolte des «cafards» fait plier le pouvoir : «Cette démission, nous l’avons tous vécue comme une victoire personnelle»

Après sept semaines de manifestations, le mouvement étudiant des «cafards», porté par la Gen Z et les réseaux sociaux, a arraché la première démission d’un ministre sous la pression de la rue depuis l...

liberation.fr

Sudanese Army closing in to recapture el Obeid from the RSF. Another genocide by the RSF is likely as we had seen last year in el Fasher. World is silent about the massive humanitarian crisis in Sudan - 40,000 dead & 14 million displaced. Jost spoke to TRT World about it.

Criticism of Modi was used to be treated in India as if you are criticizing Jesus Christ or Prophet Mohammad. But, not any more. Spoke to Times Radio of London about the significance of Gen Z protests in India. youtu.be/SrgWqbnaU44?... via @YouTube

Indian Education Minister Forced To Resign After Gen-Z Mass Protests

YouTube video by Times News

youtu.be

“I just want to go home & see my mother” After the #Modi govt withheld his X account in India in July 2023, it cancelled the OCI status of Ashok Swain in 2024, leaving him unable to visit his ailing mother More: article-14.com/post/3-hours...

3 Hours To Disappear: How The Modi Govt Made Online Censorship Faster, Easier & Harder To Challenge

A journalist's video of a student allegedly beaten by police during a protest. A creator's post questioning AI data centres. Satire, criticism of the Modi government, news organisations and academics:...

article-14.com

Modi’s old playbook is failing. These protesters can't easily be branded Pakistanis or Khalistanis. Many come from families at the heart of the BJP’s Hindu support base. Satire and memes have broken the fear barrier. #MyPiece www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/yout...

The youth against Modi

Previous movements challenged Modi from constituencies he could portray as outsiders. This one has brought the challenge home

nationalheraldindia.com

Spoke to Times Radio in London about the youth revolt against Modi - and how India’s Gen Z, through satire and memes, has brought the self-proclaimed “non-biological” leader back down to earth.

Iran War is expanding from Hormuz to Red Sea to Caspian Sea. Trump has asked his army to take a pause as there is a shortfall of interceptors. The US should find ways to stop Trump waging this war, as it is becoming another Vietnam. #MyPiece www.nationalheraldindia.com/opinion/can-...

Can America restrain its own president?

America does have mechanisms to stop its president. What it lacks is the political courage to go down that route

nationalheraldindia.com

Trump has restarted a war the US cannot win militarily and politically. Iran is more prepared, the conflict is spreading, and every strike deepens resistance while draining American power. The real question is whether Congress has the courage to stop its own president. #MyPiece

Spoke to DW News about the ongoing youth protests in India and why, for the first time, Modi seems to have been cornered. He cannot brand these protesters as Pakistanis or Khalistanis, as most come from his own Hindutva base. www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GoB...

Is this the biggest challenge facing Modi’s 12-year-tenure? | DW News

YouTube video by DW News

youtube.com

Happy to share this thoughtful review of my book, Climate Security, together with an extensive interview published in The Express Tribune. The article engages with the book’s central question: whose security is actually being protected by contemporary climate policy? tribune.com.pk/story/261910...

The impossible politics of climate security | The Express Tribune

In his latest book, Ashok Swain offers a chilling analysis of a world drifting toward climate apartheid

tribune.com.pk

India's diplomats are not paid to collect medals for the Prime Minister Modi. They are paid to protect India's interests. When diplomacy becomes a trophy hunt for one leader, the nation - not the leader - loses dignity. #MyPiece scroll.in/article/1094...

10,000 people in 20 villages in Iran are without water due to American bombing on water plant. Kuwait says its two water plants are on fire due to Iranian drone attacks. Weaponization of water is no more a taboo in Iran War and it is a big danger to the region and to the world.

The Gulf's biggest lesson from the Iran war is the collapse of the illusion that the US can guarantee regional security. Now Gulf states face an escalating Israel–Türkiye rivalry. Saudi Arabia's answer is no longer dependence but strategic autonomy & pragmatic diplomacy. #MyPiece

Asked whether Tehran was using the funeral to send a political message, Ashok Swain, said the signal was straightforward. “The state had not collapsed, society had not surrendered, and foreign powers had failed to shatter Iran’s sense of national pride.” tribune.com.pk/story/261775...

By suspending the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, India intends to solidify its upstream water advantages as a non-military tool for coercive diplomacy . Interview with China's Southern Weekly, I discuss the implications of new round of Indus dispute. news.qq.com/rain/a/20260...

By suspending the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan, India intends to solidify its upstream water advantages as a non-military tool for coercive diplomacy . Interview with China's Southern Weekly, I discuss the implications of new round of Indus dispute. news.qq.com/rain/a/20260...

India's liberal commentariat spent a decade searching for "anyone but Rahul Gandhi." One by one, their chosen alternatives disappeared. Rahul Gandhi stayed, fought, & became the principal challenger to the RSS BJP. Time to question those pundits. #mypiece National Herald, 5/7-26

Iran war is not just another Middle East conflict. It has accelerated the end of the US dominated unipolar era. But what is emerging is not a stable multipolar world. It is a world with multiple powers but no effective world order. That is a far more dangerous future. #MyPiece

For years, India's liberal commentariat searched for an alternative to Rahul Gandhi in one opposition leader after another. Today, most have faded, but Rahul Gandhi remains the only national leader consistently confronting the RSS and defending democracy. #MyPiece thewire.in/politics/mod...

Modi Has Been Dismantling Democracy But India's Liberals are Going After Rahul Gandhi

While others search for tactical compromises with majoritarianism, Rahul Gandhi consistently challenges it and stays committed to constitutional values.

thewire.in

When Hindutva politics enters the school kitchen, it is India's poorest children who pay the price.#MyPiece scroll.in/article/1093...

Can Israel survive Benjamin Netanyahu? The greatest threat to Israel today doesn't come from Iran, Hamas, or Hezbollah. It comes from its leader, Netanyahu, whose political survival has become inseparable from perpetual war. #MyPiece

The growing community of Environmental Peacebuilders! 4th International Conference on Environmental Peacebuilding - University of Ottawa. June 16, 2026 - June 19, 2026

Trump's Iran deal is not a victory. It's an exit strategy. Netanyahu promised regime collapse. Instead, the war strengthened Iran, and exposed the limits of the US-Israeli military force. The real question: can Netanyahu live with peace? Answer is, No. #MyPiece

The rise of anti Indian sentiment is driven by two forces: a resurgent far right eager to scapegoat immigrants and a section of the Indian diaspora whose nationalism, casteism, racial prejudices, and cultural arrogance have eroded decades of goodwill. #MyPiece