What goes behind the scenes for an American President's visit?

For two-and-half weeks, as Kanhaiya Kumar's Jan Gan Man Yatra opposing the CAA-NPR-NRC makes its way through Bihar, it has come under sustained violent attack. Archana Masih/Rediff.com discovers that the yatris, who include teenagers wanting to save the Constitution and the Nation, are unfazed by the threats and loathing.

'It is an uncomfortable situation for a woman.' 'She has been on her own, separated from family.' 'That is the point of isolating her -- breaking her to a point where she bends to their will.'

'All political parties have exploited the police. The current government at the Centre is blatant and unapologetic about it.'

'AAP's next target will be Punjab.'

'Potent nationalism doesn't just distract from the economic task at hand; it actively undermines it.'

Despite all of the PM's many strengths, it is increasingly clear that he does not necessarily have a coherent and clear worldview on matters of macro policy.

'Both my father and brother are very strong. Their spirit is unbroken,' says Dr Farooq Abdullah's daughter and Omar's sister, Safiya Abdullah Khan.

'Irrespective of their politics, people feel happy.' 'One of the best compliments I have received is that I have made it from Kashmir to Karnataka.'

'The government's job is to enable people to live together, not tear them apart.' 'It is supposed to create spaces to work, live and survive -- this country is struggling and this government is saying you have no right of being.' 'It wants to declare human beings illegal. It is the most bizarre nonsense in the world.'

There have been some benefits to the corporate sector, agreed they also need support, but the government should realise that the economy is not suffering from lowering investment -- people are ready to invest but where is the demand?

'The awareness of how big my father's sacrifice came to me when we went for the Republic Day parade and my mother received the Ashok Chakra,' Rukmini Vasanth, whose father Colonel Vasanth Venugopal was killed in action fighting terrorists, tells Rediff.com's Archana Masih.

'War is won by team work. War is won by sacrifices,' says Subedar Sanjay Kumar, Param Vir Chakra.

Major Sheena Nayyar describes what it means for an Indian soldier to be part of the Republic Day parade.

'It is my duty to tell them about the brave soldiers who gave their lives for our land.' 'The free air of freedom that we breathe is because of men like them.'

'The protests have forced the government to announce that the NRC is not an immediate priority.' 'Even if they are trying to pursue this policy in a different guise, through the NPR, the fact that they have been forced to pause and backtrack at least temporarily shows the positive impact of the protests.' 'Moreover, various state governments have opposed the NPR which cannot be carried out without their cooperation. That is also a success of the protests.' 'The state governments would not have taken this stance against the central government if their hand had not been forced by the popular mood.'

'I chose the army over glamour,' says Major Sheena, who feels no other profession elicits the kind of respect like the army does.

'Every bit of the parade is important. Everything that is being executed, you have to be completely in it,' says Captain Tania Shergill, the first woman adjutant at a Republic Day parade.

'An all-out war affects the whole nation.'

'Dr Abdullah is fine and in good spirits,' says National Conference Lok Sabha MP Mohammad Akbar Lone.

More rural women are having babies in government hospitals. Facilities have improved, but Bihar has is a long way to go in public health.

'If there are provocations and people try to exploit and manipulate the situation along linguistic, religious lines, then Assam might relapse into its troubled past.'

'The biggest danger is that majoritarianism is getting normalised, insidiously and overtly... We are bringing the worst, not the best in us... We are looking for new enemies - Muslims, urban Naxals, tukde tukde gang, some enemy or the other which keeps this majoritarian wheel turning,' says journalist Rajdeep Sardesai.

'As we reach 2022 we are creating a very new, different India where the Citizenship Amendment Act will be passed, NRC will be pushed through, Article 370 scrapped...'

'Modi wants to go down in history not necessarily as India's first overtly Hindu RSS pracharak prime minister, but as a world statesman who built the idea of India as a great nation.'

'Trail and appeals for rape cases must end in a year. Then the Police will not feel constrained to justify encounters and people will not applaud it.'

Sub Lieutenant Shivangi, the daughter of a village headmaster in Bihar, will conduct maritime reconnaissance and search and rescue missions.

'Over the years he has been getting a feeling of being sidelined by his uncle.'

From the rented home where he paid Rs 500 a month in the 1990s to the flat he will buy from the one crore won on KBC, Ajeet Kumar's personal journey is a story worth cheering for.

'The mandir-masjid issue led to a lot of blood, pain and anguish on both sides. It scarred this nation.' 'It is time to educate ourselves and move on.'

'Today we see the worrisome phenomenon where honest officers who run afoul of the government being chased, hunted down and dirt being dug up on them.'

'Modi will not require the Ayodhya issue because he already has other emotive issues like Pakistan.' 'The BJP does not need the temple for political mobilisation anymore.'

'If the blatant criminal act of destroying a place of worship is to be rewarded by giving the whole land to those who committed that act, then it raises lots of questions.'

'Both Hindus and Muslims should work together to construct both the masjid and mandir.'

'An unsung hero is fine, but an insulted one is not.'

'The voter is cautioning the BJP not to take them for granted.'

'R N Kao was a spymaster, an institution builder and a gentleman.'

'Crucial intelligence was obtained by a R&AW operative from a couple of moles inside the camps four days before the Balakot operation.'

Visakhapatnam in Andhra Pradesh is India's most tourist friendly railway station. It has an executive lounge, gaming zone, shower facilities, frequently cleaned platforms and effective solid waste management techniques.

'The Chinese made their point repeatedly after August 5. They backed Pakistan more overtly than in the past.' 'Kashmir is not completely off their radar. But in order to keep the atmosphere surrounding the Chennai meeting, they did not discuss Kashmir.'