Above: The Indian Minister of State, Ajay Bhatt, tries to raise political slogans in an IAF aircraft ferrying back Indan students evacuated from war-torn Ukraine, while the IAF officers and men watch silently from the sidelines, even as the students being evacuated demonstrate exactly what they feel of the slogan-raising politician and his ‘Supreme Leader’ through their hesitant and embarrassed chorus (if ‘chorus’ can be used to describe a murmur after an awkwardly long silence). Complete cringe. For those who care, India is a democracy of 1.4 billion people. The largest in the world.
Below: An Australian politician (a sitting minister) being schooled by their General about not having the military men in uniform as a backdrop while making political statements, even if it is answering questions asked of him in an open press conference. And the minister immediately agreeing. All very polite. All very civilised. Australia, just for your information, is a democracy of 26 million people. One of the most sparsely populated.
