South Asia Citizens Web

Central to the resurgence of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism in post-war Sri Lanka is a redefinition of gender role and identities. Familial ideology is a key pillar of this discourse with serious adverse implications for women and gender equality

Whether one disagrees with the programme and solutions put forth by the left for organising society or not, there is no denying that the existence of a credible left wing in a country’s politics is essential for a political balance in national discourse. Even otherwise it is the left wing in any country that produces its intellectual and cultural voices and creates that very important space for dissent and alternative points of view.

A satirical poster following India’s prime minister’s take mixing mythology with science.

While individuals can harbor the reality of mythology, the matters will be difficult if the chief of state has belief in these fictions being part of History. That will be a big set back to the progress of scientific, rational thinking and enterprise. This combination of mythology, religion and politics will make the matters worse.

The worst is the plight of the 4,000 cleaners and sanitation workers.Most of them are dalits. Any time of the day or night you will see women and men in uniforms with brooms, cleaning up after the pilgrims have left, making sure the toilets are clean. What are they paid? Less than Rs 6,500 a month. They have no benefits, no ESI, no provident fund and not even a weekly off. This virtual slave labour is employed by Sulabh International which has got one of the contracts for cleaning.