India
Experiences of Menstruation from the Global South and North – review
In Experiences of Menstruation from the Global South and North, Kay Standing, Sara Parker and Stefanie Lotter compile multidisciplinary perspectives examining experiences of and education around menstruation in different parts of the world. Spanning academic research, activism and poetry, this thought-provoking volume advocates for inclusive approaches that encompass the diverse geographical, social, cultural, gender- and age-related subjectivities of menstruators worldwide, writes Udita Bose.
As Bobel writes in the foreword to Experiences of Menstruation from the Global South and North, “Menstruation is simultaneously everywhere and nowhere” (xvii). The book attempts to create dialogues between the Global North and Global South, recognising that menstrual experiences are a global issue, but the stigma, shame, and secrecy surrounding menstruation, make it difficult to address the various problems associated with menstruation.
The book criticises how discourse about menstruation in the Global South is characterised by the development approach produced by the Global North.
The book criticises how discourse about menstruation in the Global South is characterised by the development approach produced by the Global North. In the introduction, Lotter et al argue that development approaches adopted in the Global South focusing on “alleviating poverty and working towards gender equality and improvement of living conditions” (10) have reinforced stigma associated with menstruation. This occurs because such development approaches centre the supply and demand of menstrual products, which, according to Garikipati in Chapter Seven, promotes the concealment of menstruation through the use of menstrual products (105). Lotter et a argue that a decolonial approach will help to acknowledge that countries in the Global South have made “trailblazing developments” (11) in destigmatising menstruation and tackling period poverty: Kenya ended the taxation of menstrual products long before Canada, in 2004 (11). The editors thus call for the Global North to learn from the Global South and promote a collaborative global approach when discussing menstrual experiences.
The book identifies how a lack of scientific knowledge and information about menstruation exacerbates the stigmatising of sociocultural experiences associated with it
The collaborative approach is evident in how the chapters in the collection have been organised and linked. For instance, the book identifies how a lack of scientific knowledge and information about menstruation exacerbates the stigmatising of sociocultural experiences associated with it, in the Global North and the Global South. King (Chapter Three) discusses at length how “physiology textbooks” recommended for medical students in the UK do not explain that even though menstruation is a prerequisite for conception and pregnancy, they do not inevitably follow from menstruation (24). Such emphasis on the alleged “purpose” of the menstruating body obscures the reality of the experience for women and girls. The pain, discomfort and blood loss that regularly accompany menstruation is minimised, hindering girls’ and women’s ability to respond to and understand their own bodies. This resonates with Amini’s research in Iran (Chapter 12). Amini demonstrates how most girls in Iran respond to menarche thinking that they have either lost their virginity or have a bad illness (165). These chapters show how the experience of the biological process of menstruation is conditioned by the cultural meaning it gains in a context.
Research [in Nepal] found that intersecting factors like caste, religious ideologies and ethnicity determine whether a teacher can discuss menstruation in school.
Amini’s research connects to that of Parker et al (Chapter Four) which, based in Nepal, reiterates the importance of imparting knowledge about menstruation and placing it in its sociocultural context. Their research found that intersecting factors like caste, religious ideologies and ethnicity determine whether a teacher can discuss menstruation in school. In this chapter and in the research project Dignity Without Danger – a research project launched in 2021 by Subedi and Parker developing and gathering educational resources on menstruation in Nepal (2021) – research participants noted that they were left to study the topic of menstruation on their own (38). The contextualisation of menstrual knowledge also frames the work by Garikipati (Chapter Seven) who focuses her research on menstrual products in the Indian context (103). Along with criticising the profit-driven global market, she emphasises the need to focus on sustainable development. Garikipati advocates for solutions that are tailored appropriately to the individual context (105).
The discussions on contextualising knowledge production about menstruation by researchers in diverse sociocultural and physical contexts underline the need for inclusivity. Inclusion is discussed in relation to several dimensions of menstrual knowledge production. Various researchers have captured menstrual experiences in the everyday context of the workplace (Fry et al, Chapter Eight), the school (Parker et al, Chapter Four; King, Chapter Three), the community (Garikipati, chapter Seven; Quint, Chapter Five; Macleod, Chapter 13) and the home (Amini, Chapter 12). In every setting, it is the menstruating body whose agency takes centre stage. This is enabled through the diverse and creative research methods employed by the researchers to explore menstrual experiences. For instance, Macleod (Chapter 13) had menstruating girls shoot films to narrate their menstrual experiences and held informal sessions in the schools in Gombe and Buwenge in Uganda to watch the films (190). This resonates with Lessie’s (Chapter Two) multi-sectoral approach to addressing menstruation and menstrual health. As Letsie underscores, the right to information and the right to health are basic human rights. Menstrual health is therefore a human rights issue, and its inclusion in health and development policies and programmes should be prioritised.
The book encompasses menstruating bodies at different stages of life, be it menarche or menopause
The book encompasses menstruating bodies at different stages of life, be it menarche or menopause (Weiss et al, Chapter 10), and menstruating bodies that are disabled (Basnet et al, Chapter Nine). The concluding pages of the book discuss the future prospects of research on menstruation. In doing so, Standing et al highlight the need for more research on “menstruators at margins” (230), for example, menstruators in prisons and detention centres, in humanitarian settings, sex workers, and those with disabilities. Thomson’s (Chapter 11) poem calls for normalising menstruation irrespective of gender and menopause irrespective of age, describing voluntary menopause at a young age to convert from being a female to a male (“because when I was a little girl, I knew I wasn’t…I just thank God that me and my Mother’s menopause didn’t align” 156-157). The poem echoes Lotter et al’s observation in the introduction that “not all women have periods and not all people who menstruate are women” (7). More than seeing menstruation through a lens of gender, it needs to be seen as “an issue of equity and justice” (7).
In this way, the book thus comes full circle in attempting to locate the menstruating body at the epicentre of the school and integrate all other sectors of society (family, community, policy development) into the production of knowledge on menstruation. The amplification of the need for inclusivity is particularly valuable, recognising the differences between menstrual experiences in the Global North and the Global South and challenging the gender binary, as captured in Thomson’s poetry. It is a thought-provoking volume which exposes the reader to the geographical, social, cultural, gender- and age-related subjectivities in which menstruation is experienced, examined through a variety of epistemological approaches. The book thus sets the ball rolling for further advancement of knowledge production around menstrual experiences in all their diversity.
Note: This post gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Image credit: PINGO’s Forum on Flickr.
Modi’s Islamophobia on full display as India faces election
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on track to win India’s upcoming election, giving him a third term in office and allowing him to cement his reactionary and racist agenda.
Almost 970 million Indians head to the polls from 19 April in an election that runs for six weeks.
An opinion poll published on 3 April shows that Modi’s National Democratic Alliance coalition could win 399 of the 543 seats in the lower house while his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone is projected to win 342.
The main opposition party is the Indian National Congress, which governed India from 1952 to 1989 with just a three-year break. The poll indicates it will win a record low of 38 seats. Overall, the opposition coalition is on track for just 94 seats.
Modi’s politics are those of Islamophobia and authoritarianism.
His political roots emerged from the far-right, Hindu nationalist Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), meaning National Volunteers Order.
Modi has built his career by deliberately stoking communalism—targeting Muslims as an “enemy within”.
In 2002, as governor of the province of Gujarat, Modi allowed racist thugs to rampage through Muslim areas and kill more than 2000 people.
As prime minister, he has supported a program of conversion to Hinduism, fomented hatred against so-called “love jihad” relationships between Muslims and Hindus, and passed a law that offers a path to Indian citizenship for persecuted religious minorities in Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan—but not for Muslims.
This could be used to deport thousands of Muslims, the majority of those who have fled to India seeking protection, such as Rohingyas from Bangladesh and Afghan Hazaras.
Underpinning all this is the concept of Hindutva (“Hindu-ness”), the idea that the only authentic expression of India is Hindu in nature and origin and that the Hindu majority should impose its will on the rest of society.
Modi’s BJP has long been associated with a sometimes bloody campaign to build a Hindu temple at Ayodhya in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on land long used for a mosque.
In January, Modi turned the consecration of the new temple into a massive national event, underscoring the way that India is increasingly becoming a Hindu supremacist society.
There was little mainstream dissent—Modi has muzzled the media and used the courts to crush opponents.
