Is True Empathy a Lost Virtue? Reality of Socialism in a Pretentious Era

From the earliest days, we’ve been taught to value empathy, honesty, kindness, and integrity—virtues that define humanity across cultures, religions, and ideologies. These principles are the foundation of a harmonious society, fostering trust and collaboration. But in today’s hyper-competitive and hyper-visible world, we must ask: are we genuinely practicing these virtues, or merely performing them to maintain appearances?

In the relentless pursuit of being “nice” or “kind,” the essence of these values often seems diluted, reduced to gestures of convenience rather than true conviction. This raises a critical question: has socialism—a system rooted in collective welfare and mutual support—evolved into a mere façade, a tool of propaganda rather than a lived ideology?

The answer lies in our actions, not our words. To reclaim the authenticity of empathy and community, we must examine whether our societal structures genuinely uplift everyone or perpetuate a culture of pretense masked as virtue.

Is the promise of socialism still alive, or have we become victims of our performative kindness? It’s time to confront these questions head-on and redefine the values that make us human.

The Lost Art of Honest Feedback: Are We Sacrificing Integrity for Niceness?

Look around—not at strangers, but at your closest circle. How many of your friends genuinely stand by you during your lows or provide well-thought-out, honest feedback when you seek their perspective? As adults navigating the complexities of life, finding authentic guidance is increasingly rare. More often than not, requests for feedback are met with generic responses like, “You’re doing great!” or “I’m so happy for you!”—comments that lack depth or actionable insight.

This unintentional negligence may seem harmless, but over time, it fosters a culture where constructive criticism is avoided, leaving individuals adrift in their personal and professional growth. It’s a disservice, both to the seeker and to the broader ecosystem of trust and accountability.

The issue becomes glaringly evident in professional settings. Consider networking events, where polished smiles and LinkedIn connections flow freely. Phrases like, “Let’s connect!” or “I’d love to help you!” are thrown around generously, yet they rarely translate into meaningful action. The result? Superficial interactions that breed frustration and mistrust.

The job application process is no different. For fresh graduates and early-career professionals, breaking into the workforce often feels like a Herculean task. Hundreds of applications yield a handful of interviews, where candidates are showered with praise and encouragement. Yet, when the rejection email lands—“We’ve decided to move forward with another candidate, but we wish you the best!”—it’s devoid of the one thing that could actually help: constructive feedback.

How difficult is it to provide genuine insights on why someone wasn’t selected? For many, especially those just starting out, the lack of clarity is paralyzing. Without understanding their shortcomings, how can they improve? This veneer of niceness isn’t empathy—it’s avoidance, and it perpetuates a cycle of confusion and disillusionment.

If our society continues to prioritize being superficially “kind” over being truthful, we risk eroding the very foundation of progress: honest dialogue and mutual accountability. It’s time to break free from this façade and ask ourselves: are we truly helping others grow, or just perpetuating a culture of empty gestures?

The Way Forward

The journey toward honesty and authenticity starts with small, intentional actions. It requires courage to prioritize truth over comfort, both in giving and receiving feedback. By redefining what it means to be kind, we can create a culture that values genuine connections, fosters growth, and helps everyone navigate life’s challenges with clarity and purpose.

The choice is ours: do we continue perpetuating the cycle of superficial niceness, or do we embrace the harder—but infinitely more rewarding—path of honesty and authenticity?

Pakistan Sponsored militancy in Kashmir

 There has been a constant conflict between India and Pakistan over numerous numbers of issues. One of the major factors for conflicts has been Militants, which Pakistan has always denied in-spite of supporting evidence India gave time and over. Even before partition, a major group constraining Muslim community tried to find a wedge to keep their community separate from rest of India.

This started from 1924-Kohat riots where around 155 Hindus were killed and 1 lakh of people had to migrate, then Calcutta riots in 1926, following Noakhali riots in 1946 leading to deaths of thousands of people by Muslim community which after partition led to the formation of Pakistan. Not to mention the multiple riots this took place at the time of partition leading to numerous deaths. This did not stop even after partition as Pakistan always wanted to destroy the integrity of India. After continuous defeats in war of 1965 and 1971, Pakistan was crashed aside by India which gave a huge blow to Pakistan. Realising that he could not defeat India by war, Pakistan started training militants which could do the job for them.

Militancy has been in the nature of Pakistan ever since, even if we look at the foreign policy of Pakistan. Ever since 1971, when India helped create Bangladesh and dealt a major blow to Pakistan, the Pakistani state has employed terrorism as a foreign-policy tool against India, sponsoring or training Jihadist groups and helping them cross the border into Punjab or Kashmir. Pakistan vigorously championed the right of self-determination for Muslims around the world. This can be proven through Kashmiri- Hindu killing in 1990’s by militant groups when large number of people fled since 1989 to escape targeted killings and abductions. 219 were killed from 1989 to 2004 according to government of Jammu and Kashmir, while an organization of the community in Kashmir carried out a survey whose data stated that 399 had been killed since 1990 with an estimated 75% killed in 1990 alone.

