Why I Almost Boycotted NARD 15 Chennai?

Disclaimer: I prefer not to focus on drama, as it distracts us from the goal of responsible animal liberation advocacy. However, this conundrum is very much connected to how we do advocacy responsibly.

And, nowhere during the entire situation was I going to boycott NARD, NARD 15, or NARD Chennai. I was only going to boycott NARD 15 Chennai, as this specific event almost got hijacked by animal oppressors, Blue Cross of India (BCI).

While this is a long article explaining everything in the chronological order, see the section "So, what's wrong with BCI?" to know how BCI are animal oppressors.

Edit (2025-07-15): There had been new developments in the story, after learning new facts. Please see "New Revelations." for more details.

Quick background^<#>

The NARD (National Animal Rights Day) is usually observed throughout the world on the first Sunday of June. The city of Chennai has been observing NARD since 2022. It is the same year that I became an animal rights activist. In January 2023, I became friends with Samaran, the organiser of animal rights activism in Chennai. Samaran had also been organising NARD Chennai. Later in June 2023, I was planning to attend NARD Chennai, but I cancelled at the last moment, because it felt too rushed (my impulsive decision to travel to a different state for the event on the last day), and instead, I chose to attend the event in Bangalore.

However, since then, I have been to Chennai on several occasions, mostly for animal rights activism: be it street outreaches, workshops (in attendance), college lectures (in attendance), disruptions, hunger strikes and protests. Along with some fierce and dedicated animal liberation activists, I co-organised and attended NARD 14 in Chennai (June 2024). And I was very much looking forward to NARD 15 in Chennai. There were a lot more unapologetic and dedicated activists who joined the activism scene in the city, and also took up various roles for organising NARD 15. We had started preparing for it since April.

Preparing for NARD 15 Chennai.^<#>

NARD 14 Chennai (2024) was held at Anna Tower Park. We had conducted the event without any police permission (I mean, isn't it our right as an Indian citizen, guaranteed by the constitution?), and we had also brought the remains of some of the oppressed and murdered or dead non-human animals, as NARD is also supposed to be their funeral.

But unlike NARD 14, this year, the group came to an agreement that we'd seek police permission and conduct NARD at the Besant Nagar Beach. Sadly, police refused to give us permission for that location. And given that the organisers, who went to seek the permission, were seeking police permission for an event like this for the first time, they faced some friction. So, Samaran had to step in to sort it out.

At that time, Samaran was employed by the Blue Cross of India (BCI).

A little about BCI.^<#>

BCI is an animal welfare organisation that runs a shelter for various animals and handles cruelty cases. The chairman of the organisation is a "vegan". (I am putting it in double quotes because I have distanced myself from that word. I will be explaining it in a different post, and I'll add a link to that here once it is published.) Samaran held the position of Humane Education Officer, through which he has been to several academic institutes to give lectures about animal welfare and animal rights. I have attended some of his lectures as well. Along with that, BCI goes to various college fests and have their stall, to do an animal welfare awareness campaign. (By "goes to", let me clarify: "Samaran reaches out to college fest organisers to get a stall, BCI pays for it, and it is Samaran who goes to the fests, along with many other animal rights activists, who are not affiliated with BCI, to do animal rights activism". If memory serves me well, I have been part of every single one of those fests so far, talking about animal rights.) However, it is important to highlight that BCI is an animal welfare organisation, and not an animal rights organisation at all.

At times, BCI has stepped their toes in, putting Samaran in a corner with his off-duty animal liberation activism. Samaran has been an animal rights activist for over seven years now. But some time back, BCI had the audacity to say that what he does in street outreach is almost the same as what BCI does, and thus, asked him to do street outreach under the BCI name.

How did we not connect the dots that this would show up later again?

Speaking of not connecting the dots, I forgot to notice something else as well. I was taking responsibility of reaching out to Animal Save India, who is the point of contact for NARD in India, asking for banners, posters, the declaration of animal rights and t-shirts. Last year, for NARD Mysore, they sent us the designs, which I got printed locally, as they said they were tight on the budget. So, I had asked them what all they could provide us. I wrote: "Could you please let me know what all would NARD be able to provide? I can share the shipping address if required." I did not give the shipping address (as the conversation did not come till there.) However, the resources were delivered at BCI. Which implies, someone else reached out to ASI other than me, and gave BCI as the shipping address to get things delivered, not at an activist's home, but at BCI's office.

