(Originally published in the Special LGBTI issue of Pambazuka News) It was on the day meant to celebrate romantic love worldwide that Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni announced to members of his party that he would sign the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill into law. The Valentine’s Day announcement by the President might have increased his popularityContinue reading “A Valentine’s Day Punishment”
Tag Archives: human rights
Commonwealth must honour its own commitments
[First published in Groundviews] The choice of Sri Lanka as a venue for CHOGM 2013 has always remained controversial. Two weeks from now, the Heads of Government of 53 Commonwealth countries will congregate in Colombo’s Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall to discuss, among other things, the Commonwealth’s commitment towards the promotion of human rights, democracyContinue reading “Commonwealth must honour its own commitments”
Sewer Rats
Imagine a man plunging into a 20-foot-deep sewer through its narrow mouth, holding his breath for over 30 seconds, scooping the filth inside with his bare hands or a shovel, and emerging from it, covered in muck. The only precaution he takes is to light a match over the hole sometimes, to detect the presenceContinue reading “Sewer Rats”
A life of dirt, danger, drudgery
-VIDYA VENKAT Twenty rupees is all he gets for plunging into a manhole from which there is no guarantee of returning alive. Sami* does it nevertheless, oblivious to the neat people walking past him on the road, holding their noses. He does it bare-bodied, save for a loin cloth to cover his manhood and aContinue reading “A life of dirt, danger, drudgery”
An anthropologist among the journalists 