India, Feb. 17 -- The scenes that unfolded outside Parliament yesterday were not just another episode in India's noisy political theatre. They were a revealing moment - one that exposed how fragile, reactionary and intellectually hollow public discourse can become when political desperation takes precedence over dignity.

A senior leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party, while responding to allegations circulating about so-called "Epstein files" and an alleged connection being whispered around Prime Minister Narendra Modi, chose not to confront the matter with evidence, clarity, or reason. Instead, he stood before the media with a handful of photographs of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. One photograph showed Nehru alongside ...