The first signs of trouble.^<#>

Now that I have painted some context about what BCI is, let me explain what transpired.

Samaran stepped in to sort the police permission, given that he has quite some experience dealing with the Chennai cops. But, given that he would have to take time from his duty hours to get the police permission, Samaran had to inform BCI about seeking police permission to conduct NARD. To which, BCI suggested that BCI should organise NARD, as "NARD is about animals, and so is BCI". Now, what I understood by that was: we will print out the permission letter with BCI's letterhead. And given that BCI has a ‘good’ reputation in Chennai, we thought this should make the process of getting the permission easier. I did not see any reason to object to it then. And so, we, as a group, went ahead with it. (It was not put to a vote, mind you. And it has been a trend that anything that Samaran wants to do about animal rights in his capacity as an activist, BCI pushes their way in. So, just by virtue of Samaran going for the permission, BCI found a way to have their foot in the door, and infiltrate.)

Although the first Sunday of June was on the 1st, Chennai's NARD was going to happen on the second Sunday, 8th. As May was coming to an end, and NARD was approaching, we were finalising who would photograph the event, who would vet the speeches to avoid any form of misrepresentation of animal rights, and we had to work on the press release and press invite. And around that time, BCI posted this (archived link). From my understanding of the NARD, various activism groups, various chapters across the world come together in unity, under one banner, under one name of "Our Planet. Theirs Too." to observe the event. NARD is not an Anonymous for the Voiceless event, not an Animal Save Movement event, not a We The Free event, not an Animal Rising event, and by extension, not a BCI event either. Some activists found this problematic too (as BCI is not even an animal rights organisation), but you know, maybe I can cut BCI some slack (as this is not the strongest point I can make for the boycott).

Confronting the conundrum.^<#>

As I was getting ready to prepare my speech for NARD 15, on May 28, I decided to include this line in my speech:

"I am glad that the Blue Cross of India has now chosen to be part of animal rights event, so I hope to see them actually upholding animal rights in their premises, not to be speciesists by not consuming products derived from animal oppression, and not to be feeding products of animal exploitation to other animals either."

But I was told that I must not be saying that, as BCI thinks it is a BCI event. And bashing them is only going to land Samaran in trouble. When I discussed this with Samaran, he asked me not to do this, but I am not in favour of censoring my speech. Especially when an animal-oppressing organisation needs to be called out.
As an animal oppressor, if you dare to become an organiser for an animal rights event, including NARD, it is bizarre to me that such things are even tolerated.

So, I told him, I won't be cutting it out. And him, being pushed in a corner, he had to say, "If you are going to bash BCI, I won't be allowing you to speak." "Then it makes no sense for me to attend NARD 15 Chennai", was my position.

People usually have two parts of their lives: personal and professional. And it was Samaran, who told me a couple of years ago, looking at the problems of running an animal rights activism group that, "people should not bring their professional differences in their personal relations, and people should not bring their personal differences in professional relations", something that I agree with, and have been trying to uphold as well. But I also think that activists have three parts to their lives. Personal, professional, and that of an activist. In the case of Samaran, his professional and activist parts overlap in some capacity. And even if he wants to segregate the parts which don't need to overlap, BCI is there to twist his metaphorical arm.

Now, Samaran and I are close friends. And a large part of it is due to activism. And this conflict was not personal. It was purely about activism. For me. For him, it was overlapping with his professional life. And his position was not an easy position to be in.

But this was deeply upsetting, that to appease BCI, whom we did not even want as the organisers, are now in a position to censor our speeches? Heck, how are they even in a position to organise such an event? They shoehorned themselves in, just because Samaran went for the police permission. But I took a clear stance that this is not something I was willing to put up with. This is not a BCI event. They have not done even an iota of work. Everything was done by other activists (and Samaran's involvement was also hours after his work hours).

• We activists collected funds for the event.
• We decided where we are doing the event.
• We activists went to scout for the location and had a back and forth with the police for permission.
• We reached out to participants, inviting them to the event.
• We reached out to others to submit speeches, poems, and songs to be performed.
• We planned who would get the speakers, the candles, the incense sticks, the epitaph, the markers, and sheets to sign the declaration of animal rights.
• We reached out to the photographers and videographers to cover the event. And we paid with our collected funds for hiring them.
• We wrote the press release and the press invite.
• We were working on making the promotional reel for the event.
• Heck, even the contact information on the BCI post (mentioned above) is of an animal rights activist. Not a BCI employee.

