New series – Point counterpoint

Premise

There are a lot of topics regarding India where the diaspora have only been exposed to the international
perspective. A case in point is the issue of Kashmir, and how Himanshu thought the map of India that
the Chief Minister of Haryana presented was incorrect.

What Connected to India should do is present the Indian aspect of certain issues of national and
international significance; examples that come to mind are the beef ban, Kashmir struggle, Naxal
insurgency, demonetisation and the secular dichotomy, among others.

With the increasing number of second and even third-generation people of Indian-origin, the disconnect
between them and their motherland will be getting bigger. While educating them about their heritage
and the rich history of India is one topic we should consider, by presenting the Indian perspective on
current international events they will be able to get a feel for the contemporary state of affairs of India.

In addition, we should come up with a media that is interactive and allows them to have a say in
proceedings, which has the dual benefits of increasing the audience and developing our understanding
of the NRI mindset. The debate format will invite opinions and thoughts from all readers as well as the
authors.

Proposal

The plan is to choose a topic of interest, ideally one where the diaspora has a different take on than
Indians; for example, the Sikh unrest. We should develop a discussion on the chosen issue, a basic
guideline for which is:

 The first step in inducing a global dialogue will be an editorial or opinion piece written by
someone at CtoI or an expert. The piece should be one that has a clear opinion on the issue at
hand, backed up by facts and testimonies.
 The editorial will be sent to an expert who will offer a counterpoint, or this could be written
internally. Both will be presented on the site as well as pushed on social media. One point that
should be considered is publishing the debate on popular online forums such as quora or reddit,
which will create greater buzz.
 In addition, we should make a habit of asking questions about these topics to anyone we
interview, and linking these answers to the discussion.
 We can use other media sources as the starting point for our discussion under the Fair Use
policy. For instance, our discussion on the Paris climate Accord can mention the following piece
as a starting point: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5scez5dqtAc.
 Such pieces invite comment and create an added feedback that will help in raising our visibility.