r/india

I had a family trip to Vaishno Devi planned for tomorrow. The plan was straightforward: fly from Hyderabad to Delhi, take a train from Delhi to Jammu, and continue to Katra.
Flights booked. Train tickets booked. Everything planned for the family.

Now, due to the ongoing protests and the resulting disruption, I’ve received an official cancellation message from Indian Railways for my train.

My Hyderabad–Delhi flights are non-refundable. The alternative I’ve found so far is to fly from Delhi to Jammu, which would cost around ₹7,000 per person. That’s another ₹14,000 for just me and my sister, on top of the money already spent.

And this is where I’m struggling to understand the system.
I understand that protests happen, security and public order matter, and sometimes transport services have to be cancelled. But what happens to ordinary passengers who have already made bookings in good faith?

We pay taxes, book tickets through official channels, plan family holidays months in advance, and then suddenly we’re expected to absorb the entire financial loss when one part of the journey gets cancelled.

The airline may say the flight is non-refundable. The railway may refund the train ticket. But that doesn’t recover the money spent on the flight, the time taken off work, or the plans made by an entire family.

I’m not saying trains should operate when it’s unsafe to do so. I’m asking why there isn’t a clearer passenger-support mechanism for situations like this — especially when a major disruption makes an otherwise valid journey impractical.

Should there be a policy for coordinated refunds, free date changes, or travel credits when officially announced disruptions strand passengers who have booked connected journeys separately?

Genuinely asking: Has anyone dealt with a similar situation? Is there any practical recourse with Air India or the railway authorities, beyond getting the train fare refunded?

Right now, it just feels like the ordinary citizen is expected to quietly accept the loss and move on.

So, I’ll tell you a story.

There was this private teacher of mine who was a big Krishna bhakt and a very kattar Hindu. He used to visit ISKCON very frequently. Whenever he came to my house to teach me, he would always talk about Krishna ji, his lilas, and Vishnu ji’s avatars. I really liked listening to him because I was a kid and found all of it very interesting.

One day, he told me the story of Hiranyakashipu, which I found really interesting. But at the end of the story, he said, “Krishna ji always takes an avatar to save dharma in every yug. In this yug, we have BJP, which is like God, and Congress, which is like the asuras. And as asuras never win congress should also never win”

At that age, I really didn’t think much about it because I didn’t have any political opinions of my own.

Then, about a year later, my classroom teacher, who was also an ISKCON devotee, said almost the exact same thing in almost the exact same way. She told us the same story of hiranyakashapyu and then said almost the exact same lines.

And their political opinions were not just similar—their WORDING WAS almost EXACTLY the same. They used the same words and explained it in almost the same manner.

Also, whenever my father used to pass by while that teacher was talking about these things, he would suddenly stop talking immediately and start teaching normally and in that 1hr of tuition he used to waste like 30mins on politics alone.

As a result i was brainwashed into thinking that "hindu khatre mei hai because of congress and we need to vote for bjp"

It feels like ki ye bjp ka kuch it cell something hai idk why

I am a 22 year old girl and recently moved to Kobe (Japan) for university. I always dreamed of leaving India from a young age. My parents use to forbid me from watching shows like crime patrol and Saavdhan India but I would still watch it when they weren’t around. Needless to say, those shows did irreversible damage to my psyche
I remember from the age of 10 , my biggest fear was always either getting r@ped or sold for pr0stitution.

I come from a small town in UP, it was dangerous to go out alone after dark. I had been chased by men in their late 20s on my way to the tuition when i was 13!!

I worked hard and finally left India, promising myself to never look back, but sadly India didn’t leave me.
I came to Kobe this year in April and got enrolled at a local university here. Everything was just perfect. I can’t even recall the countless times i have gone out after midnight, wearing shorts and never had to worry about constantly watching my back for threat.
Of course crimes happen in japan too but the frequency is nowhere near to how bad the situation is in India and the conviction rate is 99%.

Later this year, i also started dating a Nigerian man. We were both hanging out at a busy station when a group of Indian men who look like those who catcall women on streets saw us, and mind you they kept staring at me and my boyfriend. He also got a little uncomfortable but I asked him to ignore them but the story doesn’t end there.

I opened my instagram dm requests and saw dozens of messages from a guy who was threatening me to accept his follow request while asking reasons as to why I am not doing it. He even narrated my route to the university., i got so scared because I cannot change my route to the university.

I told him i have a boyfriend and he should leave me alone to which he first insulted my boyfriend for his skin color and told me that I should find someone from my caste to marry instead of being a shameless wh**** ( he is from my caste).
I blocked him, I checked his profile and he has proudly written his caste as well as ‘Haryana’ in his bio.

I am sooo disgusted by his audacity and refusing to accept my boundaries. He probably thinks he owns Indian women in abroad.

My boyfriend is a big guy and I moved to his house temporarily but I have leased the university accommodation for a year so I cannot just leave everything behind.
I am scared that he might try to harm me. I am so lost.

This is a long post.

Mar 2023: Anoop Baranwal v. Union of India, led by 5-Judge bench by Justice K.M Joseph.

Before 2023, President appointed CEC and Election Commissioner (Article 324) Unless Parliament passes a law.

In Mar '23, SC said until Parliament passes a law, a panel of PM, the LOP and Chief Justice of India should pick CEC and ECs

Aug 2023: The Bill is introduced.

In Rajya sabha, govt introduced a bill that the selection committee should be PM, LOP and a Union Cabinet Minister appointed by PM. Opposition did not agree obviously because it would make it a 2-1 govt majority.