Versus, the only involvement of BCI till that point in time (May 28, 2025) was telling Samaran to use a BCI letterhead to seek police permission. And of course, that infamous Instagram post.

I found myself in a spot where I want NARD 15 Chennai to happen. But the organiser of the event can't be any body (group/organisation) or anyone who is not pro-animal rights in actions. And if we can't guarantee that, I will officially boycott the event. I don't want to be part of an animal rights event organised by animal oppressors.

Disagreement with fellow organiser.^<#>

I had been looking forward to NARD 15 Chennai, and I did not want this to be the barrier. Of course, I floated the idea to ask BCI to back off, that it is made absolutely clear to them that they are not the organisers of the event. And it is to be handled by people who actually do the work and not carry around an oppressive mindset towards animals. BCI had not done a single relevant thing to be the organiser. Samaran is employed by BCI, but that does not mean BCI can take credit for everything he does for animal liberation.

Samaran had told me to drop the idea of bashing BCI, suggesting, "You talk to Chinny Krishna after the NARD about this, but not now." I mean, Samaran has been at BCI for about a year now, and what changes have been made? None that I know of. (That is not in any way dissing at his ability to hold them accountable; heck, we know people at PETA India, who have been part of the organisation for longer, and yet, not only are there misrepresentations, but people also fake food bills to get reimbursements for eating something that oppresses animals).

And it had irked me that it is Samaran's opinion that Chinny Krishna won't be okay with that. And I was not okay with the fact that the conversation with Samaran turned to what BCI might XOR might not like, rather than what is in line with animal rights. BCI is not the victim here. They victimise the non-humans, and it was very strange to me to see that Samaran was shutting the conversation down, rather than trying to look for solutions. I decided to mail Chinny Krishna. But when I asked Samaran for the email, he told me to do it "after NARD is over". Which doesn't even begin to make sense to me, as the damage would already be done by then.

I found Chinny Krishna's email ID and mailed him (on May 29), even though Samaran refused to share it with me. I waited the whole day, but I did not get any response from Chinny Krishna.

So, what's wrong with BCI?^<#>

Samaran and I have been friends even before he joined BCI. And we have spoken of various animal rights violations that take place on the premises of BCI. So I was well aware of the fact that if and when I do go to BCI, it won't be difficult for me to document examples of animal rights violations. And I decided to travel to Chennai, for both, talking some sense to Samaran (I will be explaining it in this section), and more importantly, to gather evidence for the animal rights violations, to make a better case for my boycott.

I left for Chennai on May 30 at 3:30 AM IST, directly going to the shelter. I reached there after 10. Let me share a few of my observations from that visit to the shelter:

• An employee of BCI offered Samaran a milk chocolate. (Of course, Samaran checked the ingredient list and refused to accept it.) Later on, another employee offered me the same milk chocolate. 1
• People were being served tea as well as coffee, made with the milk of buffaloes or cows. The coffee was also offered to visitors from HCL, who were there for the CSR (corporate social responsibility)-related work. 1 2 3 4
• A standee is placed in the premises with the title "World Environmental History from Radford University – Milestones in World Environmental History" which lists the point "1959 – Congressional passage of the rarely enforced Humane Slaughter Act, 85 years after Switzerland became the first of 14 nations to pass similar laws before the U.S." 1
• A food chart near the cooking place mentioned: "Morning: Milk 9a.m./Curd Rice @ 11a.m", "Afternoon: Ghee Rice" (ghee is clarified butter), and "Cat Section: Milk 09:00 am, Pellets Kitten Pellets Milk". Upon asking one of the BCI employees which pellets they feed the cats, they said "Whiskas" (a brand which makes cat food using various marine and land animals). 1 2 3 4
• A BCI employee, Dawn William, said (in front of the HCL visitors) that a buffalo's stolen milk is his "birthright", as well as "no animal is more important than any human". And when I asked if he thinks that also applies in the case of Hitler, he said yes. 1 2
• A dog drinking a cow/buffalo's milk in the same pen where a calf was present. 1
• A Milk Bikis wrapper inside the premises. 1
• A carton of Drools (dog/cat food) in the dumping area. (Now, given that Drools also produces a 100% Veg food option, which is devoid of milk, honey, or other animal-derived products, the last I checked, this is not the strongest point I can make.) 1
• A man carrying a bucket of milk milked from a buffalo/cow. (Now, it could be that the mother might have been previously pregnant, and for some reason can't feed her baby the milk, or maybe it is "excess milk, which the baby can't drink." But given what all I saw at BCI, I don't know what to make of it.) 1

