Indians

Indian nationals see decrease of 45 percent compared to same period last year as US clamps down on foreign students.

The number of student visas issued by the United States has dropped by about one-fifth compared to the same one-month period last year, with India seeing a dramatic decline amid restrictive policies pursued by United States President Donald Trump.

Data from the International Trade Commission found that the US issued about 313,138 student visas in August, when studies typically begin at US universities, a 19.1 percent drop compared to August 2024.

For Indian students, the largest source of foreign students studying in the US, the drop was 44.5 percent during that period. Visa issuances also dropped for students from China, albeit at a lower rate.

Several Muslim-majority countries also saw massive declines, with student visas for Iranians dropping by 86 percent. The figures do not represent overall numbers of foreign students attending US universities, many of whom remain on previously issued visas.

The drop comes as the Trump administration has pursued a restrictive approach to immigration, while using funding to exert growing political pressure on US universities.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio has revoked thousands of student visas, citing violations of US law, participation in protests, or in some cases, criticism of Israel. The targeting has been in parallel with pro-Israel groups that monitor and surveil university students involved in pro-Palestine activism.

In June, Rubio also ordered the temporary suspension of all student visa processing in order to enact greater oversight over student social media profiles.

Those vetting applications were told to look for “any indications of hostility toward the citizens, culture, government, institutions, or founding principles of the United States”.

However, the administration’s messaging towards certain countries has not always been consistent.

After initially vowing to restrict a large portion of Chinese students seeking to study in the US, Trump told reporters in August that he planned to admit 600,000 Chinese students into the country to study.

The figure was double the number of Chinese students currently studying in the US.

“We’re going to allow, it’s very important, 600,000 students. It’s very important,” Trump said at the time.

Sept. 25 (UPI) — The United States has blacklisted two Indian nationals accused of operating online pharmacies selling illegal, counterfeit drugs to unsuspecting Americans.

The Treasury sanctioned Abbas Habib Sayyed, 39, and Khizar Mohammad Iqbal Shaikh, 34, as well as Shaikh’s KS International Traders online pharmacy on Wednesday for their alleged role in supplying hundreds of thousands of counterfeit prescription pills filled with fentanyl, fentanyl analogs and methamphetamine in the United States.

“Too many families have been torn apart by fentanyl,” John Hurley, under secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence at the Treasury, said in a statement.

“Today, we are acting to hold accountable those who profit from this poison.”

Sayyed and Shaikh were among 18 people indicted in New York in September of last year on accusations of selling counterfeit pills to American over the Internet and via encrypted messaging platforms. The fugitives, if convicted, face a mandatory 20 years in prison to life, according to the Justice Department.

In October, the Drug Enforcement Administration issued a public safety alert warning the public to the dangers posed by these bogus online pharmacies that sell and ship counterfeit pills made of fentanyl and methamphetamine to U.S. customers who believe they are purchasing genuine brand-name drugs, such as Oxycodone, Adderall, Xanax and others.

The DEA said it has identified many of the sites as being operated in India and the Dominican Republic.

Treasury officials on Wednesday said Sayyed and Shaikh work with Dominican Republic- and U.S.-based traffickers to sell their counterfeit pills, which are marketed as discounted, legitimate drugs, but are filled with fentanyl and methamphetamine.

“Both Sayyed and Shaikh have used encrypted messaging platforms to conduct their illegal business and market their product to victims,” the Treasury said.

Despite the indictment, the Treasury said Shaikh continues to operate KS International Traders.

The sanctions freeze all U.S.-based property and assets of those designated and bar U.S. persons from doing business with them.

With the Jeffrey Epstein controversy still dogging him, President Trump has embraced his favorite distraction: the culture wars.

It began when he announced that Coca-Cola was switching to cane sugar instead of high-fructose corn syrup. Coke responded with a statement that basically boiled down to: “Wait, what?” — before announcing the company would release a Trump-approved version of the famous cola.

Now, you might think decisions like these should be left up to the companies. After all, it’s none of the government’s business, and Republicans supposedly believe in free markets.

But no! Trump followed up by threatening to block a new stadium for Washington’s NFL team unless it changed its name back to the Redskins. He also demanded that Cleveland’s baseball team go back to being called the Indians.

At first glance, this seems like a ridiculous ploy to distract us from Epstein. And sure, that’s part of the story. But here’s what Trump understands: A lot of Americans feel like somebody came along and stole all their cool stuff — iconic team names, high-hold hair spray, military bases named after Confederate generals — and replaced them with soulless, modern stuff. “Guardians,” “low-flow shower heads,” “Fort Liberty.”