The major epicentre of their operation became Kashmir as Pakistan always tried to capture this state. As a matter of fact, it sent most of the militants to Kashmir and trained them. They filled hate in their minds against India and asked them to take revenge from the people by going against the law and supporting them. Pakistan’s Nuclear Policy reveals the same mindset. Pakistan has not stated a “no first use” policy and there is little known about its nuclear doctrine. “Pakistan tends to use its nuclear capabilities to act as a deterrent for any kind of military intervention by India,” whereas India has a “no first use” policy in its doctrine which clearly mentions that India is a peace abiding state and does not believe in attacking first.

All these years Pakistan has been supportive to several terrorist groups despite several stern warnings from the international community. It has been training several terrorist groups like ‘Lashker-e-Taliba’ which were also involved in attack of 26/11. The militants came through the sea route and attacked Taj Hotel and killed hundreds of people. Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf also admitted once that Pakistan supported Lashker-e-taliba which clearly proves that it has continuously tried to attack India on any front possible.

Pakistani soldiers cross fences to kill and mutilate the bodies of our soldiers. Such cock-a-snook BAT attack, in the past has been resorted to by Pakistani Army, whenever they faced a threat of conventional war with India or whenever Pakistani Army’s morale took a dip. Pakistan is at the verge of an economic apocalypse, yet the gluttonous Pakistani army has the temerity to funnel funds to terrorist groups created by ISI.

Pakistan’s military establishment and intelligence agencies consider militant sponsorship an important mechanism for maintaining Pakistan’s sovereignty and national identity. Pakistan’s civilian institutions, too, have evolved to facilitate militant sponsorship by routinely legitimizing expansive executive powers, limiting judicial oversight, and violating civil liberties in the name of the national interest. 

Despite of several warnings from different nations Pakistan continues to sponsor militancy to the groups like Hizb‐​ul‐​Mujahideen, Lashkar‐​e‐​Taiba, and Jaish‐​e‐​Mohammad, Afghan Taliban and Haqqani Network to name a few. The Greater Kashmir newspaper reported that the armed group Jaish-e-mohommad (JeM), headquartered in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack. For the attack on convoy carrying 42 soldiers were attacked lately.

 

Pakistan was trembled when the government decided to make Jammu and Kashmir a proper state and ruled out ‘Article 370’which gave a special status to the state. Militants took advantage of the special status as many of the laws were not applicable to Jammu and Kashmir which gave them free hand. After this the militant attacks have reduced significantly. But still Pakistan tries to influence people through online media by creating different pages on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, YouTube,  hate tweets on Twitter by the name of Indian pages so that people begin to build hate the government. Pakistan believes in keeping religion above humanity and wants to maintain a radical society in India.

If this chapter has to be permanently erased then few points can be taken into consideration. Firstly the education system needs to be invigilated and altered especially in Madarsa’s from the basic classes to maintain a healthy atmosphere. Educational institutions must be increased and processed on practical learning. There should be Nukad Nataks, plays in theatre, debates and declamations in schools on this topic to eradicate the radical mindset. Motivational public speeches should be held on national days to mark the importance of education and development. Anti-Social elements of the society should be punished, law and order to be inherited strictly. Social Media websites and handles should be kept under watch so that no one tries to create hate among the society.

Pakistan should be cut off from any kind of ties and given Diplomatic Isolation. As Pakistan is already on the verge of an economic apocalypse, funding from UN and other aids should be stopped to create pressure. The agreements on the Line of Control (LOC) and Shimla Agreement should be reconsidered without intervention of UN council. Government of India should take people of Kashmir and areas of conflict into confidence by providing those jobs, creating institutions, development of the state so that natives feel equal to the whole nation. 

Google removes few IAC extensions for “Policy Violations”

The parent company Alphabet Google exclaimed that it has removes a certain number of browser extensions from its online conglomerate IAC/Interactive for “Policy Violations” and is reviewing “enforcement options”.

Google spokesman said that they are having conversation with IAC related to Chrome Web policies and have already removed a number of their extensions for violating their policies. Alphabet Google is also reviewing the rest of the extension applications and their enforcement options which they might have, however they have not made a stir decision regarding IAC’s status on the store.

An IAC spokeswoman disputed that the extensions violated Google policies and has taken hundreds of millions of dollars from the Alphabet Google to advertise and distribute these products in the Chrome Store. Google has misled the users about its browser extensions and the alphabet unit could go as far as banning those products from its Chrome Browser. Policies violated by IAC did not mention what exactly were the options that were being considered.