I was wearing my "Taste Doesn't Justify Animal Abuse" hoodie, and Chinny Krishna saw that and spoke to me. I got a chance to ask him why BCI was not respecting animal rights on their premises. He told me how they have a "No MAT – Meat, Alcohol, Tobacco" policy (Nothing about milk). And he also told me about BCI's handbook, "Statements of Policy". The handbook mentions some of the following points:

• "It is wrong to kill animals for food in any manner that does not result in instantaneous unconsciousness. Methods employed should cause no more than minimum apprehension."
• "Experiments and activities involving live animals should be limited to observations of the normal living patterns, behaviour, growth, and development of domestic animals, or wild animals in the free-living state or in those zoological parks or aquaria that maintain animals in suitable naturalistic environments. In rare instances, small, native animals whose habitat can be easily simulated in a classroom setting may be brought into the classroom for observation over a brief period of time, but should be returned promptly to the place from which they were taken."
• "Since more and more animals products sold are from “factory farm” animals, the Society endorses the concept of eating with conscience and of avoiding slaughter house products."

Now, there are two dimensions where this is problematic. One:

• BCI clearly does not uphold animal rights on their premises, and worse, they're actively participating in the oppression of some non-humans, displaying speciesism.
• BCI's language ("avoid slaughter house products"), along with what Chinny Krishna said about "No MAT" policy, comes off as they oppose to flesh consumption, but consumption of milk seems to be okay – which screams the age-old narrative in this country: "meat = bad, go vegetarians!", which also has casteists connotations. I am not accusing BCI of casteism. However, it is important to make two clear-cut distinctions:
  1. Animal liberation from human-led oppression is not about diet, but the mentality and attitude towards non-human animals; vegetarianism is not even close to animal emancipation.
  2. In this country, a wide variety of people have been oppressed under food politics. And allowing room for people to confuse animal liberation with vegetarianism is sadly not just ignorance, but dangerous to the movement. Again, Brahminical vegetarianism is not even on the side of animal liberation. But not calling it out is irresponsible at best. Worst, it is bigotry. (I shall be addressing it in a separate article and add a link to that here, once it is published. However, my last video has one section dedicated to this topic, which you can find here, which starts at 25:01.)

Two: Remember how I mentioned that BCI was thinking they were the organisers? Samaran mentioned that we have to mention BCI as the organisers in the press release, as BCI could also see the document, and it would be trouble for him if BCI's name is missing. BCI being credit-hungry is not news to me, but it is always frustrating nonetheless.

But it isn't just frustration, which is problematic. Should the press release mention that BCI were the organisers, how difficult would it be for a journalist to see that in public, activists are talking about animal rights being more than a diet, more than just murdering animals, something for which we shouldn't encourage baby steps; only for that journalist to then come to BCI, to see that milk is offered to both, the humans and the non-humans; and listen to the chairman boasting about the "No MAT" policy and think animal liberation and animal rights is just a new way of referring to vegetarianism? We are literally shooting ourselves in the foot when we have animal oppressors organising such events. Aren't we sick and tired of explaining to people, "animal liberation is not about not eating meat, but not thinking of animals as resources"? To make things worse, when you enter BCI, you'd see a Ganesh statue. 1 Walk inside, and you would see a portrait of Brahma, 2 and some other South Indian Brahminical God, 3 and this vegetarian bullshit analysed together would make one wonder: How is this not a continuation of Brahminical vegetarianism? The "No MAT" policy sounds to me like a rejection of the "undesirable elements in the society", with a classist connection to it.

Also, one does not need to go to BCI in-person to see that their actions oppress animals.

1. They had a post on Instagram (link • archived link) (doesn't support video playback) where you can see dogs fed rice mixed with dairy.
2. Or, go to their website's donate (archived link), or ways to help (archived link) section. They have their Amazon wishlist (archived link). And you'd see Nestlé Cerelac (about a third of the ingredients are milk solids) as well as Brijmohan Cow Desi Ghee (clarified butter).

One can be in the comfort of their home to verify that BCI is far removed from animal rights. And not only do we not want to associate with animal oppressors, I don't think it is wise for us in the animal rights movement to be in the same boat as those who cut slack for vegetarians.