We might laugh at his trivial Coke crusade, but sports teams evoke more primal emotions. You can drink a Coke today and a Pepsi tomorrow. But you can’t root for the Indians on Monday and the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. Not unless you’re a psychopath — or someone who wants to get punched in a bar. Team loyalty matters.

Trump gets this. When I was a kid, the Redskins won three Super Bowls. There were songs like “Hail to the Redskins,” team heroes (like John Riggins, Doug Williams and coach Joe Gibbs), and all manner of burgundy and gold merch. It wasn’t just a team. It was part of our identity — as well as an excuse to spend time together (even as decades passed without another Super Bowl run).

Then one day: poof. Goodbye Redskins.

Now imagine that same sense of loss in an already deracinated place like the Rust Belt, where the ball club is a big part of the city’s identity, and where they already closed Dad’s factory and then had the gall to take his boyhood team’s name too.

This isn’t really about names. It’s about nostalgia. Tradition. Identity. It’s about trying to keep a tenuous grip on a world you can still recognize, while everything else dissolves into a place where even choosing a bathroom is a political statement.

Now, is the name Redskins offensive? Sure. Even though a 2016 Washington Post poll found that 9 out of 10 Native Americans weren’t offended, you’d be hard-pressed to defend it on the merits. But the Indians? Come on. Just lose the Chief Wahoo cartoon. This isn’t rocket science.

So is Trump onto something when it comes to the real-world backlash to overwrought political correctness? Yes. But he’s also profiting politically off of people pining for a world that never really existed.

I thought about this last fall when Trump worked the fry station and drive-through window at a McDonald’s in Pennsylvania. At first, it seemed like just another stunt to troll Kamala Harris (who said she once worked for McDonald’s).

But then I saw him in that red apron with the yellow piping — still wearing his red tie, of course — and thought: This is Rockwell. This image evokes a time when a white guy of a certain age could sling burgers, go home to his wife and kids, mow his middle-class lawn, crack open a Coca-Cola, and watch the Redskins and the Cowboys.

Whether Trump consciously appreciates the power of this imagery, I don’t know. But he clearly understands that there is power in yearning, that culture is more primordial than American politics and that refusing to exploit these forces (out of some sense of propriety) would be a sucker’s move.

To some degree, he’s been playing this game for years — think energy efficient lightbulbs, paper straws and his criticism over Apple’s decision to get rid of the iPhone home button. If something new comes along, Trump is already up there stoking cultural outrage, blaming the “woke” left and demanding somebody bring him a Diet Coke. It’s what he does.

But here’s why this actually matters: These little skirmishes don’t just distract from the bigger, more dangerous stuff — they enable it.

Even as he accuses former President Obama of treason (which is absurd and dangerous), Trump’s bond with his supporters is reinforced by these small, almost laughable grievances. He makes them feel seen, defended and nostalgic for a world that (to them, at least) made more sense.

That emotional connection with his base is what allows Trump to tell bigger lies and launch bolder attacks without losing them.

Coke and the Redskins may seem trivial. But they’re the sugar that helps the poison go down.

Matt K. Lewis is the author of “Filthy Rich Politicians” and “Too Dumb to Fail.”

CLEVELAND — President Trump wants Washington’s NFL franchise and Cleveland’s Major League Baseball team to revert to their former names, which where changed in recent years because many considered them racist.

Trump said Sunday on his social media site that “The Washington ‘Whatever’s’ should IMMEDIATELY change their name back to the Washington Redskins Football Team. There is a big clamoring for this. Likewise, the Cleveland Indians, one of the six original baseball teams, with a storied past. Our great Indian people, in massive numbers, want this to happen. Their heritage and prestige is systematically being taken away from them. Times are different now than they were three or four years ago. We are a Country of passion and common sense. OWNERS, GET IT DONE!!!”

Josh Harris, whose group bought the NFL’s Washington Commanders from former owner Dan Snyder in 2023, said this year the name was here to stay. Not long after taking over, Harris quieted speculation about going back to Redskins, saying that would not happen.

Cleveland Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti indicated before Sunday’s game against the Athletics that there weren’t any plans to revisit the name change.

“We understand there are different perspectives on the decision we made a few years ago, but obviously it’s a decision we made. We’ve got the opportunity to build a brand as the Guardians over the last four years and are excited about the future that’s in front of us,” he said.

Both teams have had their current names since the 2022 seasons. Washington dropped Redskins after the 2019 season and was known as the Washington Football Team for two years before adopting Commanders.

Cleveland announced in December 2020 it would drop Indians. It announced the switch to Guardians in July 2021. In 2018, the team phased out “Chief Wahoo” as its primary logo.