Google has not yet acted on the internal recommendations of its Chrome trust and safety team regarding IAC in part because the two are rivals in same categories and because Google executives are concerned penalties, it can be viewed as anti-competitive, the partnership agreement. IAC spokesperson told Google had approved its extension in the Chrome Store for years as a part of the company’s partnership agreement stating “Google exercises significant control over what we deliver in the given partnership”.

“There’s nothing new here - Google has used their position to reduce our browser business to the last small corner of the internet, which they’re now seeking to quash,” the statement added. Google’s investigators found that IAC’s browser extensions often promise functions they do not deliver and steer users toward extra ads, the WSJ reported, citing sources and documents.

Will Dhoni be a part of CSK for IPL 2021?

PRESUMPTIONS

There have been many notions around country to predict if ex-skipper MS Dhoni will be available to play for CSK in IPL 2021. Captain cool has just announced his retirement a month back on Independence Day by taking retirement from international cricket. Dhoni hasn’t been playing cricket from 2019 world cup exit are there were presumptions that he may retire from cricket soon.

However in March before the IPL camp, he started practising in JSA Stadium which gave a sign of relief for cricket fans that he is still in the game, but due to lockdown the Indian Premiere League had to be postponed and finally it will be starting from 19^th September 2020. The big question which again came to highlight was if Dhoni will play for CSK in coming years as well.

Chennai Super Kings CEO Kasi Vishwanathan feels that Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who has not played any competitive cricket since last year’s World Cup semifinal, will be part of the franchise in 2021 and 2022 IPLs. The 39-year-old Dhoni is set for a return to competitive cricket in the upcoming IPL and will definitely make his mark in the tournament.

Verdict from CSK

There will be mega auctions for IPL 2021 and there were speculations about if Dhoni would be put on bid in the next auction. But N. Srinivasan, the vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements, owners of the CSK franchise mentioned that Dhoni would be retained by the team for the 2021 IPL mega-auction as well. So it is quite evident that CSK won’t let Dhoni off at any cost till 2022.

“We can expect MS Dhoni to be part of both (IPL 2020 and 2021) and probably for even the next year - 2022,” Mr. Viswanathan was quoted as saying by indiatoday.in. He added “I am getting updates through the media only, saying he has been training in Jharkhand in indoor nets. But we don’t have to worry about the skipper, boss. We don’t worry about him at all. He knows his responsibilities and he will take care of himself and the team.”

Journey of Dhoni with CSK

It seems that skipper is yet to stay for CSK. Mahendra Singh Dhoni has been a part of IPL from the very beginning and has captained CSK since then. He has led the team to 3 IPL titles in 2010, 2011 and 2018. Chennai Super Kings has qualified for playoffs in every season it has been a part of IPL. It has been the most successful side in the IPL history and MS Dhoni has the highest success rate as a captain.

Captain cool has believed in experience playing the vital role in the win. After 2 years of ban, Dhoni led CSK won the title with team’s average age above 32 with most of its players far from their career peak and hence it justifies why CSK management and CEO believes in MS Dhoni so much. It is quite evident that MS Dhoni will be playing for CSK in the rest years of his career as a cricketer and will be there for the team as much as needed.

So to answer your queries, yes MS Dhoni will be retained and will be a part of CSK in 2021 IPL as well.

Human Trafficking- A virus from long headed history

Our life begins to end the day we become silent about things that matter-

In a scenario where we fight and strive hard by our Human rights, there are people who are deprived their basic rights forcefully or due to some extreme circumstances. These circumstances often lead them into unavoidable well of Human Trafficking. This practice has been coming into play since many decades. Earlier it was through slavery and now through exploitation and bondage. Human trafficking is when people are recruited or harbored by threat or force to be exploited.

A major bunch of this illegal practice comprises of commercial sex or labor exploitation. Today US along with Mexico and Philippines are marked as the worst in terms of Human Trafficking practices (Business Insider). Human trafficking was not even considered a crime till 2000 until trafficking victims protection act was made against it. Forty nine thousand cases have been reported in US of Human Trafficking since 2007. Whereas if we talk about India, the stats are no less but they are not reported.

Human Trafficking is majorly for two purposes. Either it is labor exploitation of different kinds or sex trafficking at each level. Labors are also exploited at different levels, some of these are transported from different countries specially South Asia, South Africa, poor Middle East countries and Latin America. New York is the hub of all illegitimate and legitimate practices. Everything is controlled from New York. Every year around eighteen thousand to twenty thousand people become the victims of Human Trafficking in US.

However human trafficking does not mean the victims being transferred or transported to different countries necessarily. Exploitation of people has a long back history with US when people were called for slavery and it was a common practice in the state. Labor exploitation almost has the same characteristics as of slavery in before times.