Bonanza
Modi is committed to building Indian capitalism. He has presided over cuts to welfare spending, privatisation and restrictions on unions, while cutting corporate taxes and abolishing wealth tax. The result has been a sharp increase in inequality.
For some Indians, his rule has been a bonanza. Since Modi first came to office in 2014, the value of India’s stock market has trebled and India’s economy has almost doubled.
Oxfam reports that there are 119 billionaires in India. Between 2018 and 2022, India was estimated to be producing 70 new millionaires every day. Yet 90 per cent of the population gets by on less, often much less, than $5300 a year.
Modi has kept the support of many of the poor, however, through a combination of Hindu chauvinism and highly subsidised food and cooking gas.
He has also presided over an infrastructure expansion that includes LED lights in villages and cheap phones and mobile data. He argues that building highways and airports shows that India is becoming a modern power.
Encircling China
A Modi win will be greeted by Anthony Albanese, who has gone out of his way to associate himself with the Indian leader.
Partly this is about Labor chasing votes among migrants. But it also reflects the fact that India is part of the Quad, an alliance with Australia, the US and Japan which is aimed at encircling China.
It will also be greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In 2017, Modi became the first Indian prime minister to visit Israel. He was one of the first global leaders to support Israel after 7 October.
Modi and Netanyahu share a commitment to ethnonationalism and religious supremacism, along with rampant Islamophobia.
The links are economic, too. Israel is in the process of recruiting 20,000 Indian workers. The Indian business giant Adani has bought the Israeli port of Haifa.
The two countries are also involved in plans, delayed by the Gaza crisis, to establish a rail and shipping corridor from India to the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Jordan and Europe.
Modi may look all-powerful but he continues to face opposition from below.
In 2020, about 250 million Indian workers took part in a one-day general strike.
And hundreds of thousands of farmers protested against laws that would strengthen big agriculture companies—and won.
The future of India will not be settled at the ballot box but in struggle, on the streets and in the workplaces.
By David Glanz
The post Modi’s Islamophobia on full display as India faces election first appeared on Solidarity Online.
As India Votes, Modi Ignores the Violence in Manipur
While the world focuses on the spectacle of India carrying out its biggest national election – with 960 million Indian citizens eligible to vote out of a population of 1.4 billion – serious unrest continues to haunt the state of Manipur.
For the last five months, Byline Times has continued to receive detailed weekly updates from frontline activists in the northeastern state. These catalogue ongoing communal violence between different ethnic and religious groups that is subverting social and political life in the remote region. Building on the conflict recounted in a previous Byline Times report, this unrest has now been taking place for a year.
The situation highlights a distinct disconnect between the apparent virtues of India as the world’s largest democracy and the ongoing restriction of human rights in the country.
December 2023 witnessed the suspension of 146 members of the Indian Parliament (100 from the Lower House and 46 from the Upper House). The suspensions were denounced as the “murder of democracy” by the main opposition party – the Indian National Congress (INC) – and as a way to pass draconian legislation across India. One of the excluded members, Mahua Moitra, who represents Manipur, has vocally criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) policies as generating a “civil war” in the state.
The size of the population and the accompanying security issues that this raises, mean that voting in the 2024 Indian general election takes place over seven phases from 19 April to 1 June, with counting and the overall result being announced on 4 June. Voting in Manipur’s two constituencies is to take place in Phases 1 and 2 on 19 April and 26 April.
Meitei Violence
Unrest and violence among different tribal groups started in May 2023, pitting Hindu Meitei tribals against mainly Christian tribal groups. These non-Hindu tribal groups include the Kuki, Zomi, Mizo and Chin, which are more widely termed as the Zo people. Activists maintain that, courtesy of their links to the ruling state ministers and sympathetic police groupings, the Meitei are being aided by official connivance in their carrying out of “ethnic pogroms”. Zo leaders note their discrimination by state officials and processes of “selective justice”, whereby Zo are presented as “anti-nationals” and are much more likely to be prosecuted. The Supreme Court’s assertion that Manipur has witnessed a “total breakdown of law and order”, even with 40,000 security personnel on the ground, compounds this favouritism.
Such accusations come in the midst of continuing violence perpetrated by Meitei tribals and well-armed militias, such as the Arambai Tenggol and Meitei Leepun. Such violence includes lynchings, beheadings, torture, abductions, gang rapes, bomb attacks, mob violence, booby traps, public executions, mutilations, house and bank robberies, vandalism, illegal tax collections, people being burned alive, and the looting and torching of houses and shops. Villages have also faced attacks by Meitei militias using automatic weapons and mortars. Often these incidents have been photographed and filmed, before being shared on social media platforms to incite violence and intimidate targeted tribals.
This unrest has been intensive and systematic over the last 12 months and by October 2023 more than 70,000 people (including 12,000 children) had been displaced. It has been heightened by periodic internet bans and the use of fake news by Meitei media groups, as well as utilising large protest mobs to demand the removal of non-Meitei public officials. Meitei militias also continue to steal weapons from both police stations and other militias. It was alleged in December 2023 that the Meitei had used a drone to drop a looted mortar bomb on a village, and that the Manipur Government had provided drone training.
Activists also note that the “othering” of the Kuki-Zomi tribals and other groups by the Meitei has persisted. This process has included being labelled as refugees, illegal immigrants or “narco-terrorists”, or having links with Myanmar or Bangladesh. Related to these phenomena is the continued religious persecution of the Christian-majority Zo by the Hindu-majority Meitei, which has included the burning of 357 churches since May. Evidence has also surfaced of Zo graves being desecrated. Such claims come despite the existence of regional Meitei drug gangs and the increased interception by Indian security forces of armed Meitei militia members infiltrating India across the Myanmar border.
This discrimination has raised fears that the communal violence aims to force non-Meitei tribals from their land, in order to monopolise oil, gas and mineral reserves (such as uranium and platinum). The normalization of violence and population displacement accentuates such a threat. State complicity also plays a role, with Meitei leaders having linkages to big mining corporations eager to exploit such valuable natural commodities. In some areas, power supplies to non-Meitei villages have been sabotaged, leaving them without power or telecommunications for days. Elsewhere, non-Meitei villages have been blockaded by militias, preventing the delivery of essential food and commodities.
Signalling a further escalation, in January 2024, the central Manipur government conceded security control of Imphal to the Arambai Tenggol. This gave the Meitei militia dominance over security arrangements in Manipur’s capital and – given the militia’s ongoing violence – is an ugly portent for the local non-Meitei population.
Meitei legislators were reportedly forced to declare allegiance to the Arambai Tenggol. In the months since the Arambai Tenggol took over, Imphal has seen a rise in armed intimidation, extortion, the illegal occupation of property, and even the use of improvised explosive devices, or IEDs.
A Hindu Majoritarian Program
In response to this mounting and persistent instability and violence, Zo activists have carried out total shutdowns in protest at their discrimination by state authorities. Other groups are also recasting the anniversary of the day that Manipur joined the Indian Union on 21 September 1949 as now being a “Black Day” of protest. Additional groups have protested calling for an end to gender-based violence and violence against students.
Further collectives are demanding the setting up of an independent Zo administration in Manipur. Coupled with these movements are increasing calls for the Zo areas of Manipur to merge with those in the neighbouring state of Mizoram, especially given the ongoing displacement of the Zo.
Within this context, the response by the central government in New Delhi continues to be seen as lax and insufficient. Although the troubles in Manipur are receiving greater national coverage, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has resisted calls to visit the region. This comes despite the severe economic and social damage being wrought upon its people, as well as the slow Meitei domination of Manipur’s state bureaucracies.
The 2024 general election may be a factor here, with the BJP seeking to hold the Inner Manipur constituency (that includes the regional capital Imphal) and possibly gain the Outer Manipur constituency, which it lost to the Naga People’s Front by 73,782 votes in 2019.
Moreover, such a blind eye can also potentially be explained by the BJP’s deeper aim to actively assimilate all India’s minorities towards its Hindu majoritarian outlook. Escalating Meitei-instigated violence against Manipur’s tribal groups certainly – and usefully – fits with such a dynamic and appears to be increasingly successful. It also strengthens narratives of India’s Hindu population being threatened by non-Hindus. A BJP victory in the 2024 national elections will only hasten such a forced “harmonisation”, with negative consequences for other non-Hindu groups, regions, and states across India.
At ‘Garbage Cafes,’ You Can Trade Plastic Bottles for Free Food
Every morning, Akash, a 28-year-old living in Delhi, ventures out to collect plastic in order to feed his family of four.