The name changes had their share of supporters and critics as part of national discussions about institutions and teams dropping logos and names considered racist.

The Guardians are the fifth name for Cleveland’s baseball franchise. It joined the American League in 1901 as one of the eight charter franchises, as the Blues. It switched to the Bronchos a year later and used the Naps from 1903 through 1914 before moving to the Indians in 1915.

Washington started in Boston as the Redskins in 1933 before moving to the nation’s capital four years later.

Washington and Cleveland share another thing in common. David Blitzer is a member of Harris’ ownership group with the Commanders and holds a minority stake in the Guardians.

Reedy writes for the Associated Press.

New Delhi, India – In a career marked by chart-topping music and highly acclaimed performances, Punjabi actor Diljit Dosanjh is cruising towards yet another milestone on his list: Delivering the highest-grossing Punjabi film.

“Sardaar Ji 3”, the latest horror-comedy by Dosanjh, one of Asia’s most bankable artists, has been shattering records abroad. But, in his own home country, India, the film has not been released and remains out of bounds for more than one billion people.

Dosanjh and his latest film – released globally on June 27 – have been marred by a political and cultural controversy over the nationality of his film’s co-star, Hania Amir, a Pakistani actor.

Last year, Dosanjh sold out arenas in the US, Canada, and across Europe during his Dil-Luminati world tour. He became the first Indian artist to perform at the Coachella festival in California and, more recently, walked down the Met Gala carpet in an iconic turban. Dosanjh has also carved out a unique space for himself in Bollywood as both a crowd-puller and a critical favourite.

But at home, he is now facing calls for a boycott and the impounding of his passport. Film critics and political analysts, however, say this is part of a growing pattern of censorship and an attempt to restrict artistic freedom in India, to heed the nationalists’ demands.

So, why is India blocking the work of one of its most successful artists?

Why is Dosanjh’s latest film controversial?

Sardaar Ji 3, the third instalment of the popular horror-comedy franchise directed by Amar Hundal, stars a popular Punjabi pair – Dosanjh and Neeru Bajwa – in lead roles, alongside Pakistan’s Hania Aamir.

Shortly after the film’s production was wrapped in April this year, suspected rebels in Indian-administered Kashmir’s resort town of Pahalgam killed 26 people, all but one of them tourists.

New Delhi immediately blamed Pakistan, which it said had supported the deadly “terrorist attack”, but Islamabad denied involvement. In the coming days, the two countries engaged in a four-day conflict, the most expansive between the nuclear-armed neighbours in decades.

When Dosanjh released the trailer for his upcoming film last month, the casting of Aamir took many by surprise – and prompted outrage.

Why has the Indian government blocked Sadaar Ji 3?

The film has not received certification from India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) and has not been released in Indian cinemas.

The Indian government also “geoblocked” (restricted online access to) the film’s trailer in India; however, the teaser and film’s album, which do not include shots of Aamir, remain accessible.

Following the Kashmir attack in April, the Indian government swiftly brought in a series of digital crackdowns. This included blocking thousands of Pakistani social media handles on platforms like Instagram and X (formerly Twitter), including the accounts of celebrities such as Aamir, Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan.

The government, which is led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, also blocked access to the social media accounts of Pakistani journalists and news outlets in India.

The government then issued an advisory on May 8, directing all video platforms, streaming services and digital intermediaries to immediately remove Pakistani-origin entertainment content, including web series, films, songs, podcasts and other media.

In addition, the government banned 16 prominent Pakistani YouTube channels, including those of Geo News, ARY News, and Samaa TV, which collectively had more than 63 million subscribers, for allegedly spreading misinformation, provocative narratives, and content targeting India’s armed forces and sovereignty.

Rahul Desai, a Mumbai-based film and TV critic, said blocking access to films over casting choices has become “an excuse to antagonise Pakistan” under the current government.

“It’s a vicious cycle because a lot of the cinema is informed by pro-establishment choices in India,” he told Al Jazeera.

“This has become a very neat medium for people to vent against Pakistan, just like cricket sometimes does.”

Today, the reality-based creative boundaries in India are neat, Desai said: “Do not cast artists from the other side of the border, and a lot of filmmakers self-censor themselves.”

Are cross-border artistic collaborations common?

Yes, they are. Pakistani actors are not allowed to work in India, so shoots involving them have to be carried out abroad.

“Music departments of [Pakistan’s] films used to contribute a lot to Indian cinema at least a decade or two ago in the 2000s,” said Desai. The release of the curated music show franchise, Coke Studio Pakistan, which had 15 seasons from 2008 to 2024, was almost “like a cultural moment in India”, he added.

