06-Jul-2021
The choice of what food we eat or do not eat, is both dictated by cultural choice and economics. Regimes, especially authoritarian ones impose restrictions on this choice. Here we explore who decides what people eat in which Indian state, and how meat is politicised to impose “upper” caste culture upon the “lower” castes. Also,…
15-Feb-2020
“In India, a man is not a scavenger because of his work. He is a scavenger because of his birth irrespective of the question whether he does scavenging or not.” – Dr B.R. Ambedkar In a report released recently by the ‘Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan’[1], Gujarat reported 62 deaths of manual scavengers, followed by Maharashtra and…
11-Nov-2019
Dilip Ghosh, BJP President in West Bengal, known for making threatening remarks in the past, and a repeat offender when it comes to making inciting statements, now makes controversial comments asking beef eaters to eat dog meat and venerates “desi cow” milk calling it golden milk. In line with his own track record over the…
24-Oct-2019
The National Commission of Safai Karamcharis reported that at least 50 people have died within the first six months of 2019 while cleaning sewers in India. However, the lives of these workers have not received a fraction of that government attention proffered to the Swacch Bharat Mission. Let us have a look at a timeline marking…