He usually starts his day by scavenging for plastic bottles in and around the waste collection areas of different neighborhoods. He begins around 7am, when the waste from nearby houses typically arrives. His aim: to gather around three kilograms of plastic, which is enough to secure his meals for the day.
Each item he collects feels like a small victory, he says, adding up to a “bag of treasures” that he can exchange for food at what’s known as a “garbage cafe.” All three meals of the day, not only for him but for his whole family, are taken care of by these cafes across the city.
Akash often spends his day looking out for plastic bottles in the city. Credit: Rishabh Jain
In a bid to preserve the environment and increase awareness about safe disposal of plastic waste, the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) came up with the concept of garbage cafes in 2020. Under this initiative, individuals who drop off one kilogram of plastic waste at designated garbage cafes receive a voucher for a complimentary meal at participating restaurants. (One kilogram can be exchanged for lunch or dinner, while just 250 grams can be exchanged for breakfast.) Eligible plastic waste includes empty water bottles, soft drink bottles, plastic containers and similar materials.
The aim is to encourage the gathering of waste while also managing the use of disposable plastic products. Eateries hand over the plastic they collect to a municipal organization, which then recycles and repurposes it.
“This has really made my life easier,” says Akash. Credit: Rishabh Jain
For Akash and many others, the cafes have been life-changing. “I came to Delhi around three years ago and started living with my relatives here,” Akash says. “While looking for a job I came across this scheme of the government where we can exchange plastic for free meals. This has really made my life easier, as I not only earn money out of selling plastic but also get free meals for my entire family.”
Business owners have seen benefits too, both environmentally and economically. Yash Kumar owns Evergreen Cafe in South Delhi. In the short time since his business was designated a garbage cafe, he says he has already seen the way the initiative has made people aware of the importance of safely disposing of plastic waste so that it gets recycled and reused, rather than ending up in landfills.
“I have seen an active participation by the people,” says Kumar, who notes that about 20 people have come to the cafe to ask about the program. “The authorities have also installed a plastic crusher machine right outside where the plastic gets safely [broken down]. We not only provide food and refreshments to people but also educate them about recycling plastic waste.”
Pointing at a pile of garbage just outside the shopping complex, predominantly consisting of plastic waste, Yash expresses that his decision to participate in this program was primarily driven by the desire to contribute positively to the city, though he also appreciates that it provides publicity for his cafe.
Mahesh, who works at Evergreen Cafe, adds that the MCD has also put up a banner outside their shop in order to spread awareness.
The Municipal Corporation of Delhi came up with the concept of garbage cafes in 2020. Credit: Rishabh Jain
“People observe the banner, inquire about the process, and then come back with plastic bottles,” he says. “A significant number of them are motivated not by discounts but by the desire to make a contribution, which further motivates us. With increased publicity, we are confident that more individuals will join our cause.”
Tackling plastic pollution in Delhi
The capital city houses a population of 20 million and generates approximately 11,000 metric tons of municipal solid waste daily, the highest among Indian cities. According to government data, more than half of this waste is deposited in landfills.
Roughly 70 percent of the city’s plastic waste consists of single-use items, the majority of which either accumulate in landfills or obstruct drainage systems. This poses a significant threat to hungry cows, as they often scavenge through garbage bins, consuming plastic inadvertently.
Additionally, treatment capacity has not kept up with the volume of sewage the city produces, a trend observed not only in Delhi but also across the country. Experts suggest that raising awareness about waste sorting and expanding treatment capacity could be instrumental in addressing these challenges.
A landfill site in Delhi, where garbage often ends up burning and polluting the environment. Credit: Rishabh Jain
In another attempt to address the city’s plastic waste problem, the Delhi Pollution Control Committee introduced a prohibition on plastic bags smaller than 50 microns in 2015. Heavy fines have made the ban’s enforcement effective.
Efforts to reduce single-use plastic received a significant endorsement in 2019, when India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi used the occasion of the 150th anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth to declare India’s commitment to phasing them out, though he fell short of implementing a complete ban. Since then, the country has made progress by banning certain varieties as well as by promoting reusable packaging in the food sector, which has historically been heavily reliant on plastic.
A unique initiative
The first garbage cafe opened in Chhattisgarh, a state in the central part of India, in October 2019. Places in other parts of the country picked up the trend once they saw how successful it was. Similar initiatives also exist in a variety of other countries, including in Europe, the US and Cambodia, among others.
A plastic crusher machine set up outside a garbage cafe. Credit: Rishabh Jain
Plastic collection efforts across India reflect a growing commitment to sustainability. In Siliguri, West Bengal, alumni of a local school are offering free meals on Saturdays to individuals who contribute half a kilo of plastic waste. Similarly, in Mulugu, Telangana state, authorities provide one kilo of rice in exchange for one kilo of plastic, with local school children actively involved in plastic collection efforts. The district collector of Mulugu aims to make his district the first in India to eliminate single-use plastic. A local couple even sent out wedding invitations printed on reusable cloth grocery bags.
While celebrating the opening of a garbage cafe in South Delhi, a municipal official said, “The garbage cafe concept has been successfully implemented by local governments in Chhattisgarh and Odisha, where it aids homeless individuals by offering them complimentary meals in return for plastic waste. In Delhi, however, our approach differs in that we aim to extend this initiative to everyone. We believe that by engaging urban residents in plastic waste management efforts, we can enhance its effectiveness.”
He added that the plastic waste collected at such cafes could be used in road construction or repurposed in gardens. In Delhi, for example, a Waste-to-Wonder park showcases replicas of the seven wonders of the world, all made from discarded materials sourced from landfills.
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Benu Malhotra, one of the trustees of Parvaah, a nonprofit organization in New Delhi advocating against plastic usage, sees the garbage cafe as a model that should be replicated nationwide. She believes that the concept is making people from all walks of life aware of the harmful effects of plastic on the environment and also guiding them on how to effectively reuse and recycle it.
She points out that garbage cafes create a kind of virtuous cycle: “This cafe addresses waste management while also providing a warm meal to those in need, thereby incentivizing them to collect more plastic.”
The post At ‘Garbage Cafes,’ You Can Trade Plastic Bottles for Free Food appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
It is identity, stupid! Nationalism, trade, and the populist rage
by Vinícius Rodrigues Vieira* The literature on populism in the 21st century often assumes that far-right leaders draw their support from voters who have lost out to globalization. This is the case among low-skilled, white workers in Global North democracies, including the United States. But, there are also meaningful occurrences of backlash against the political establishment and […]
How Teen Girls in Mumbai Are Learning to Stand Tall
As Nausheen, a 14-year-old Mumbai schoolgirl, demonstrates the kicks and punches she has newly learned, there is a perceptible change in her body language. From a shy, giggly teenager, she turns into a budding supergirl: somehow she seems taller, her stance straighter and her voice louder.
“When I practice these moves, I feel a surge of power inside me,” she says. “I feel like I don’t have any fear.”
Nausheen has been learning martial arts — among other concepts such as consent and communication — at the free biweekly workshops conducted by the nonprofit MukkaMaar at her government school in a crowded Mumbai suburb. “I have learned to be strong and to face people with confidence,” she says, “whether it is my parents at home or strangers outside.”
MukkaMaar partners with 56 government schools in Mumbai. Courtesy of MukkaMaar
Contrast this with what MukkaMaar’s founder Ishita Sharma remembers from a casual conversation with a group of middle-school girls a few years ago. When asked what they would do if someone attacked them on the streets, they unanimously responded: Shout bachao bachao! (help).
“They didn’t even think about it,” Sharma says. “It was a natural response to expect someone else to come and save them, because that is what they have been taught, what they have seen in movies.”
It was with the basic aim to shift this control from the outsider to the individual that Sharma started MukkaMaar — roughly translating to “throw a punch” — as an empowerment program for adolescent girls. “Women need to take responsibility for their own safety and not succumb to the ‘What will the poor woman do?’ narrative,” she explains.
Courtesy of MukkaMaar
At MukkaMaar’s free workshops, girls learn martial arts and build confidence. They also learn about communication and consent.