How do I proceed?^<#>

So, even if we knew that BCI is not the organiser, to appease them in the press release, we would be naming an animal oppressive body as the ones who conducted the event. That's a huge problem. I mean, imagine if tomorrow, ISKCON (The International Society for Krishna Consciousness) – who themselves have an oppressive mentality towards the animals – were organising a pro-animal-rights event, it would be distasteful at the very least. Those who oppress non-humans should not have the right to host such events.

You do not ally with the oppressors to fight against oppression. Do we need more people to voice against animal oppression? Yes. 100%. But that cannot come without personal accountability. Else it is a mockery of animal rights, that one can tokenise the fight for their liberation to earn some brownie points in front of others, collecting social capital to then ask for donations in the name of animals, when they focus more on visibility than on ensuring the upholding of animal rights. And it is important that we activists call it out and demand more accountability from the organisers. Unlike many other justice movements, the animal rights movement heavily demands personal accountability. So let's start demanding that, rather than taking the fancy utilitarian calculator out to see how much we can benefit from joining hands with the oppressors.

And on top of it, the Brahminical Vegetarian connotation, which one can draw from this specific organisation, is also damaging to the cause.

I came to the conclusion that there are three possible ways to move forward:

1. BCI gives up this stubborn attitude of wanting to be the organisers.
2. BCI announces and adopts an immediate and permanent policy of anti-animal oppression throughout their organisation, be it for the humans or the non-humans.
3. I boycott the event.

Discussing this with the other organisers.^<#>

When I was in Chennai, May 30, I explained this to one of the organisers that I am officially boycotting NARD 15 Chennai, until either BCI pulls out, or they announce and adopt the pro-animal rights policy. I explained this to Samaran too. To which, he said he agrees, but it would be too late now to take any action.

I understand it would be difficult, and as an employee, he might be compelled to show up for the event.

But as an animal rights activist, and an ally for the victims, I think it would be a responsible thing for us to explain this to the other organisers (even though ideally, I'd want them to realise this on their own – but hey, come on! It took me days, if not weeks, to realise the problem, so I get it if not everyone is on the same page, if they have not thought about it. But once one knows, one can't plead ignorance.) I asked Samaran to bring this up in our weekly meeting, which was about to start in a few minutes after our talk.

In the meeting, apart from Samaran, there were at least two other organisers, one of whom I had explained to in-person, and one who knew I was going to boycott the event, but she did not have the explanation. They proceeded with the meeting as if nothing had even happened. I asked Samaran to bring up the topic. And when the topic was finally brought to light, I made my case. To which, the question was: What do we do if BCI won't budge? And I said, "We have 50 activists who will come for NARD. We should explain the situation to BCI, and send a very strong and clear message to them that there are 50 people who'd boycott the event if they don't pull out, or change their ways." Two activists –one from Chennai and one from Sri Lanka– agreed, and the Chennai activist was up for boycotting the event.

To be honest, I had a feeling that despite people agreeing that BCI's involvement is problematic, it would be just me who'd actually boycott the event. Which only upholds my principles, but makes a negligible difference for the misrepresentation or the damage that it can lead to. So, it was time for the activists to unite. It would be fucking amazing that we can have a successful pressure campaign to make sure BCI starts respecting and upholding animal rights. But if that is not happening, then it is a public condemnation that animal rights activists will not show up for an animal rights event that BCI hijacked. I know I can only make my case in front of others. I can't force them to boycott.

The cover-ups.^<#>

I had the meeting, and after that, I travelled back to Bangalore. With the agreement that Samaran will talk to BCI about the situation to back off. I wished him luck for the difficult conversation that was going to happen (on May 31, Saturday). The person he was supposed to talk to did not come to BCI that day. And thus, it got pushed back by another day. To which, the other organiser, who agreed to boycott, Shankha, said he would go to BCI on Sunday (June 1), on behalf of all the activists and make the case. However, Shankha and I learnt later that the rest decided that they would not identify BCI as the organiser, but that "BCI helped/aided/facilitated with the event." Yeah, aided and facilitated with one sheet of paper so far for the National Animal Rights Day, while throwing animals under the bus all along.

