The Voice of Dissent
“I am not here to entertain you; I am here to disturb you. Those who are here for entertainment, I request them, please go.” It’s unusual, if not rare, for a live performer to begin by saying that to the audience. The compact of patronage that’s implicit is what Sambhaji Bhagat smashes right at the onset of his performance. For him, this art is a quest for the truth that will liberate the people he represents.
Mukti Caravan, the Campaign on Wheels, is a mobile cultural group of former child bonded labourers. Started by the Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement), a movement started by now Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi, it involves activists visiting villages to create awareness about need for education, emphasizing on the need for improving access to education and quality of education, to completely eradicate child labour from the society.
Under the moniker BomBaebs, Pankhuri Awasthi and Uppekha Jain rap about rape, cultural stereotypes, religious biases, and hypocrisy surrounding sexism and gender biases in India. They open the video with a disclaimer, warning that “This video doesn’t have any explicit or bannable content. It is just that the reality for women in India is Explicit.”
In 1989, playwright, actor, and activist Safdar Hashmi was fatally attacked by political thugs while performing a street play outside of Delhi. His death led to the founding of Sahmat, an influential artist collective that has taken a consistent stance against the threats of religious fundamentalism and sectarianism in India through a vibrant mix of high art and street culture.
A new comic book with a female rape survivor as its "super hero" has been launched to focus attention on the problem of sexual violence in India.
Priya's Shakti, inspired by Hindu mythological tales, tells the story of Priya, a young woman and gang-rape survivor, and Goddess Parvati as they fight against gender crimes in India.
On your doorstep, or in their neighbourhood hotel, or the local tea shop, the media bring to you a world full of troubles. But along with that, they’ve had some consideration for your funny bone and give you a daily dose of laughter by publishing the work of some of the finest cartoonists in the country. “
On May 5 – World Cartoonist Day – here’s bringing you a glimpse of your favourite illustrators and what keeps them going.
EP Unny
Since November 2020, tens of thousands of farmers have been living in tents at sprawling camps pitched on highways outside the capital New Delhi.
Large barricades erected by the police and topped with barbed wire stand a few hundred meters from the camp, preventing the farmers from encroaching any closer to the center of Delhi. At times, violence has broken out during demonstrations.
In late January 2009, a group of 40 members of right-wing Hindu group Sri Ram Sena attacked women and men in a pub in the Indian city of Mangalore. They were upset with the women for engaging in behavior they found immoral, claiming that the girls were disrespecting traditional Indian values. Video footage of the event spread across Youtube in India, sparking outrage among many at the attack on innocent women.
T.I.E. is a residential, 24-hour, intensive experience during which participants will be: introduced to aesthetics of Immersive Theatre, guided through a practical exploration of these strategies, and mentored in the creation of an immersive, theatrical experience about a social justice issue -- a piece that can be shared at the end of the workshop with an invited audience of their choice
Global corporation Unilever dumped toxic and contaminated waste behind its thermometer factory located in Kodaikanal, a city in the South Indian state Tamil Nadu. In 2001, once word spread about this breach in environmental precautions, Unilever closed its factory. However, it is yet to adequately compensate its workers, many of whom suffered mercury poisoning. The corporation has also yet to clean up its mess and remediate the land.
The Kodaikanal Won't video by Chennai artist Sofia Ashraf, asking Unilver to 'clean up their mess' in connection with the Kodaikanal mercury dumping, has gone viral with over 783,533 views at the time of writing this, in just over two days. It has been shared on social media by prominent personalities such as Nandita Das, Varun Grover, Vishal Dadlani and was even praised by Nicki Minaj, on whose song Anaconda, the rap is based on.
ipaidabribe.com is an online tool that allows the users to report when they pay bribes, are asked to pay and refuse, and when they find an honest officer.
They have a well designed site with apps for mobile phones, and although it started in India it has now grown and you can select multiple countries on different continents.
Namo Nazi
Namo Nazi is a group which is dedicated to the cause of spreading awareness about fascism. They create anti-fascist T-Shirts and say this about themselves:
SUNO is one of the few luxury fashion brands that has been born out of a social cause. Max Osterweis and designer Erin Beatty launched their first collection in the spring of 2009, " after post-election violence threatened to damage the economy and industry in Kenya."
While the clothes is mostly produced by local artisans in Kenya, Suno has since expanded its business to include production in Peru, India, and NY.
Daku is an Indian graffiti artist that engages in street art with political and social meaning. Little else is known about the elusive artist, due to the illegal nature of his work. The name "Daku" literally translates to bandit or dacoit in Hindi.
In late January 2009, a group of 40 members of right-wing Hindu group Sri Ram Sena attacked women and men in a pub in the Indian city of Mangalore. They were upset with the women for engaging in behavior they found immoral, claiming that the girls were disrepecting traditional Indian values. Video footage of the event spread across Youtube in India, sparking outrage among many at the attack on innocent women.
India Ink [Blog]
The New York Times Global Edition
April 4, 2012
By Neha Thirani
The women of Gurgaon, angered by the recent incidents of violent crimes against women in the outsourcing boom town, are calling for a “Girlcott.”
The forests of India are a critical resource for the subsistence of rural peoples throughout the country, but especially in hill and mountain areas, both because of their direct provision of food, fuel and fodder and because of their role in stabilising soil and water resources.