Sharma began in 2016 with four girls on a public beach and the conviction that teaching self-defense was the way to empower them. Over seven years and 3,000 girls later, she has learned that along with martial arts, there is also a need for a change in fundamental beliefs and attitudes. She shares examples of how these girls are schooled to be “good daughters” who grow up to be “good wives” (for instance, to blindly marry the man chosen by their parents, as opposed to committing to a “love marriage”). She explains that there is a need to teach them to question and debate at home, negotiate for their rights, develop and assert their own personalities, and so on.
MukkaMaar now partners with 56 government schools in Mumbai, where martial arts teachers are trained to listen to and counsel the girls, who open up with their own stories. These trainers are young men and women in their late teens and 20s, who usually work in teams of two. At 19, national level boxing champion Aradhana Gaund is not much older than the girls she trains. “They treat me like their friend, and I laugh and cry with them,” she says.
In the workshops, girls learn that violence is not a knee-jerk response, but a last resort. Courtesy of MukkaMaar
Elsa Marie D’Silva, founder of Red Dot Foundation, a nonprofit working to create safe spaces for women, says it can be intimidating for young women to stand up against harassment, and so “it is important to show them how they can speak out together, along with their friends or as a group, to call out bullies.” Indeed, this is one of the things that gives Gaund the most satisfaction: seeing how these classes have taught the girls to band together and support one another.
According to the Global Gender Gap Report 2023, India ranks a dismal 127 out of 146 countries, based on indices such as access to education, economic opportunities and health. What is even more concerning is the unceasing, systemic violence against women that takes several forms including intimate partner violence, rape and assault, dowry deaths, acid attacks and everyday street harassment.
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Women are told from childhood to keep their heads down and take these things in stride, that to react would be futile and even dangerous. They internalize this to such an extent that they suffer harassment silently, which in turn encourages their abusers to carry on with impudence. This is where MukkaMaar has been making a small but significant difference.
Iqra, 13, says, “Earlier, I used to move away quietly when a man touched or groped me in the [public] bus. But now, I just make my voice loud and strong like I have been taught, and tell them to stop it.” At this, her friend Fatima chimes in, “Now we feel like we can also walk and talk like the boys.”
Courtesy of MukkaMaar
Ishita Sharma started MukkaMaar with the goal of changing girls’ “natural response to expect someone else to come and save them” — and showing them that they can be the ones in control.
But they have both also been taught that violence is not a knee-jerk response, but a last resort. “If we fight, we will also get hurt, but we can speak up,” Iqra declares with the wisdom of one far older.
And speak up they do, at every chance. “At my cousin’s wedding, a boy I don’t know started teasing me,” Fatima recalls. “When I shouted at him, his mother intervened and scolded him. Earlier I used to feel nervous in such situations, I used to think, ‘I am a small girl, what can I do?’”
As Sharma describes it, “We are not telling them that violence is the answer, but that violence should not be tolerated.”
“We train them to vocalize their feelings, to open up their shoulders and lift up their chins,” explains one of MukkaMaar’s trainers. Courtesy of MukkaMaar
The MukkaMaar website states, “It is necessary to recognize that violence includes microaggressions, discrimination, threats, and loss of opportunity as much as assault.” The training, therefore, does not just cover self-defense but also building physical fitness and emotional strength, as well as boosting (and often instilling) self-confidence.
Senior training fellow, Bhishma Mallah, 26, who has been with MukkaMaar for over four years, says that the girls begin with so many barriers, like shame and fear, that even to get them to exercise in front of others or to express themselves verbally is a challenge. “We train them to vocalize their feelings, to open up their shoulders and lift up their chins. We have to tell them repeatedly to forget about adjusting their dupatta [traditional scarf used to cover head or shoulders] and focus on the activity.”
Even during workshops, the girls ask for permission before making physical contact. Courtesy of MukkaMaar
One of the many ways in which the trainers chip away at the diffidence of these young girls is by making them chant “I am important” even as they practice their moves. Or asking them to imagine how a dog growls, and to channel that aggression in their kicks and punches.
Each hour-long session includes 20 minutes of conversations and counseling, with the remaining time devoted to physical training. “We teach them about concepts like boundaries, consent and safe touch. Even during lessons, they have to take permission from their partner before any physical contact,” explains Mallah.
Sharma admits it took her a couple of years to realize that for a girl to build agency, there is a lot of familial and social conditioning that needs to be undone. “There is no point in teaching them martial arts alone, with its focus on discipline and technique — because unless we teach them critical thinking, it is all pointless, and forgotten the minute they step out of the classroom,” says Sharma.
Red Dot Foundation founder D’Silva adds a word of caution: “It’s not enough to just empower the girls to speak up, it is also the responsibility of adults to listen to them when they do. If their parents or teachers don’t take them seriously, then the child will quickly learn not to tell anyone — because there is the added fear of having their personal freedom curtailed under the guise of protecting them or saving the family honor.”
A change in the larger ecosystem may take a long time, but it is clear that something is shifting within these girls. While one cohort confronted a cop making a video call in front of them and challenged him to prove he was not taking their photos without permission, another group of girls gathered the courage to file a police complaint against their physical education teacher who had been harassing them. For others, it has meant something as seemingly trivial as talking back to their fathers and challenging gendered rules and restrictions.
“I have learned to be strong and to face people with confidence,” one MukkaMaar student says, “whether it is my parents at home or strangers outside.” Courtesy of MukkaMaar
These may seem like small incidents, but for these young girls in Mumbai, the freedom to think independently and challenge those around them has been life-changing.
In the short run, Sharma says MukkaMaar wants to focus on fewer places and create retention, rather than spread the program thin all over the city. The future is digital for MukkaMaar alumni, with a chatbot that helps the girls have a two-way conversation about self-defense techniques, physical fitness, understanding of different types of gender violence and soft skills like communication and negotiation. This keeps them connected to the program, and to everything they learned in it, even after they leave.
The post How Teen Girls in Mumbai Are Learning to Stand Tall appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
Reframing the problem of India’s street dogs
India’s millions of stray dogs coexist largely peacefully with humans, however, an increase in dog attacks and the prevalence of rabies cases has sparked calls to introduce stronger policy to reduce their numbers. In this essay, Pupul Dutta Prasad applies insights from Tim Newburn and Andrew Ward‘s book, Orderly Britain: How Britain Has Resolved Everyday Problems, from Dog Fouling to Double Parking, to consider how India could reframe its approach to the street dog issue.
In Orderly Britain, Professor of Criminology and Social Policy at LSE Tim Newburn (whose outstanding contribution to these fields has recently been celebrated) and journalist Andrew Ward succeed in foregrounding the ordinary, the mundane, and the marginal in service of a deeper purpose. The authors turn their gaze on dog fouling, smoking, drinking, queuing, using public toilets, and parking as a means of exploring changing social order in Britain. Rather than review the book (which has been done on this blog and elsewhere), I want to consider how the insights into dealing with everyday issues in Britain can be applied in other contexts, specifically, how Britain’s approach to dog fouling could be drawn upon to develop a better understanding of India’s problem with street dogs and some of the ways being publicly discussed to tackle it.
The authors make two key observations in their analysis which are relevant when looking beyond Britain. First, they assert that meaningful enquiry into everyday social problems should involve taking a step back and looking at genealogy – how certain routines come to be viewed as problems in the first place. A key point the authors underline in this regard is that a thing does not get defined as a social problem without itself undergoing a social process. That process is often a site of contestation between contrasting perspectives or claims advanced by different groups with varying levels of influence.
[The authors] assert that meaningful enquiry into everyday social problems should involve taking a step back and looking at genealogy – how certain routines come to be viewed as problems in the first place.
Second, they take note of measures taken in response to a behaviour – previously tolerated – that begins to be thought of collectively as a social problem. Here, the authors draw our attention to formal mechanisms (laws, regulations, courts, etc.) as well as informal ones (social pressure and expectations). They observe that whereas the two frequently act in concert, in some respects it is often the less formal modes of control that have a greater impact.
Both the insights are substantiated, and indeed reinforced, by what the authors find to be the case with dog fouling. Their examination shows that in recent decades dog waste transformed from something that was once seen merely as unpleasant into a social problem requiring intervention. The presence of dog waste in public spaces has increasingly become perceived as a civic and moral failure, not just a public health risk. This has ensured that most dog owners in Britain now pick up and dispose of their dog’s faeces because they feel encouraged, via more informal means, to fulfil the social expectation placed on them. Fines and other penalties introduced for those that fail to “do the right thing” have of course played a part too.