The whole point of the boycott was that we activists do not see eye to eye with BCI, and that BCI violates animal rights, and we are opposed to that. So this language does not change anything. Either this must be dropped, or the press release must say:

"BCI is an animal welfare organisation, and the animal rights activists want to make a clear distinction between welfare and rights, and they do not condone BCI violating animal rights."

Yes, it is probably too late to undo the damage without burning bridges. But this does not fix any problem. And it compromises on the pressure campaign that will be required so BCI can stop being animal oppressors. Funny how we say "boycott all animal products and services" in our outreach, but when it comes to also boycotting such events, noone was proactive.

I had NARD 15 Bangalore to attend, and thus, I could not speak with Shankha, why this sneaky way to avoid identifying BCI as the organiser was still problematic. And without the rest of the organisers showing some strength to actually add the disclaimer in the press release, I'd be boycotting NARD 15 Chennai again.

The compromise.^<#>

Frankly, it is disheartening that my fellow organisers did not see this the way I did. That they would rather be sneaky in the press release, instead of actually raising their voices against BCI. I don't understand their allegiance to BCI. I was pissed about this, that I thought: "fuck it, if we still have last year's banner from Mysore, let's borrow the declaration from Bangalore and do a NARD Mysore". Now, sadly, I could gather only three people to do NARD Mysore, and we had to call it off, as it would be two people travelling from Mysore to Bangalore, and we just did not have enough participation. (The people participated in NARD Mysore in 2024 – they all migrated away to different cities, states, or even continents.)

The NARD 15 Chennai's press release that the others created was not up to the mark, and somehow, we reached to the compromise that we will not mention BCI as the organisers or that they aided, but since BCI expects their name somewhere, the compromise I settled for (an idea that I did not float, but pushed for):

For further information, please contact: Samaran <Last Name> (<phone number>), Humane Education Officer, BCI.

This was the only mention of BCI in the press release. 1 2 It is also accurate that the only involvement BCI had was with and through Samaran. That he holds the position in BCI, but BCI is not involved in organising the event. It would also mean that I need to trust Samaran that when a journalist does reach out to him, he makes it clear that while he works for BCI, BCI has nothing to do with NARD.

How do I feel about this?^<#>

Was I happy about the way we handled it? No. Because, even though I can't control the fact that BCI still thinks that they were the organisers, they were never made aware of the fact that they are animal oppressors, and we condemn them for that. They weren't spoken to. The event was not boycotted. There was no pressure put. There was no actionable outcome of it. We had our event, with the weakest way to ensure I don't boycott the event. But does this bring any change to the way BCI will function? No. BCI is still going to oppress animals. And we missed out on a brilliant opportunity to put pressure on them. So, it is a disgrace how this was handled.

I was also disappointed in other organisers for looking for loopholes to find a way with the least amount of conflict. I understand, people don't want conflict. I wouldn't. And I might have tried such ways in other cases. But I think the goal that I had – to make it clear to BCI in one way or the other that they need to respect animal rights, else we reject them being the organisers – was not something that others shared. And that would fall on me, that I did not communicate it properly.

The aftermath.^<#>

On the day of NARD Chennai (June 8), Samaran came in BCI's vehicle. With the BCI TV. And a BCI intern to photograph the event. Against which, BCI shamelessly dared to upload our photos on its social media. (link • archived link) It is funny that the BCI intern demanded for, and was paid to photograph the event – hey BCI, if you are organising this event, why the fuck is your intern charging money for your event?

That makes me uncomfortable. That BCI still came there. I asked their vehicle to be moved out of the frame. But it was not just me who objected to this. One activist wanted a clear explanation as to what BCI does, and wanted to break any and all ties with BCI as a volunteer. The other activist said he feels that he won't do activism with this group, as he thinks it is going to be a puppet for BCI. A sentiment echoed by other activists, too. (The way things are going, the group might not be a puppet, but BCI definitely exerts some influence on the group by preventing Samaran from organising weekend activism in his free time, or asking him to do it under the name of BCI.) A few activists used the comment section of the above-linked Instagram post to call out BCI for not valuing animal rights. And, a group of activists agreed to sign a letter to be sent to Chinny Krishna – but from what I know, nothing has happened so far.

Will I participate in BCI's college fest outreaches in future?^<#>

I have some activism at both PETA stalls and BCI stalls. At BCI stalls, I have used standees which has the BCI logo, as well as the "Speciesism" standee that I have designed. (I will add a link to the repository containing my designs soon.)

