Don't they know how silly they sound?

A few days back Prof Pratap Bhanu Mehta resigned his post at Ashoka University writing, "My public writing in support of a politics that tries to honour constitutional values of freedom and equal respect for all citizens, is perceived to carry risks for the university." "A liberal university will need a liberal political and social context to flourish. I hope the university will play a role in securing that environment." Calling Mehta's resignation "ominously disturbing", ex-Chief Economic Adviser Arvind Subramanian also resigned. "It is a sign of the times we live in that we ask every question except the one that needs to be asked," wrote Yogendra Yadav. "And Pratap exposes the Prime Minister, after giving him maximum benefit of doubt, not just for his ideology, but for his sheer incompetence. That must hurt." "Many of the 150 donors of Ashoka, however were offended by Mehta's weekly bashing of PM Modi and the state," wrote Gurcharan Das. "The university worried that if funding dried up, the university might have to cut scholarships, raise student fees, freeze faculty salaries, chop new academic programs." An Indian university in Sonepat in Haryana has not gone unnoticed. "Professors from Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard University, London School of Economics and Political Science, the University of Cambridge among others criticised the university for not defending Mehta." Not just the university. Ministers are brazenly illogical for fear of the Supreme Leader. Completely ignoring the 307% rise in taxes on petrol in the last 6 years of Modi government, Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, "The international market has reduced fuel production and manufacturing countries are producing less fuel to gain more profit. This is making consumer countries suffer." Sellers will always seek high prices while buyers will want to pay as little as possible in any transaction. To punish Saudi Arabia the government has ordered state-owned oil companies to reduce oil imports from the Middle East. That is as silly as it gets. Price of crude oil is across the world and there is no reason why another oil producer will charge a lower rate, and, second, cost of transport will be much higher from the Americas. Fossil fuels will continue to contribute 75-80% of our energy needs till 2040, our energy needs will increase by 25-35% because 270 million more people will join the urban population and "the Gulf will remain the main source of Indian imports, given the region's abundant reserves, geographical proximity and high availability of medium-to-heavy crude that is best suited for Indian refineries," wrote Talmiz Ahmed. Similarly, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman assured the Rajya Sabha that there is no risk of a downgrade of India's credit rating because of the increased fiscal deficit. Rating agencies will not just accept dubious statistics from the government. They will also look at states which are being systematically shortchanged by the Center in their share of taxes. To stifle people's voices India witnessed the highest number of internet shutdowns in 2020. We could learn from the Community Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). But we won't. Supreme Leader wants supreme power.