At the outset, I ought to clear up that dog waste in public places does not get the attention in India which it does in Britain. This is not to pass any judgments on the comparative standards of public hygiene and individual conduct. Rather, the point of interest to me is that the lack of social concern for dog poo speaks precisely to the deeper sociological roots of problem-creation which Newburn and Ward highlight. Extrapolating that insight from their work, even though sections of the Indian citizenry presumably are troubled by dog fouling, in the collective mind of the society it is yet to be embedded as a problem.
Street dogs have long been an integral part of everyday life in India […] At the same time, they have adversely affected many lives as a source of rabies and other harm.
In contrast, the same is certainly not true of what is typically known as the “menace” or “terror” of street dogs. The term encompasses both those that have strayed from home or been abandoned and homeless, free-ranging dogs that have never had owners. Street dogs have long been an integral part of everyday life in India, with at least a handful of individuals in every community happy to feed them and have them around. At the same time, they have adversely affected many lives as a source of rabies and other harm. A public concern for health and safety and a consequent opposition to street dogs has recently been growing.
There are some notable factors behind the change in social attitudes towards street dogs. First is the sheer number of these dogs. One estimate puts their total population at roughly 59 million. In addition, the general perception is that the numbers are swelling all the time due to an ineffective regime for checking their overpopulation. Second, dog bites and attacks from free-roaming dogs, particularly afflicting children, are thought to be on the rise. With rabies cases and deaths in India being the highest worldwide, the danger such incidents pose to public health and safety has grown. Finally, the public anxiety over street dogs has been exacerbated by horrifying stories and videos on social and other media of children getting bitten and mauled by dogs, at times fatally.
In some instances the dogs involved in attacks are pets – “dangerous breeds” and “status dogs” like Pit Bulls, American Bulldogs, and Rottweilers – not the unsophisticated Indian pariah dogs on the street. Yet, this does not seem to cause as much outrage against the foreign species and their irresponsible, (mostly) rich owners. Implicit in this difference could be a power dynamic, a stronger hostility towards street dogs based on sheer numbers, or both. That said, a distinct social construction of the problem of street dogs in India is noticeable.
The contention is that the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023 (first introduced in 2001) take away the discretionary power local authorities had to remove, euthanise or kill stray dogs for keeping public spaces safe.
A growing demand for stringent measures to curb the menace of stray dogs is now evident. The focus of this demand is primarily on the control of their population. Some argue that the need for decisive action to achieve reduction in their population warrants a new legal option. The contention is that the Animal Birth Control (ABC) Rules, 2023 (first introduced in 2001) take away the discretionary power local authorities had to remove, euthanise or kill stray dogs for keeping public spaces safe. On this view, the ABC rules are effectively preventing the problem from being brought under control. The assumption behind it seems to be that street dog management through methods such as sterilisation and vaccination programmes, dog shelters, and garbage collection are either insufficient or have failed. A legal challenge to the ABC Rules is currently being heard by the Supreme Court of India.
Irrespective of what the judicial outcome is, there are grounds for scepticism that licence to exterminate street dogs will work, or be morally acceptable to the public. Even taking an instrumentalist point of view, experience shows that the existing statutory duty to sterilise and vaccinate street dogs has been neglected for reasons like lack of resources and lower prioritisation. This begs the question of how any new provision could be implemented. Moreover, the unbridled power sought to destroy street dogs raises animal rights and welfare issues including that of cruelty. Another dimension of the formal (lethal) means of addressing the problem is that it risks displacing the less formal (humane) ways, whose importance in shaping behavioural change comes out remarkably well in Newburn and Ward’s analysis.
A key – though often obscured – informal element in the Indian context is that humans and street dogs have become socialised to each other’s presence.
In my view, a key – though often obscured – informal element in the Indian context is that humans and street dogs have become socialised to each other’s presence. Both groups seem to have learned to go about their lives unperturbed by the other, making for proportionally low human-dog conflict, given the numbers in question. (See the pictures below of Shimla, the town where I live and work.)
Dogs and humans coexisting in Shimla. Credit: Dr Pupul Dutta Prasad.
In fact, one could make a valid argument for nurturing and consolidating this social bond between the two by explaining to people, especially school children, how to behave with street dogs. As environmentalist Ranjit Lal asserts, how a dog behaves depends a lot on how it has been treated. Others have also argued in favour of managing human conflicts with dogs by “putting double the effort in[to] educating the local community” about acting responsibly while feeding street dogs. Applying sociological insights from Newburn and Ward’s work enables a deeper and more nuanced understanding of India’s street dog problem. Clearly, there is a lot more to it than treating street dogs themselves as the problem and calling for a radical solution like culling.
Note: This essay gives the views of the author, and not the position of the LSE Review of Books blog, or of the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Image Credit: Pupul Dutta Prasad.
Globetrotting for Genocide: Foreign Fighters From US, France and India Are Fighting Israel’s War in Gaza
Israelis aren’t the only demographic among the IDF’s forces in Gaza. Foreign fighters from as far away as the United States, France, Spain, the Netherlands and even India actively participate in the hostilities. While the exact number of internationals fighting in Gaza isn’t known, what is known is that citizens from numerous countries appear to be at least complicit in what has been called a genocide.
Under Israel’s Law of Return, any individual with at least one Jewish grandparent or spouse can obtain Israeli citizenship. In this regard, many born abroad can serve in Israel’s military while still keeping their birthplace’s nationality. They often emigrate and then serve in the army.
Currently, 45% of the Israeli army’s “lone soldiers,” those who serve but don’t have family in Israel, are new immigrants. The current “lone soldier” program has troops from over 60 countries, with approximately 35% from the U.S. It’s important to note, though, that individuals part of Israel’s “lone soldier” program are not considered mercenaries, who are professionals hired by a country’s government to fight in its war and aren’t citizens of said country.
To widen the recruitment pool, the Israeli military now accepts great-grandchildren of Jews to join. While they aren’t eligible to become Israeli citizens under the Law of Return, they can serve in the Israeli army.
Another route is volunteering in Israel’s Mahal program, which permits Jewish youth from other countries to join the army without becoming citizens. There are currently 500 Mahal volunteers in Israel’s military.
“Most mercenaries fighting for Israel now are welcomed based on their religious affiliations and dual citizenships, making their accountability pretty complex,” Mustafa Fetouri, a Libyan journalist and analyst, told MintPress News. “Many countries whose citizens are fighting for Israel, including the USA, have laws criminalizing such actions, but it is not a straightforward issue when the dual citizenship is factored in.”
Fetouri expanded on this, writing in the Middle East Monitor that “America’s Neutrality Act, dating back to the founding days of the US, mak[es] it illegal for any American citizen to take part in any foreign war, or establish a militia for that purpose.” He noted the legislation, however, hasn’t been reinforced lately “as hundreds of Americans have participated in wars in Ukraine, in Libya in 2011 and, now, in Gaza.”
The Israeli military also openly recruits nationals of other countries. For instance, the Israeli consulate in Toronto has advertised appointments with its military representative for those wishing to join the military.
From November 11-14, the Israeli consulate in Toronto will be recruiting Canadians to serve in Israel’s terrorist military.
It is obscene that @justintrudeau’s government allows this terrorist recruitment to occur on Canadian soil.#Palestine #Israel #terrorism @CanadaFP pic.twitter.com/pOXyrQHLRJ
— Dimitri Lascaris (@dimitrilascaris) November 3, 2019
The consulate’s website said, “Young people who wish to enlist in the IDF or anyone who has not fulfilled their obligations according to the Israeli Defense Service Law are invited to meet with him.”
Organizations like Nefesh B’Nefesh, which encourages Jewish immigration to Israel from North America, have hosted events on joining the Israeli military. Sar-El (National Project for Volunteers for Israel) recruits Jewish and non-Jewish internationals to assist Israeli military efforts on army bases, such as packaging food and medical supplies.
The Nationalities Serving
In November, the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, revealed that Spanish mercenary Pedro Diaz Flores is now fighting for Israel, having previously fought in Ukraine with the neo-Nazi Azov Brigade.
“So I came for economy, for money. They pay very well, they offer good equipment, and the work is calm. It is 3,900 euros [$4,187] per week, complementary missions aside,” Flores told El Mundo.
While pictured next to a border checkpoint with the Gaza Strip, he told the newspaper he’s working in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights, saying, “We only provide security support to arms convoys or the troops of the Israeli armed forces that are in the Gaza Strip, we do not fight Hamas directly, nor are we involved in assault operations.”
