Sachin Tendulkar is batting for sovereignty but shooting in the dark

Last week, an academic concept jumped out of the dusty books of jurisprudence and political theory into the chirpy streets of social media when an arch-god of cricketing pantheon lectured the world about “sovereignty”.

Joining the chorus of orchestrated opposition to tweets by pop star Rihanna and climate change campaigner Greta Thunberg in support of the long-drawn farmers’ protests, Sachin Tendulkar tweeted that India’s sovereignty cannot be compromised. “External forces can be spectators but not participants,” he said. “Indians know India and should decide for India.”

The concept of sovereignty is a Schrödinger’s cat in modern political theory, a hypothesis that may be considered…