Forced Labor, Bonded Labor, Debt Bondage among migrant laborers and involuntary domestic service are the four types of Labor exploitation which takes place in terms of Human Trafficking. Accordingly there are two types of sex trafficking happening, one is normal sex trafficking where young adult women are taken and forced into certain kinds of sexual exploitation and are kept into prostitution.(Commission of status of women). The other is Children commercial sex trade which happens across the globe. In this children and teenage girls are sold commercially to a person who is free to exploit her sexually of any kind.

When a coerced, forced or deceived into prostitution by force and is forced to remain in a position of such position, that person becomes a victim of Sex Trafficking. It involves the whole process of transporting these victims from their native place to the area where they are forced into prostitution. The traffickers are themselves criminals and have committed to do such ugly jobs. They use unlawful ‘debt’ as their key to bondage these victims into prostitution from which they are never able to come out.

The majority of human trafficking in the world takes the form of forced labor. Forced labor is also a form of Human Trafficking which fell into labor slavery in ancient times. It is often hard to identify and recognize sex traffickers as they are brought so secretly and with arrangements that they are able to bypass the government security. However it may not involve the same criminal networks profiting from transnational sex trafficking. Instead it involves the subject workers who are brought to serve in coerced factories and households. Whereas in bonded labor, as the name suggests, revolves around the people who fall as victim to this deadly trap of trafficking. In expectation of removing their unlawful debts, they move to different area where the traffickers take undue advantage of them and exploit them. They do it assuming it to be terms and of the employment.

Debt Bondage among migrant workers is generally due to abuse of contracts, inadequate local laws and intentional imposition of exploitative. On the other hand Involuntary Domestic servitude is a special kind of forced labor where the victim is not allowed to go out of the house or his/her documents are taken away and they have to work as servants in informal workplace. It is quite astonishing fact that seventy one percent of the labor trafficking victims had come to US legally but were later compiled into human trafficking.Other than sex trades, victims are also forced into prostitution through health and beauty service industry.

Human trafficking is spreading at a high rate and Children are at the highest risk. Since children are more vulnerable than adults and can be easily controlled and cheaper to transport. All these types of human trafficking practices are due to similar conditions and reasons, due to lack of jobs, debts, poor working or family conditions in a country or lust for more money which leads them into this black hole.

ONCE THIS GENERATION GOES FROM APATHY TO ACTION, WE WILL SEE HUMAN TRAFFICKING END.

Dream big for Stronger India

New Delhi: “It is essential for all of you to dream big. When you think big then only you can do bigger jobs to convert India into powerful and self-reliant country. Every dream must be backed & supported by willingness and ability. Passion comes from within and ability from confidence which in return needs knowledge gained by proper education and training. You must put your best in education and extra co-circular activities right now,” said Dr. Sandeep Marwah Chancellor of AAFT University and Chief Scout For India at a gathering of young students at Hiralal Mazumdar Memorial College for Women at Kolkata.

“Always remember the mantra of Mahatma Gandhi that Ambition is the beginning which needs better attitude where you have to believe in yourself with commitment to your work with better communication skills. Prove yourself a dedicated worker with lots of enthusiasm to learn with focus mind having goals on your table,” added Dr. Marwah also Chair for Mahatma Gandhi Forum & World Peace Development And Research Foundation.

The international webinar on Mahatma Gandhi’s Philosophy on Education and Peace Building was organized by Mahatma Gandhi Global Peace Forum in collaboration with Hiralal Mazumdar Memorial College For Women.

Vipin Gaur of Newspapers Association of India, Prodip Adhikari State President of MGGPF, Principal Dr. Soma Ghosh also spoke on the occasion. Dr. Marwah was nominated Global Peace Ambassador by the forum.

Nelson Mandela International Day celebrated at AAFT

New Delhi: “On 18 July every year, we invite you to mark Nelson Mandela International Day by making a difference in your communities. Everyone has the ability and the responsibility to change the world for the better! Mandela Day is an occasion for all to take action and inspire change,” said Dr. Sandeep Marwah Chancellor of AAFT University talking to the group of people running different organizations in India.

Nelson Mandela devoted his life to the service of humanity — as a human rights lawyer, a prisoner of conscience, an international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa.

“November 2009 – in recognition of the former South African President’s contribution to the culture of peace and freedom, UN General Assembly declares 18 July Nelson Mandela International Day,” added Dr. Marwah also Patron to IFUNA- Indian Federation of United Nations Associations and President World Peace Development And Research Foundation.

The charter recognizes Mandela’s values and his dedication to the service of humanity in: conflict resolution; race relations; promotion and protection of human rights; reconciliation; gender equality and the rights of children and other vulnerable groups; the fight against poverty; the promotion of social justice. The resolution acknowledges his contribution to the struggle for democracy internationally and the promotion of a culture of peace throughout the world.