“We are in charge of the security of the checkpoints and access control on the borders of Gaza and Jordan. There are many PMCs [private military companies] here, and they share the work. Traditionally, they have guarded border terminals between Eilat and Aqaba,” he added.
He told the newspaper he was recruited by Raven and Global CST. Information on Raven isn’t available online. MintPress News reached out to Global CST to verify Flores’ contract. Global CST said it doesn’t know Flores and that “Global CST holds no security or military activities of any type or form, not in Israel, not in Gaza, and not in any other territory worldwide.”
Global CST told MintPress News it’s a renewable energy company and denied reports it’s providing defense and security services to governments and other organizations. On LinkedIn, Global CST is described as offering “strategic consulting and project integration management.” The website listed on Global-CST’s LinkedIn is currently down. When asked for a website, Global CST directed MintPress to Global Group’s website, which promotes agricultural projects worldwide.
The LinkedIn profile of the firm’s founder, Israel Ziv, a retired Israeli general, details Global CST as an “Israeli-based security consultancy group…which has built a vast and unique track record in various continents around the globe, such as South America, Eastern Europe, and Africa.” Global CST confirmed to MintPress News Ziv is its founder. The company, which also operates under the name Global N.T.M., was established in 2006 and remains active.
In 2018, the U.S. government imposed sanctions on Global CST and Ziv for allegedly supplying weapons to South Sudan. The U.S. Treasury Department said Ziv used an agricultural company “as a cover for the sale of approximately $150 million worth of weapons to the government, including rifles, grenade launchers and shoulder-fired rockets.”
The U.S. also said Ziv “planned to organize attacks by mercenaries on South Sudanese oil fields and infrastructure in an effort to create a problem that only his company and affiliates could solve.” The U.S. lifted its sanctions on Ziv and his company in 2020 without an explanation.
Since El Mundo’s publication, reports have also emerged of other nationalities involved in a more direct capacity with Israel’s assault on Gaza. Footage has surfaced of Israeli soldiers speaking with American accents or with American flag patches on their uniforms.
A soldier with a Southern US accent has reportedly called for Gaza to burn to the ground. In the video, he compares the people of Gaza to rats and tells Israeli soldiers “It’s hunting season”.
US officials said that 6 American citizens serving in Israel have died since October 7 pic.twitter.com/7KsV5aTYIK
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) November 22, 2023
Bisan herself said she saw American troops months back.
There were also reports of mercenaries from the Azov battalion in Gaza https://t.co/sEqJvmvfRF— Najat Abdi (@theafroaussie) March 1, 2024
According to the U.S. State Department, 21 American citizens who were members of the Israeli military have been killed in Gaza since the war began. Canadian media has reported its own nationals are volunteering with the Israeli army and are motivated to serve in Gaza. And British newspaper, The Guardian, reported British nationals have been killed in Gaza while fighting for Israel. Britons are also arriving in droves to volunteer with the military like doctors and university chaplains. Around 100 British citizens are currently part of Israel’s military.
In December, Al Jazeera reported seven Ukrainian mercenaries were reportedly killed near Gaza City while fighting alongside Israeli forces. This news came as images of Israeli soldiers speaking Ukrainian circulated on social media. The Ukrainian government denies its citizens are fighting in Gaza, however.
I believe these guys are dual citizenship holders (Ukrainian and Israeli) and the majority served in the IDF. There were about 800-1000 of them in Ukraine fighting first for Ukraine and after Oct 7 with the call from the IDF, they went back home (which was actually a good excuse…
— Mike Mihajlovic (@MihajlovicMike) December 20, 2023
“We did not send any soldiers to the Gaza Strip or any other region of the world,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesperson told Al Jazeera.
“The footage that shows people speaking Ukrainian in the Gaza Strip may be Israelis of Ukrainian or Slavic origins who have no connection to the state,” the spokesperson added.
According to Australian journalist CJ Werleman, Israeli soldiers of Indian origin are also fighting in Gaza. The Indian Foreign Ministry did not respond to inquiries on whether its citizens are fighting in Gaza.
The involvement of Hindu mercenaries in Gaza’s genocide echoes Israel’s racist policies in Kashmir. The world must stand against this injustice.@BBC @CNN @SkyNews @MSNBC @nyTimes @washingtonpost @latimes @guardian @IntlCrimCourt @CIJ_ICJ @UNHumanRights @hrw https://t.co/jlAxikrOfN
— Abdulrhman A.Fathy | عبدالرحمن أ.فتحي (@Abdulrhman_25J) February 28, 2024
In December, Eekad, an Arabic open-source platform, revealed Forward Observations Group as an American mercenary company fighting alongside Israeli forces in Gaza.
Our inquiry unveiled reports from the Dutch open-source investigative journalism group Bellingcat. These reports categorized the Azov Battalion as Nazi and far-right, accusing it of perpetrating crimes of ethnic genocide in Ukraine.
Additionally, the reports exposed its ties… pic.twitter.com/sVyAfnnRwi
— EekadFacts | إيكاد (@EekadFacts) February 1, 2024
Close examination of Forward Observation Group’s Instagram account suggests the group has been cooperating with the Israeli army since October — first stationed around the Gaza border and then located within the enclave by the end of November. The last image on its account from Gaza is dated January 16. Another post dated January 11 depicts camera footage of Israeli soldiers fighting in Gaza. It is captioned, “Helmet cam footage from a LOTAR Special Forces team leader we embedded with shortly after the OCT 7th attack.” A recent Instagram Story from Forward Observations shows a soldier in a hospital bed draped with Forward Observation’s flag. An Israeli flag hangs on the wall next to him.
Fast forward to November 26, 2023, when the FOG account shared yet another image of a fully geared-up fighter accompanied by a caption disclosing that the photo was captured within the confines of the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/0HDLaSKLmW
— EekadFacts | إيكاد (@EekadFacts) February 1, 2024
Eekad discovered the company was founded in October 2018, and while billing itself as a military gear shop, it currently only has one item in stock — a first aid bag. Forward Observations was registered as a foreign limited liability company in Nevada on October 15, 2020, and remains active. Derrick Bales, a former U.S. infantry soldier who fought in Afghanistan, founded the company. A Forward Observations’ Instagram post on November 9, 2023, confirmed Bales as the company’s former director and revealed his official Instagram is under the name “Raoul Duke.” In February, Bales responded to Eekad’s investigation with a photo from Gaza on his Instagram account, writing, “@eekadfacts here’s some more pictures for your article.”
An extensive search through publicly available sources revealed that the company was registered as a foreign limited company in Nevada. The registration, dated October 15, 2020, lists the company under the name “Forward Observations Group, LLC,” bearing the registration number… pic.twitter.com/6eJKQ3Rdf4
— EekadFacts | إيكاد (@EekadFacts) February 1, 2024
According to Foreign Policy, Forward Observations traveled to Ukraine to source medical supplies, gear, and money for Ukrainian soldiers. Bales has been criticized for associating with Vadim Lapaev, a member of the far-right Azov Battalion. He apologized for his connections to Lapaev but said the brigade isn’t as radical as alleged.
Yet Eekad found otherwise. For instance, Eakad’s thorough scrutiny of Lapaev’s social media accounts found photos of Lapaev giving a Nazi salute, holding a sign featuring a swastika, and wearing a necklace with the infamous Nazi symbol as well.
In May 2016, Vadim shared a series of controversial photos: one depicted him performing the Nazi salute, while another showed him holding a sign emblazoned with a swastika, the infamous Nazi emblem. He also posted images of himself wearing a necklace adorned with the same… pic.twitter.com/iTJoAjizjK
— EekadFacts | إيكاد (@EekadFacts) February 1, 2024
Forward Observations did not respond to MintPress’ inquiries to verify if its personnel are indeed in Gaza and what it’s doing there.
Complicit in War Crimes
Amid the revelations that citizens of other countries may be participating in Israel’s genocide on Gaza, some governments and activists are taking a stand.
In December, South Africa announced it might prosecute or even strip the citizenship of South African nationals who have joined the Israeli army and are fighting in Gaza.
“The South African government is gravely concerned by reports that some South African citizens and permanent residents have joined or are considering joining the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the war in Gaza and the other occupied Palestinian territories,” the state’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said.
