Ten Heads on Every Screen. Who Handed You the Match?

Tonight the effigies burn. Ten heads. Paper, bamboo, firecrackers. The crowd cheers. #GoodOverEvil trends across India.

Look at your phone before the smoke clears.

Every party has built its own Ravana this Dussehra. And every party is selling you the match.

One side stands on a stage in Goa and declares the government's "expiry date" is near. Vote chori, they shout. A viral post promises the opposition 340 seats in 2029. No method. No data. Just a number big enough to make you share it.

The other side answers with gods. Their leader is painted as the lone warrior against Trump, Xi, Pakistan and every critic at once. Protesters become "anti-national." A banned separatist abroad claims he funds the street marches. Unverified. Still it travels faster than the truth.

Then come the fakes. A forged BBC headline asks if Indian Gen Z is "too lazy to burn down India." Altered photos brand Indian students in London as foreigners. Fact-checkers catch them. Hours late. Millions already angry.

See the trick? Neither side needs you to think. Both need you to hate. Hate is cheap. Hate shares itself. Hate fills a rally and an IT cell's spreadsheet.

Ram did not win by retweeting. The epic is about discipline. About seeing clearly when the demon wears a disguise. Ravana came to Sita dressed as a holy man. Propaganda comes to you dressed as patriotism, or as justice.

So before you share tonight, ask four questions:

1. Who made this, and who profits if it spreads?
2. Where is the source, and can it be checked?
3. Does it ask you to think, or only to hate?
4. Would you believe it if the other party said it?

Students, this is your exam. Not the one with leaked papers. The one with leaked lies. The ruling party wants obedient fans. The opposition wants obedient fans. Neither wants a citizen who asks for proof.

Burn the effigy. Fine. But the real ten heads sit inside the feed: fear, rage, caste, religion, rumour, flattery, fake polls, forged news, paid applause, blind loyalty.

The fire outside lasts an hour. The fire they light in your head lasts an election.

So when the smoke clears this Dussehra, whose Ravana did you burn, and who sold you the match?