By Aaron Flanagan Phoolan Devi was born into an abysmal, pre-ordained fate on the wrong side of India’s caste system. Indians having their slum homes razed to make way for Commonwealth games infra-structure share Devi’s misfortune in being born unlucky. The caste system, like Hinduism, is largely peculiar to India. The Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad Gita, organises Indians into four categories: Brahmin (priests), Kshatriyas/Rathaestar (warrior-kings), Vaishya (traders-craftmen), shudra (workers-labours), and then outside this, the Harijan (untouchables). The Harijans are typically slum dwellers. …
Tag: India
Not too long ago, the ultimate search for paradise began and ended in Afghanistan. In the 1960’s and 70’s intrepid Western traveller’s lusted after Afghanistan’s free and exotic culture, its relaxed and welcoming way of life offering visitors an opportunity to explore a radically different culture. This attitude seems to have been turned on its head. Now oppressive dictates are being cruelly enforced on travelling Afghanis by Western governments afraid of offending wide-spread ignorance and xenophobia cooked-up by themselves in …