Also, in December, French parliamentary member Thomas Portes sent a letter to France’s Justice Minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti, requesting he investigate around 4,000 French citizens fighting with Israeli forces on the frontlines in Gaza.
The March 30 Movement, a European pro-Palestine group founded in November, has already filed seven complaints against Dutch Israelis currently serving in the Israeli army in Gaza. They have also filed complaints against Israeli soldiers who traveled to the Netherlands to protest the International Court of Justice proceedings and a French-Israeli soldier, who was also in the Netherlands. While these soldiers don’t have Dutch nationality, they can be investigated because they were on Dutch soil, the March 30 Movement told MintPress News. The group is also submitting a case in Belgium and other cases against French nationals.
“They’ve posted themselves on Instagram or on TikTok, standing on the rubbles of a house in Gaza saying, ‘We want to wipe out Amalek from under the sky, and we will kill them all,'” Dyab Abou Jahjah, president of the March 30 Movement told MintPress News. Amalek refers to Israelites’ rival in the Hebrew bible and was invoked by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when calling to attack Gaza.
Abou Jahjah added, “They think they are beyond the reach of justice. Maybe if they are only Israeli, but if they are Belgian, we are going to make sure that we take them to court.”
Feature photo | Illustration by MintPress News
Jessica Buxbaum is a Jerusalem-based journalist for MintPress News covering Palestine, Israel, and Syria. Her work has been featured in Middle East Eye, The New Arab and Gulf News.
The post Globetrotting for Genocide: Foreign Fighters From US, France and India Are Fighting Israel’s War in Gaza appeared first on MintPress News.
Is India Becoming a Hindu Majoritarian Autocracy?
Forty countries - from India, the UK and the US to Russia and South Africa - are headed for national elections in 2024, in a highly sensitive geopolitical environment that has not been seen before. Europe is marching to the right, the US could well go the same way.
India, which will have its general elections by May, is the world’s the largest democracy, will it too swing further to the right towards an electoral autocracy as many critics claim, or will its people reclaim its pluralist democracy?
The ruling right-wing Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in 2014, in coalition with parties of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), defeating the grand old Indian National Congress (INC) and its allies of United Progressive Alliance (UPA). In 2019 the BJP-led-NDA won a landslide victory with 353 seats in Lok Sabha (lower house) while reducing the Congress-led-UPA to a mere 91 seats.
Since the BJP came to power, it has held sway over northern states while the southern states have shown a trend towards Congress and Opposition victories during recent state elections, indicating a growing division between the north and the south.
Riding high on its recent victories, the BJP is readying itself for an extravaganza on 22 January – the inauguration of the Lord Rama Temple in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Given the timing of the event, so close to the elections, it is thought that the temple opening is likely to be used to further garner the Hindu vote which could lead to a highly polarised and divisive election.
In the 10 years of BJP rule, India has seen a conscious rise in religious hatred, where majoritarianism and the Hindutva ideology is reigning supreme. The BJP’s rise began since the demolition of the 16th-Century Babri Masjid (mosque) in Ayodhya on 6 December 1992. In 1990, a political and religious rally tour was started by the then BJP President LK Advani named the Ram Janabhoomi Rath Yatra (Chariot procession) from Gujarat, where the current Prime Minister Narendra Modi was then chief minister, to Ayodhya, which culminated in an ugly takedown of the mosque by members of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) a far-right Hindu nationalist organisation of which BJP is the political wing, alongside its affiliates like Vishwa Hindu Parishad which is a member of RSS and Bajrang Dal, its aggressive youth wing. More than 2,000 people were killed in the nationwide riots that followed, predominantly Muslims.
The nationalist promise was to build a magnificent Lord Rama temple in Ayodhya on the grounds of the 460-year-old mosque where Muslims had offered prayers for generations. Hindus have long believed it to be the birthplace of Lord Rama. According to the mosque’s inscriptions, it was built by Mughal emperor Babur in 1528-29. However, in 1949 Hindus placed idols of Lord Rama inside the mosque, following which no Muslim prayers were ever offered.
In 2010 the Allahabad High Court upheld the claim that the mosque was built on the spot believed to be Lord Rama’s birthplace and awarded the site of the central dome for the construction of the temple while noting that the excavated structure underneath it was not Islamic in nature. In 2019, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the land be handed over to a trust to oversee the construction of a Hindu temple and ordered a separate piece of land to be given to the Muslims.
Behind the BJP’s religio-cultural rhetoric, there have always been clever political calculations. In 2000, the then BJP leader, the late Sushma Swaraj admitted that the Rama Jnambhoomi movement was ‘purely political in nature and had nothing to do with religion.’ Could this Ayodhya event be the final war cry leading to the RSS-BJP dream project of a Hindu Rashtra (nation), destroying the country’s pluralistic democracy woven intricately over the past 75 years?
In the lead-up to 22 January, right-wing organisations have been mobilising their forces to ask for donations for the temple and use the Rama temple card for vote gains. Leaders of VHP have said the temple will be the symbol of Hindutva like the Vatican and Mecca. Modi has asked citizens to celebrate the event as if it was Diwali. But the event and the involvement of the Prime Minister and his party has been fraught with controversy. Opposition leaders have turned down invitations to the consecration ceremony calling it a political event of RSS and BJP.
Some of the Shankaracharyas (head priests) of the four main Hindu religious centres have also refused to attend, as they believe it is a political event and not a religious or spiritual one. They have pointed out that the temple, which is still not complete, cannot have the consecration of its deity, and that the hurry to do so is a clear indication that the BJP wants to capitalise on it for electoral advantage. Clearly Hinduism (the religion) is calling out Hindutva (the political ideology).
Religious hatred has seen an increase since 2014. Cases of lynching Muslims and lower caste Hindus by right-wing mobs on the slightest suspicion have risen. The concept of ‘love-jihad’ has been used to beat and even kill inter-religious couples. For the past eight months, the BJP-ruled north-eastern state of Manipur has been burning due to religious clashes and killings between the Hindu Metei and Christian Kuki Zo communities. Churches have been burnt down, in May two Kuki Zo women were raped and paraded naked on the roads by Meteis. Despite such carnage its chief minister has not been removed.
“The BJP Government’s discriminatory and divisive policies have led to increased violence against minorities, creating a pervasive environment of fear and a chilling effect on Government critics,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, deputy Asia director of Human Rights Watch.
Amidst all this, on 14 January, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi embarked on a socio-political rally tour that promises to stir the soul of the nation, calling it Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Significantly, he began this journey, which will cover 6,713 km from east to west, from Manipur. He will end the journey in Mumbai, on 20 March, covering a total of 355 Lok Sabha seats. A year ago, Gandhi walked 4,080 km from Kanyakumari in the south to Kashmir in the north.
Amidst communal tension, regional disparities, and rising unemployment, Gandhi’s call is for unity and justice. Will it have any electoral dividends for Congress? After all, he will go through the densely populated, BJP-ruled Uttar Pradesh, which boasts of 80 Lok Sabha seats. He has untiringly stood against what he calls RSS’s divisive politics. To further frustrate Modi’s march towards a third term 28 parties with Congress have formed INDIA- Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance.
The mainstream media – termed as ‘godi media’ (lapdog media) – has almost blacked out the entire opposition, so its public reach must be through alternate methods. The Government’s autocratic stance is visible in the curbing of the media, NGOs, and even comedians. Several Government policies are targeting academics who refuse to promote Hindu nationalism in the classroom and in their research. There is a steady introduction of the right-wing agenda in the education curriculum of schools. After months of suspension, the Home Ministry has cancelled the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) registration of the globally renowned public research institute, Centre for Policy Research. Indeed, according to the V-Dem Institute, one of the leading measures of democracy, India now ranks in the bottom 10-20% on its Academic Freedom Index.
Also, for the first time, the Indian Parliament saw the suspension of 141 MPs during last month’s crucial Winter Session of Parliament – 95 from Lok Sabha and 46 from the upper house, Rajya Sabha, for demanding a debate on a Parliament security breach on 13 December. The opposition called it a “mockery of democracy” as, after their suspension, important draconian bills were passed without any debate, undermining parliamentary democracy.
The current buzz in India is that the Ayodhya extravaganza will indeed further bolster the BJP’s chances of sweeping the forthcoming 543-seat-Lok Sabha elections. The danger is that an absolute majority for a single party in a multiparty democracy could precipitate a swift slide to authoritarianism. Can INDIA stop this from happening? Or will religious majoritarianism trump economy and development?