But over the past two decades, there have been multiple instances of cross-border collaborations of artists, but they have faced boycotts and anger on both sides of the border due to political tensions between the South Asian neighbours.

For the Punjabi film and music industries, the situation is even more complex.

The partition of British India, which resulted in the creation of Pakistan with borders drawn overnight, cuts through Punjab, and millions on each side share culture and linguistic ties.

Successful Punjabi franchises like Chal Mera Putt, known for its Pakistani cast, face uncertainty, especially the upcoming Chal Mera Putt 4, amid growing demands to avoid Pakistani involvement.

“There’s obviously a lot of bullying involved by the establishment over casting Pakistani actors,” said Desai. “There’s a lot of banning and trolling involved. There’s a lot of anxiety and tension associated with such choices.”

What do Indian film bodies say about Sadaar Ji 3?

Indian film associations, particularly the Federation of Western India Cine Employees (FWICE) and the All Indian Cine Workers Association (AICWA), have voiced strong objections to the casting of Aamir in Dosanjh’s Sardaar Ji 3.

FWICE, headed by President BN Tiwari, labelled the collaboration a “betrayal of the nation” and accused Dosanjh of “disrespecting national sentiments and the sacrifices of Indian soldiers”. It demanded a complete ban on the film in India.

The body also issued appeals to India’s CBFC to withhold certification for Sardaar Ji 3 and emphasised noncooperation with Pakistani artists.

AICWA echoed these sentiments, condemning the film’s producers for prioritising Pakistani talent over Indian artists and calling for a widespread boycott of Dosanjh across the industry, including by music companies and event organisers.

Ashoke Pandit, the president of the Indian Film and Television Directors’ Association, told a local newspaper: “We are going to take action and tell the producers not to work with [Dosanjh].

“He should be fully boycotted in the country by music labels and the Punjabi film industry. Diljit is a compulsive Pakistani lover.”

However, Ira Bhaskar, a former CBFC Board member and retired professor of film studies at New Delhi’s Jawaharlal Nehru University, said this episode is a reflection of the establishments of India and Pakistan, rather than pointing to a deeper divide between the people of the two countries.

“The Indian government [since Modi came to power] has not only understood the power of mass media, especially cinema, but is invested in taking control of the narratives that circulate in the public domain,” Bhaskar said.

What has Dosanjh said about the furore over Sadaar Ji 3?

Dosanjh told BBC Asian Network earlier this month: “When this film was made, everything was fine.

“We shot it in February, and things were OK back then. After that, a lot of big things happened that were beyond our control,” the singer-actor said, referring to the Kashmir attack and the ensuing conflict.

“So the producers decided that the film obviously won’t be released in India now, so they’ll release it overseas. The producers have invested a lot of money, and when the film was being made, nothing like this was happening,” Dosanjh said.

How well has Sardaar Ji 3 done globally?

Dosanjh told the BBC that the film’s producers were aware of the potential financial loss from pulling out of a territory like India, the world’s most populous country. The previous film in the franchise – Sadaar Ji 2 – made nearly $3m at the box office in India.

Dosanjh has continued promoting his film on his social media handles, including sharing images from sold-out shows in Pakistan, where the movie has shattered records for Indian releases. Globally, the film has taken $7m at the box office, against a budget of $4m. In Pakistan, it is the highest-grossing Indian-made film in history, pulling in $1.4m so far.

In India, Desai, the critic, said “censorship goes way beyond casting … It extends to the themes of the stories that people are allowed to tell now in India.”

Are any other of Dosanjh’s works facing problems?

Yes. The release of Dosanjh’s film, Panjab ’95, directed by Honey Trehan in 2022, has stalled, primarily because of stringent demands from India’s Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), which has delayed its clearance since the project was submitted in December 2022.

The biographical drama about the life of human rights activist Jaswant Singh Khalra, who exposed 25,0000 extrajudicial killings and disappearances of Sikhs in Punjab during the 1980s and 1990s, was given 120 suggested cuts, including removing references to political figures, documented human rights abuses, and even the protagonist’s name.

Trehan told Al Jazeera: “The CBFC was established as an independent body, which could protect artists, so that the government should not influence the art … [but] the government is arm-twisting filmmakers and their films.”

Desai, the critic who watched Panjab ’95 in a private screening, told Al Jazeera: “It’s such a well-made film that it might incite a sense of revolution among people today, especially people who are not happy with the establishment. So, we can see where a lot of the insecurity is coming from.”

Dosanjh and Trehan have publicly refused to accept the suggested cuts. And the film remains in limbo. Its scheduled premiere was pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in 2023, and subsequent invitations from other international festivals were declined.