Dec 2023: 146 MPs were suspended

Because 2 men jumped into the visitors gallery and released smoke. When the opposition said HM Amit Shah to make a statement in parliament on the breach since security is his job. But he denied, and when they argued against that, they all were suspended. Since only few OP MPs remained, the Bill was passed. Committee was made and it was PM, HM-Amit Shah, and LOP - Rahul Gandhi.

March 2024: Gyanesh and Sandhu are appointed.

Committee picked them with 2-1. Rahul dissented but SC declines cause the law was made bc of the Bill.

Feb 2025: Gyanesh promoted to CEC by 2-1. Again.

Meeting was on 17 Feb and the committee picked Gyanesh as CEC, Rahul Gandhi again dissented and asked the govt to delay the meeting for SC's hearing on the matter. He gave a dissent note to the committee panel as how important the process is and the executive shouldn't control that process and asked to wait for the SC ruling on the matter.

But govt announces the appointment, President signed it that same night of the meeting. Gyanesh took charge from Feb 19.

Rahul said it is disrespectful to not wait as the hearing was only 48 hours away.

SC adjourned since appointment was made already.

From 2025: SIR was carried out in phases by CEC Gyanesh. First Bihar, SIR was ran from June to September, the final list had about 7.42 crore voters, down from 7.89 crore. Final list was published on Sept 30, before Bihar Assembly Election.

Subsequently, it ran in around 12 states and UTS. And Opposition began the Vote Chori allegations since.

PM Modi very conveniently chose Amit Shah- Cabin minister for the committee, i think that plays a very very big role. .

I know the post is not very polished, since I am not a writer. But I am working on a list of sources that I will link to the post once i compile it. So please stay tuned.

I grew up in India. Middle class family, good education and a privileged childhood. And India will always be home , the food, the languages, the festivals, the warmth of people who feed you before they know your name. I genuinely, deeply love it.

But here’s what nobody talked about. I spent my entire early life learning survival before freedom. Don’t stay out late. Don’t wear that. Don’t walk alone. Don’t react to the staring. Don’t draw attention to yourself.

I thought this was just life. Normal. What every woman everywhere deals with. Then I moved to a western country. And traveled through many others.

And I want to say this as someone who has been to a lot of countries across different continents , I have never seen the specific combination of things that is completely normalized back home. The filth that everyone just walks past like it doesn’t exist. The staring that follows you like a second shadow. The way women are looked at in public like they owe someone an explanation for simply being outside.

I thought this was a human problem. Turns out it’s not. It’s a very specific problem that we have collectively decided to just live with.

And then the bigger realization hit me.

I had lost parts of my personality growing up there and didn’t even know it.

I had slowly shrunk myself over years. Stopped having loud opinions because opinions invite attention. Stopped dressing how I wanted. Stopped laughing too freely. I had quietly edited myself into someone manageable. Someone who wouldn’t cause problems just by existing.

I didn’t realize any of this until I was somewhere that didn’t require it.

Slowly I got louder again. Started taking up space again. Found the personality I think I was always supposed to have. And it hit me India didn’t take this in one big moment. It happened in a thousand small ones. Every stare. Every comment. Every time I was told to adjust instead of being protected.

The west is not perfect and I won’t pretend it is. Racism is real and it shows up in ways you don’t always see coming. There are things you give up when you leave your people, your roots, the feeling of belonging somewhere completely. Those are my choices and my trade-offs to make. But that is very different from a society that structurally fails its women and calls it culture.

For the first time I felt like a human being before I felt like a woman managing her own safety full time.

I miss India every single day. The chaos, the color, the food at 2am, the festivals. I miss it in a way that never goes away. But I also know exactly what it cost me to grow up there.

Both things are true. You can love your country and also grieve what it quietly took from you. I found myself again at 30 in a country that wasn’t mine and that should honestly break all of us a little. And this is just one of the many things we have accepted without question. It shouldn’t be normal. It never should have been. Would especially love to hear from the women in this community.

Hello r/india,

This is our megathread for the 10th October protests in Delhi. To keep the sub readable and avoid a flood of duplicate posts, please keep updates, discussion and questions about the protests here.

Context: A coalition of youth and student organisations, political groups and opposition supporters has called for a major protest at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, targeting the Election Commission of India.

The protests centre on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls, a voter-list revision exercise that has drawn criticism from opposition parties and activists. Protest organisers allege that large numbers of eligible voters have been removed from electoral rolls and have raised concerns about transparency, accountability and the potential impact on voting rights.

What belongs here

• News updates and reports from credible sources
• First-hand updates from people on the ground (please say where and when)
• Photos and videos, with location and time if you know them
• Questions about what's happening, such as traffic, closures or transport
• Discussion and opinions about the protests and the issues behind them

Ground Rules for this thread

• Add sources to news updates wherever you can. If something is unconfirmed, say so clearly (e.g. start with "Unverified:").

• Check before you share. Old or out-of-context videos spread fast during events like this. If you can't confirm a clip, say so.

• Sort by New to see the latest updates.

• Reply to existing comments instead of posting the same update again.

• Be civil. Disagree with arguments, not people. Personal attacks, slurs and communal hate will be removed.

• No doxxing. Do not post personal information about protesters, police or anyone else, and do not ask others to identify people in photos or videos.

• No calls for violence, and no harassment brigades.

• Do not knowingly spread misinformation. Repeatedly posting false claims may lead to a ban.

• All the usual subreddit rules still apply.

Standalone posts

While this thread is up, related standalone posts may be removed or redirected here. Major, well-sourced developments may still get their own post at the mods' discretion.

If you're in Delhi, please stay safe and look out for each other. If you see something in the thread that breaks the rules, report it so we can deal with it quickly. Thanks, everyone 🙏