Geopolitically, India is a critically important player given the tensions between China, Russia and the West. But, as is expected after 22 January, the toxic mix of religion and politics in the run-up to the elections could create an electoral autocracy at a time when the world needs a vibrant, confident, pluralist Indian democracy.
The Cheap, Clever Promise of ‘Water ATMs’
In Telangana, an arid south Indian state notorious for drought, a man swipes a card at an ATM. Instead of cash, the machine doles out 20 liters of clean drinking water. The ATM is housed in an iJal (My Water) station, run by 31-year-old Somarathi Sindhuja, a petite mother of two. When she set it up seven years ago, she had not imagined that her seed money of Rs 2,00000 (just under $2400 US) would help her create what she today calls her “public service business,” which supplies clean drinking water within a two-mile radius of her home in Warangal, Telangana’s second largest city.
Sindhuja is one of the 350 rural water entrepreneurs trained and supported since 2017 by Safe Water Network (SWN), an American nonprofit founded in 2006 by the late actor and philanthropist Paul Newman and other civic leaders. The entrepreneurs buy or provide the space for the water filtration equipment and ATM, as well as the raw water. SWN provides them with the necessary training, technical support and water treatment expertise. Using all this, they are able to filter water to international safe drinking water standards and sell it for the nominal sum of Rs 5 ($0.07 US) for 20 liters.
That’s an extremely good deal for the community: Typically the price for a similar quantity of water, from a competing supplier like commercial tanker owners, is at least double this amount; bottled water can go for as much as 10 times more. It’s a good deal for the entrepreneur, too. “I earn about Rs 15,000 to 20,000 (roughly $180 to $240 US) per month from this, which is amazing as there are hardly any jobs available to women like me here,” Sindhuja says. “And I’m also improving the lives of people in my neighborhood.”
Sindhuja says her iJal station gets about 200 customers per day. Credit: Raj Kumar / Safe Water Network
Warangal is undeniably parched, and the water that most residents there can easily access is not safe to drink. And it’s not alone in these challenges: Due to depleting groundwater reserves, erratic rainfall and poor civic infrastructure, an estimated 2.2 billion people across the globe were unable to get safe drinking water in 2022. In India, thanks to the government’s ambitious piped water scheme Har Ghar Nal ka Jal (Water on Tap in Every Home), things are looking up — but a lot more needs to be done.
“The piped water still needs to be filtered and treated before it can be drunk,” says Poonam Sewak, SWN’s vice president for programs and partnerships, pointing out that an estimated 63 million Indians lack access to safe drinking water, and half of the country’s groundwater is contaminated with fluoride, nitrate and heavy metals. The network’s iJal stations with attached water ATMs offer high-tech and decentralized safe water access solutions in India and Ghana.
Building a corps of rural water entrepreneurs
The network’s water ATMs operate in several districts in Telangana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Some are co-owned and run by self-help collectives of five to six women, while others are run by single entrepreneurs. The entrepreneurs provide the fixed assets and water source, usually a borewell on the premises. SWN contributes technical expertise to set up a reverse osmosis water filtration unit, provides marketing support and maintenance help and trains the entrepreneur to operate and maintain the water station and ATM. All in all, an iJal station costs under Rs 20 lakh (about $2,400 US) to set up and can service around 350 households. Sindhuja reckons she gets about 200 customers every day.
Creating clusters of iJal stations is crucial to this model, as this enables SWN’s technical staff to monitor and maintain the stations efficiently and cost-effectively. On average, each cluster with 30-plus stations creates about 60 to 100 jobs. This leads to what Kurt Soderlund, CEO, and Venkatesh Raghavendra, vice president, of the network described in an article in the Wharton School’s business journal as a “virtuous cycle, in which “[f]amilies participate, using more, safe water, leading to a healthier population and improved livelihoods.”
The network’s water ATMs operate in several districts in Telangana, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. Credit: Safe Water Network
This is one of the many ways in which water entrepreneurship has been facilitated in underserved regions across Africa and Asia. While this model trains new business owners as well as provides technical and maintenance assistance, other models are more hands-off. For example, the for-profit African company Jibu has a network of franchises, which purify existing water sources in high-density communities and distribute water to the neighborhood within walking distance of their storefronts.
Jibu’s one-time paid transfer of water filtration technology to rural entrepreneurs probably costs less in terms of time, energy and money, compared to the SWN model, which continues to maintain the ATMS and handhold its iJal station owners through their working lives. Consequently, the stations’ water revenue does not cover all the costs — of water advocacy; monitoring, evaluation and maintenance; water quality testing; and field supervision costs — which are mostly subsidized by the network’s donors.
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This makes the SWN model highly dependent on philanthropic funding. In 2020, SWN’s biggest donor, Honeywell, decided to shift its funds to Covid relief and environmental sustainability. “We have other donors like PepsiCo, Oracle, Macquarie and Pentair Foundation, so there was no pause in our programs,” Sewak says. “But it was tough.”
However, this stream of funding is also why, as Sewak points out, Sindhuja’s and other ATMs have been working smoothly since 2017. “None of our stations have closed down,” she says. In some cases, she notes, stations have been “lifted and shifted” because the community wasn’t buying the water or because there were issues with the machine or the entrepreneur.
“Why should I spend on drinking water?”
Sindhuja set up her iJal station seven years ago. Credit: Raj Kumar / Safe Water Network
Sindhuja says one of the initial challenges she faced was in convincing people that drinking clean water was imperative for their continued good health — even if it meant paying for it. Many other similar projects across the world have observed a similar hesitation to buy drinking water. “Some even said that the iJal water tasted different from the water from their wells and borewells,” she recalls.
To this end, SWN conducted large-scale outreach programs to educate people about the necessity of safe drinking water and improved the branding and signage at all their iJal stations. “We have also trained all our station operators to become safe water advocates,” says Sewak. Sindhuja uses her TDS meter (which measures the total dissolved solids in water) to show skeptical customers that the water from her ATM is cleaner than untreated water. Also, the palpable impact of drinking clean water has told its own story. An impact assessment report in 2020 found that the reported incidence of waterborne diseases among water ATM users in Telangana declined from 34 percent to 23 percent over a period of three years. Sixty-three percent of users reported a reduction in medical expenses and 73 percent, a reduction in school absenteeism.
Vanitha Baloth, 30, comes to Sindhuja’s water ATM every day to buy drinking water for her household. “My parents and I have been drinking this water ever since we moved to this neighborhood six months ago, and none of us have had diarrhea, dysentery or any other waterborne disease during this time,” she says. Baloth lives across the road, but in general, last-mile connectivity poses a challenge as customers still have to ferry heavy containers from the iJal stations to their homes. Sindhuja says she often helps elderly customers carry their water cans home.
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Integrating water purification with doorstep delivery could help. For example, the Indian company Janajal (Hindi for “community water”) operates water ATMs in and around Delhi, as well as at several railway stations. In 2019, the company introduced clean fuel-powered three-wheeled vehicles that deliver clean water directly to communities, reaching both prime urban and deep, previously inaccessible rural areas. SWN “tried several water distribution models in India as well,” Sewak says, “but this increased the cost of the water.” It is worth noting that the network does operate a piped drinking water program in Ghana. In India, however, since the Indian government’s Jal Jeevan Mission already aims to provide tap water supply to every rural household by 2024, it is focusing on safe drinking water as the government water supply cannot be drunk without being filtered.
“I earn about Rs 15,000 to 20,000 per month from this, which is amazing as there are hardly any jobs available to women like me here,” Sindhuja says. Credit: Raj Kumar / Safe Water Network
Another issue lies in the fact that the clusters of iJal stations are by and large dependent on groundwater extraction, which depletes a limited supply, and makes them vulnerable to any drops in groundwater levels brought about by climate change or overuse. “Today, as the government is moving towards water safety in its sustainable development goals, we have developed an automatic chlorination and online monitoring system, which digitally monitors and chlorinates water in the overhead water tanks installed by the government,” Sewak says. “This last-mile chlorination removes microbes that have contaminated the water as it is transmitted through pipelines, making it safe to drink.”
Meanwhile, Sindhuja is upbeat about the future of her “social business.” “Reverse osmosis filters are expensive to run at home. My water ATM offers a cheaper and equally good alternative,” she says. “Today, the iJal station supports me and my family, and together we support our entire neighborhood.”
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