Whenever I have done activism, I had no obligation to defend any organisation; and while outreaching, I have even said that I don't agree with how the organisation functions. Or what it stands for. I go there to represent animals, and animals alone. But others’ optics are not going to be the same as mine.

To me, going to BCI's welfare-based stalls to talk about animal rights is not the same as them hijacking an animal rights event. Like, if gaushala (one can think of this as a small-scale dairy farm; which apologists say that they look after cows, and only take excess milk, and not exploit animals – which is plain bullshit, as they do not value animal rights) decides to invite me to talk, I don't see a problem in that. (At least not yet, and I actually would like to have my position re-evaluated. Though if something like that happens, I would be calling out the vegetarian bullshit.) And that is very different from KFC organising an animal rights event. Heck, at BCI events, since I have nothing to do with BCI, and I am there to speak for animal rights, I have worn the "ALN!" (Animal Liberation Now!) tee-shirt.

Personally, I do not like to be a part of any organisation. I have my reasons for that. But as long as they do responsible animal rights activism, I don't mind extending support in any capacity that I can. ALN! is a name I had suggested to Samaran, and a group/organisation we run, where I am freelancing for free (that includes organising, giving lectures, conducting workshops, designing, running the IT department, copy-editing, et cetera).

So, even though for future BCI college-fest events, if the standee or stall did not mention BCI, it would have been fine with me; and where stalls had BCI labels, I'd have to have done a better job at advocacy, making it clear that neither I'm affiliated with them, nor do I agree with their position on animal rights; but I want to break all associations with BCI. So, it is a "no". I won't be participating in BCI college fest events in future. If BCI can go and take a stall, so can ALN! We collect funds every month. So let's do responsible activism, where we don't ally with the oppressors.

My trust in the organising team of ALN! has weakened. And it will not be easy to patch things. Trust in the dimension of activism. Not professional or personal. But I was never tied to a group or any organisation. So, I'd be carrying out animal liberation activism in all the ways I can without making compromises to my values.

In the meantime, make sure that the spaces and events where we expect animal rights to be respected and upheld are not hijacked by those who treat animal rights as a joke.

New revelations.^<#>

On Sunday, July 13, 2025, one of the organisers informed me, that the day after NARD (NARD happened on June 8, so this happened on June 9), one of the organisers asked them to write and send a post press release to the media, specifically asking for BCI to be mentioned in that. A post press release glorifying BCI with the title "National Animal Rights Day (NARD) Observed in Chennai in Collaboration with Blue Cross of India" and further glorification in the next paragraph.

It is an utter betrayal of the promises previously made that BCI is not involved in any capacity. Remember how some activists were disappointed, seeing BCI's vehicle at the event, who thought ALN! is just BCI's puppet? Prior to the event, those activists had previously asked Shankha about BCI's involvement. And based on the previous agreement and guarantees by the organisers, Shankha had given his word that BCI is not involved in this situation. The organiser who asked for this post press release to be created and sent to media –I am not sure if they considered that by breaking their promise, they were deceiving other organisers– but worse, this has a cascading effect that other organisers’ integrity and honesty is also questioned by those who trusted them to honestly communicate about the situation. Given this was done in secrecy, by compartmentalising and hiding things from the rest of the organisers, retroactively, I am utterly gutted by these actions. Not only this said organiser did not shy away from bootlicking animal oppressors for an animal rights event; they did not account for the fact that there were other organisers, as well as activists who were kept in the dark, and were misled to participating in an event that compromised their principles.

If I had known the truth, I'd have boycotted the event. All the attempts to fix the problem before the event were in vain. But given that the leadership of ALN! hid the true intentions from other organisers, I have ZERO trust in this leadership with no integrity. I cannot continue with ALN! in any capacity unless ALN! changes the leadership with immediate effect. Hours after processing this, I sent a mail to that specific organiser stating that.

What would happen next? ALN! must change the leadership before July 20, 2025; with strict policies to prohibit such actions, else, I'd voluntarily serve one-month notice period for ALN! for all the tasks that I was doing so they can look for a replacement. And post-that, I won't have anything to do with ALN!

Can I not just collaborate with ALN! where things are okay, and then be on my separate ways? Yes. But I have no interest to be associated with an organisation run by the leadership who will walk all over other activists, conning them into coming for events which violates their principles.

Can't I just talk it out? Umm, what needs to be "talked out" about a betrayal, deception, and as I said, conning activists into coming for an event which violates their principles?